
Glass 



L^si 



Book*. 






i 




iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiuiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiuiuiiiiiiiiiiiiijiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiyiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiii^ iiiniiiiiiil 







;l|ll!!llii 






< 

lu 

X 
H 
O 

z 

o 

iZ 
,0. 



ilTII'i 



lllllllllll.lllllllllllUlllllllllllllMIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIlllllllllllllllllfllllllllllllUlllllllHIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlllllllll^ 







mMLA±2LJj,mt 



tev 




THE WEST rTH£\\rEiTYfHE WEST! 
WITH ROOM FOR NATIONS OLD AND NEWyi 
WILL FILL WITH STARS OUR FLAG OF BL|^ 
THE LOYAL WEST TO FREEDOM TRUf^ 
OFALL LANDS IS THE BEST 
'^•^=:SH AS THE MORNING DEW " 



n 



THE 



LOYAL WEST 

IN THE 



ALSO, 

BEFORE AKD SINCE; 

BEING AN 



ENCYCLOPEDIA AND PANOEAMA 

OF THE 

WESTERN STATES, PACIFIC STATES AND TERRITORIES 

OF 

THE TJ]srio]sr. 

HISTORICAL, GEOGRAPHICAL, AND PICTORIAL." 

ILLUSTRATED BT MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS, 

PRESENTING VIEWS OF ALL THE CITIES AND PRINCIPAL TOWNS — PUBLIC BUILDINGS 

AND MONUMENTS — BATTLE-FIELDS — HISTORIC LOCALITIES NATURAL 

CURIOSITIES, AND SCENES ILLUSTRATING THE TIMES OF THE 

REBELLION, ETC., PRINCIPALLY FROM DRAWINGS TAKEN 

ON THE SPOT BY THE AUTHORS. 



BY 
JOHIV TV, BARBER, 

ATJTHOE OP HISTOBICAL COLLECTIONS 01" CONNECTICUT, MASSACHUSETTS, ETC., 
— AND — 

HE]VRY KCOTVE, 

AUTHOB OF HIST. COLL. OP VIRGINIA, OHIO, THE OBEAT WEST, ETC 



CINCINNATI: 
PUBLISHED BY F. A. HOWE, 111 MAIN STREET, 

SUCCESSOR OP HENRY HOWE. 

1865. 



Ho, I, 



pi' I 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1865 

By F. a. HOWE, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 

District of Ohio. 



INTRODUCTORY 



oJOio 



DURING the sad, tragic years of the Rebellion, a large two-vol- 
ume work, by the authors of this, was published under the title 
of " Our IVliole Country." It was modeled on the same gen- 
eral plan with the Historical Collections of Massachusetts and of 
Connecticut, by John W. Barber; and the Historical Collections 
of Virginia and of Ohio, by Henry Howe. That work was is- 
sued at great expense, consequent upon years of labor, exten- 
sive travel, and the drawing and engraving of many hundred 
original views of objects of interest in all parts of our country. 

Coming out at a most gloomy period, its title alone had the 
effect to draw imkind comments from the unpatriotic; for, in 
their opinions, as in their hopes, the little child, who in those 
days, in its innocence, misspelled the title of the Nation's Map, 
terming it the "Un-tied States," committed no error in the fact. 
The knot, as resulted, instead of being cut, was tautened by the 
sword; and the just principle, the greatest good to all, estab- 
lished on a lasting foundation. 

Yet, at what a terrible cost of agony and of suffering! The 
very flower of the land. North and South, slain!— and in such 
multitudes, that a double row of coflQ.ns, extending in unbroken 
lines from Richmond to Washington, would be suflacient to con- 
tain only the lesser number of the dead. Such the result, so 
little anticipated, that the mistaken leaders boasted to their de- 
luded people, that they would agree to hold and to quaff all the 
blood that would be shed, from the hollow of their joined hands. 



4 INTRODUCTORY. 

The changed condition of a part of our country, united to 
the increased expense of book publishing, has prevented the 
issue of successive editions of the larger and more expensive 
work; but, instead, there will be given much of the original 
material of that in separate books, embodying in them more 
or less of the grand historical events of the past few years, in 
which history has been piled upon history to monumental hights, 
and by which this whole people have been lifted into clearer 
skies, and to happier visions. 

A companion book to "The liOyal IVest" will soon be found 
in "Tlie L<oyal East;" while "Our Whole Country," in its 
completeness, is suggested by their union with a third upon that 
unhappy section, the valor and endurance of which, though in 
error, have been extraordinary. 

Words are the physiognomy of ideas; more than this, they 
have voices, and are ill-looking, or good-looking, sound harshly, 
or sound sweetly, according "to the spirit of which they are 
of." Words, too, grow into our afiections, as the ideas they ex- 
press become endeared to us. Not one in the English language 
ever so suddenly grew beautiful, in form and in sound, as the 
word Lioyal to us Americans. Originally used to signify fealty 
to government, when government was intrusted to one man, a 
single sovereign, it now means faithfulness to government, when 
an entire people are sovereigns, and is as much stronger in its 
meaning, more majestic in its impression, as the millions are* 
more powerful and more majestic than the one. At any rate, 
the "plain people" so believe— the "plain people," whose coun- 
tenances are daily brightening with increasing intelligence, and 
growing more and more joyous with expanding hopes. 

An old man with whom the "red" fires of patriotism so burned 
under the "white" locks of age as to compel him to become one 
of the boys in "blue"— a member of the famous Iowa Gray-beard 

k 1 

Regiment— on hearing the proposed title of this work, exclaimed, 
with fervor, " Yes ! the West IS Loyal ! " This was definite ; but 
the word West is not. We here apply the title to those States 
of our Country's West which in the Rebellion were faithful to 



INTRODUCTORY. 



the Union. Can you think of any other word that so completely 
expresses the geography embodied? 

"The LOYAL "West to FKEEDOM true!" 

Many years must elapse before another book will be issued 
upon the "West, involving so much of labor and expense as this. 
More of both were given before the first sheet was printed 
than to most volumes of the same size and price completed for 
the market. We design this a^ a standard work upon the West, 
and in successive editions, to enhance its value by such modifi- 
cations and additions as may seem desirable. We trust it will 
become a Houseliold book for the Western people; and not 
only this, but to add to the evidence, if it were necessary, what 
a mighty empire, under the influence of our good government, 
has grown up here on the sunset side of the AUeghanies, since 
many among us first looked upon the beautiful things of life 
in the simple, trusting faith of childhood. 

H. H. 

CINCINNATI, 111 Main Street. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



TINTED ENGRAVINGS. 

Vignette. 
, Frontispiece : Massacre at Lawrence. 
I^, Map, showing the West in Jefferson's Administration. 
Map, showing the West in Johnson's Administration. 
Averill's Raid, ----.... Pao-e 

^The People of Louisville, principally Women and Children, driven out 
of the City by the order of General Nelson, encamping on the 
banks of the Ohio, ........ 

The Squirrel Hunters crossing the Pontoons at Cincinnati, - 
V Volunteers of Indiana Swearing to Remember Buena Vista, 
., Funeral of Abraham Lincoln at Springfield, .... 

^ Capture of Jefferson Davis by Michigan Cavalry, .... 



46 



100 
202 
270 
336 
406 
464 



Porter's Gunboats passing the Red River Dam, 

Identification of Sioux Murderers by a boy. Survivor of the Mas- 
sacre, - - . 492 

Volunteers of Iowa raising the American Flag over the new Capitol 

at Columbia, South Carolina, 538 

Union Family of Missouri Fleeing from Guerillas, - - - 590 

Virginia City, Nevada . 678 



ENGRAVINGS. 



WEST VIRGINIA. 

Arms of West Virginia, - - 33 

Wheeling, .... 40 

Tray Run Viaduct, - - - 43 

KENTUCKY. 

Arms of Kentucky, . - 61 

Frankfort, - - . .64 

State House, Frankfort, . 65 

Military Monument, . - 65 

Grave of Daniel Boone, - 67 



Louisville, . - - - - 69 
Medical and Law Colleges, - 70 
Green River Bridge, - - 72 
View in the Mammoth Cave, 72 
United States Barracks and Sus- 
pension Bridge, Newport, - 74 
Public Square, Lexington, - 80 
Ashland, Seat of Henry Clay, - 81 
Monument of Henry Clay, - 83 
Old Fort at Boonesboro', - - 84 
Landing at Paducah, - 86 
A Tobacco Plantation, - - 87 
(vii) 



Vlll 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



A Religious Encarapnient, - 93 

Signature of Daniel Boone, - 94 
Signature of Geo. Rogers Clark, 95 
Signature of Isaac Shelby, - 98 
Signature of Henry Clay, - 98 

Fort Donelson, - - - 112 
Public Square, Bowling Green, 118 

OHIO. 

Arms of Ohio, - - - 133 
Ancient Mound, Marietta, - 138 
Campus Martius, Marietta, - 139 
A Pioneer Dwelling, - - 141 
Gallipolis, in 1791, - - 143 
Outline View of Cincinnati, - 146 
First Church in Cincinnati, - 148 
Cincinnati in 1802, - - 149 

View in Fourth Street, Cincinnati, 151 
Pike's Opera House, - - 153 

Longworth's Viney.ird, - 155 
President Harrison s House, 

North Bend, - - - 157 
Old Block House, near North 

Bend, - ... 158 
Monument of J. C. Symmes, - 158 
Court House, Chillicothe, - 159 
Old State Capitol, - - - 160 
Portsmouth, . . . 161 
State Capitol, Columbus, - - 164 
Ohio White Sulphur Springs, 165 
Court House, Zanesville, - - 167 

Market Street, Steuljenville, 173 
Superior Street, Cleveland, - 175 
Ancient Map of the Vicinity of 

Cleveland, - - - 176 

Toledo, 178 

Wayne's Battle-ground, - 181 
Public Square, Sandusky, - 186 
Ancient Map, Sandusky, - 186 
Fort Sandusky, - - - 187 
Wyandot Mission Church, - 189 
View in Dayton, - - - 190 
Old Log Court House in Greene 

County, - - - 191 

Plan of St. Clair's Battle-field, 193 
Birth-place of Tecumseh, - 196 

Signature of President Harrison, 197 
Swiss Emigrant's Cottage, - 197 
Grave of Simon Kenton, - - 199 
Brady's Pond, - - - 200 
Statue of Com. Perry, Cleveland, 201 



INDIANA. 

Arms of Indiana, - - 231 
The Harrison House, Vincennes, 235 
State Capitol, Indianapolis, - 240 
Union Depot, ... 241 
View in Terre Haute, - - 244 
Friends' Boarding School, Rich- 
mond, . - - . 245 
Evansville, - - - - 247 
Rapp's Church, New Harmony, 248 
Calhoun Street, Fort Wayne, 251 
Old Fort Wayne, - - - 253 
Lafayette, - - - - 256 
Tippecanoe Battle-ground, - 257 
Map of Tippecanoe Battle- 
ground, - - - . 261 
Madison, - . . . 262 
New Albany, - - - 264 
Military Monument, - - 265 
University of Indiana, - 267 
Old State Capitol, Co'rydon, - 267 
The Jug Rock, - - - 268 
The Mill Stream Cave, - - 268 



ILLINOIS. 

Arms of Illinois, - - 281 

Chicago, in 1831, - - - 286 

Court House Square, Chicago, 288 
Block Raising, Chicago, - 290 
Grain Houses and Railway De- 
pot, Chicago, - - - 291 
State House Square, Springfield, 297 
President Lincoln's Residence, 

Springfield, - - - 299 

Illinois College, Jacksonville, 304 
Bloomington, ... 307 
Peoria, .... 308 

Quincy, .... 312 
Alton, .... 314 

Map of Levee at Cairo, - 318 
Junction of the Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi, Cairo, ... 318 
Galena, .... 319 
Tlue Lead Region, - . .321 
Rock Island City, - - 322 
Fort Armstrong, Rock Island, 323 
Nauvoo, - . . - 325 

Mt. Joliet, - . - 329 

Cave-in-the-Rock, - - - 335 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



IX 



MICHIGAN. 
Arms of Michigan, - - 353 

Detroit, " ' '. " ^^^ 

Woodward Avenue, Detroit, 361 
State House, Lansing, ■ - - 367 
State Penitentiary, Jackson, 369 
State University, Ann Arbor, - 370 
Winchester's Head-quarters, 

Monroe, - - - 371 

Site of Stockade on the Raisin, 374 
StateAaylumfor Deaf and Blind, 

Flint, - - - - 379 

Monroe Street, Grrand Rapids, 381 
Lumberman's Camp, - - 382 
Mackinaw Island. . . - 386 
The Arched Rock, - - 387 
Ruins of Old Fort Mackinaw, - 388 
Map of Mackinaw and Vicinity, 391 
Falls of St. Mary, • - - 393 
.Map of Copper and Iron Region, 396 
The Minnesota Mine, - - 398 



WISCONSIN. 




Arms of Wisconsin, 


- 421 


Harbor of Milwaukie, 


427 


The Portage, - 


- 437 


Voyageurs' Camp, 


- 438 


Madison, ... 


- 439 


Map of the Four Lakes. 


. 443 



Fort Crawford, Prairie du Chien, 445 
Racine, - - - - - 450 
The Maiden's Rock, - - 454 
Fort Winnebago, in 1831, - 457 

MINNESOTA. 

Arms of Minnesota, - - 475 

St. Paul, .... 480 

Fort Snelling, - - - 482 

Minne- ha-ha Falls, - - 483 

Lake Itasca, - - - - 487 

Dakotah Dog Dance (music), 489 

Ojibway Scalp Dance (music) 489 

IOWA. 

Arms of Iowa, - . - - 501 

Dubuque, ... - 506 

Ruins of Camanche, - - 513 

Davenport, ... 517 

Attack on Bellevue Hotel, - 521 

Burlington, ... 525 



Judge Rorer's House, - - 526 

Keokuk, .... 527 

Prairie Scenery, ... 529 

State Capitol, Des Moines, - 532 

Muscatine, . - . . 533 

State University, Iowa City, 535 

MISSOURI. 

Arms of Missouri, ... 555 

Levee at St. Louis, - - 559 

Court House, St. Louis, - - 561 

Riddle Monument, - - 567 

Jefferson City, ... 568 

Lexington Landing, - - 573 

Kansas City, - - - 574 

A Santa Fe Train, - - 576 

St. Joseph, . - - 578 

Hannibal, - - - 579 

Pilot Knob, - - - 588 

KANSAS. 

Arms of Kansas, - - 623 

Fort Leavenworth, - - 628 

Leavenworth, - - 629 

Lawrence, .... 631 

Lecompton, ... 633 

Topeka Bridge, - - - 635 

Kansas Indian Village, - 637 

CALIFORNIA. 

Arms of California, - - 649 

Habor of San Francisco, - 659 
Execution by the Vigilance 

Committee, - - - 664 
Washing Gold with the Long 

Tom, - - - - 670 

Sutter's Mill, - - - 669 

Hydraulic Mining, - - 672 

Fremont's Ranch, - - 673 

Mammoth Tree Grove, ' - - 675 

OREGON. 

Arms of Oregon, - - . 691 

Valley of the Willamette, - 696 

Giant Pines, - - - 697 

NEW MEXICO. 

Giant Cactus, - - - 709 

Pueblo, or Town of Zuni, - 711 



^ ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Ancient Pueblo, - - - 715 ARIZONA. 
Ground Plan of an Ancient 

Pueblo, - - - 715 Church at Tucson on San Anto- 

Ancient Pueblo in the Canon of nio's Day, ... 723 

Chelly, .... 717 Reduction Works, Heintzelman 

Canon of Chelly, - - 717 Silver Mine, - - - 724 
View of Inscription Roek, near 

Zuni, - - - - 719 

UTAH. COLORADO. 



View in Salt Lake City, 
Mormon Harem, 



730 View in Denver, 
732 Street in Denver, 



738 
739 



All the engravings original to this work are included in the copy- 
right, and can not be copied from by other publishers, without an infringe- 
ment of the law protecting this kind of pi operty.-'^a 



STATES-TERRITORIES-CITIES AND TOWNS. 





STATES. 






CALIFORNIA, 


- 649 MINNESOTA, 


• . . 


475 


ILLINOIS, 


- 281 MISSOURI, 


. 


555 


INDIANA, 


- 231 NEVADA, 


. . . 


679 


IOWA, - 


- 501 OHIO, 


. 


133 


KANSAS, - 


- 623 OREGON, - 


. . . 


691 


KENTUCKY, - 


61 WEST VIRGINIA, 


33 


MICHIGAN, 


- 353 WISCONSIN, 
TERRITORIES. 


■•■ 


421 


Arizona, 


'- 721 Montana, - 


mm. 


749 


Colorado, 


737 Nebraska, 


. 


753 


Dacotah, 


- 757 New Mexico, 


- . . 


703 


Idaho, 


747 Utah, 


. 


727 


Indian, 


- 758 Washington, 
CITIES — TOWNS. 




701 


Abingdon, 331 


Almont, 386 Aurora, 269, 685 


Beloit, 


451 


Acoma, 713 


Alton, 313 Austin, 685 


Bellefontain( 


3 195 


Adrian, 370 


Ann Arbor, 370 Bannock City 750 


Belleville, 


331 


Akron, 195 


Ashtabula, 195 Bardstown, 86 


Bel]evue,520,755 


Albuquerque 713 


Astoria, 698 Batavia, 331 


Belvidere, 


331 


Allegan, 386 


Atchison, 630 Battle Creek, 385 


Benecia, 


678 



CITIES — TOWNS. 



XI 



Blooniincfton, 

267, 307 
Boonville, 583 
BowlingGreeD,86 
Bucyrus, 195 
Burlington, 524 
Cairo, 317 

Cambridge, 196 
Cambridge 

City, 269 

Cannelton, 269 
Canton, 195 

Carrolton, 86 
Carson City, 682 
Cedar Falls, 537 
Cedar Rapids, 537 
Ceredo, 42 

Charleston, 42 
Chicago, 285 

Chillicothe, 159 
Cincinnati, 145 
Circleville, 152 
Clarksburg, 43 
Cleveland, 175 
Coldwater, 385 
ColoradoCity 740 
Coloma, 668 

Columbus, 

86, 164, 269 
Conneaut, 173 
Connersville, 269 
Corydon, 267 
Coultersville, 677 
Council Bluffs 

City, 533 

Covington, 74 
Crawfordsville, 

267 
Crescent City 678 
Cynthiana, 86 
Davenport, 516 
Danville, 85 

Dayton, 189 

Decatur, 331 

Delaware, 195 
Delphi, 269 

Denver, 740 

Des Moines, 532 
Detroit, 359 

Dixon, 330 

Dubuque, 506 
Dunleith, 330 



Eaton, 196 

Elein, 331 

Elk City, 647 
Elyria, 195 

Evansville, 246 
Fillmore City 736 
Flint, 379 

Florence City647 
Fon du Lac, 455 
Fort Dodge, 536 
FortSnelling,482 
Fort Wayne, 251 
Fort Yuma, 678 
Frankfort, 64 
Franklin, 269 
Fremont, 187 
Freeport, 319 
Galena, 319 

Galesburg, 31 9 
Gallipolis, 142 
Georgetown, 86 
Germantown, 196 
Golden City, 740 
Goshen, 269 

Grand Haven, 386 
Grand Ilapids380 
Grasshopper 

Falls, 636 

Green Bay, 432 
Greencastle, 267 
Greenfield, 196 
Greensburg, 269 
Grinnell, 537 
Guyandotte, 51 
Hamilton, 158 
Hannib;rl, 579 
Harrodsburg, 67 
Hastings, 485 
Henderson, 86 
Hermann, 584 
Hickman, 86 
Hillsdale, 385 
Hillsboro', 196 
Hopkinsville, 86 
Hudson, 454 
Humboldt 

City, 678 

Huntington, 269 
Independ'nce579 
Indianapolis, 239 
Iowa City, 535 
Ironton, 196, 583 



Janesville, 451 
Jackson, 369 
Jacksonville, 303 
JeffersonCity567 
Jeffersonville266 
Joliet, 329 

Kalamazoo, 385 
Kankakee 

City, 330 

Kansas City, 574 
Kaskaskia, 299 
Kenosha, 450 
Keokuk, 527 
Keosauqua, 537 
Klamath, 678 
La Crosse, 453 
La Fayette, 255 
Lake City, 485 
Laguna, 713 

Lancaster, 196 
Lansing, 367 

La Pointe, 464 
Laporte, 266 

La Salle, 330 
Lawrence, 630 
Lawrenceburar, 

'26G 
Leavenworth 

City, 629 

Lebanon, 196 
Lecompton, 633 
Le Sueur, 485 
Lewisburg, 42 
Lexington80,572 
Lima, 195 

Logan, 196 

Logansport, 265 
Los Angelos,678 
Louisville, 68 
M'Connelsville, 

196 
Mackinaw, 386 
Macomb, 331 
Madison, 262,439 
Manhattan, 636 
Manitowoc, 464 
Mansfield, 195 
Marietta, 137 
Mariposa, 677 
Marshall, 385 
Marquette, 401 
Marysville, 673 



Massillon, 195 
Maysville, 73 
Mendota, 485 
MichiganCity266 
Milwaukie, 427 
Minneapolis, 484 
Mineral Point451 
Mishawaka, 269 
Moline, 331 

Monroe, 370 

Monterey, 678 
Morgantown, 43 
Mt. Clemens, 386 
Mt. Pleasant, 537 
Mt. Vernon, 

195, 269 
Muncie, 269 

Muscatine, 533 
Naperville, 331 
Nauvoo, 325 

NebraskaCity755 
NemahaCity,755 
New Albany, 265 
Newark, 166 

N. Harmony, 248 
New Lisbon, 196 
New Madrid, 569 
Newport, 74 

Nicolet, 485 

Niles, 385 

Norwalk, 195 
Oberlin, 195 

Olympia, 702 
Omaha City, 755 
Ontonagon, 401 
Oregon City, 698 
Oskaloosa, 537 
Ossawatomie,636 
Ottawa, 331 

Owensboro, 86 
Ozaukee, 464 
Paducah, 86 

Painesville, 195 
Paris, 86 

Parkersburg, 39 
Pembina, 757 
Peoria, 308 

Peru, 269 

Piqua, 195 

Plattesmouth 755 
Pomeroy, 1 96 
Pontiac, 384 



xu 



CITIES — TOWNS. 



Portao:e City, 456 
Port Huron, 384 
Portland, 698 
Portsmouth, 161 
Potosi, 583 

Prairie du 

Chien, 444 
Prescott, 454,721 
Princeton, 269 
Quincy, 312 

Racine, 449 

Ravenna, 195 
Red Wing, 485 
Richmond, 245 
Ripley, 196 

Rising Sun, 269 
Rockford, 319 
Rock Island 

City, 322 

Rockville, 269 
Romeo, 386 

Russellville, 86 
Sacramento 

City, 668 

Saginaw, 384 
St. Aime, 330 



St. Anthony, 483 
St. Charles, 

331, 582 
St. Genevieve, 584 
St. Joseph, 

385, 577 
St. Louis, 559 
St. Paul, 480 
Salt Lake 

City, 730 

Salem, 698 

San Diego, 678 
Sandoval, 331 
Sandusky, 185 
SanFrancisco 658 
San Jose, 678 
SantaBarbara678 
Santa Fe, 710 
Sault de Ste. 

Marie, 393 
Shakopee, 485 
Sheboygan, 464 
Shelbyville, 

86, 269 
Sidney, 195 

Silver City, 681 



Sioux City, 537 
Smithland, 86 
Sonora, 674 

South Bend, 266 
Springfield, 

190, 297 
Sterling, 331 
Steubenville, 172 
Stillwater, 485 
Stockton, 673 
Superior City, 464 
Sycamore, 331 
Taos, 712 

Tecumseh, 385 
Terre Haute, 243 
Tiffin, 195 

Toledo, 178 

Topeka, 634 

Trinidad, 678 
Troy, 195 

Tubac, 723 

Tucson. 723 

Two Rivers, 464 
Upper San- 
dusky, 187 
Urbana, 195, 331 



Vallejo, 678 

Vandalia, 331 
Versailles, 86 
Vevay, 267 

Vincennes, 234 
Virginia City, 

681, 750 
Wabashaw, 485 
Warren, 195 

Watertown, 444 
Waubonsee, 636 
Waukegan, 331 
Wellsburg, 41 
Weston, 43, 578 
Wheeling, 39 
White Sulphur 

Springs, 43 
Wilmington, 196 
Winona, 485 

Wooster, 195 
Wyandot, 63U 
Xenia, 131 

Youngstown, 195 
Ypsilanti, 385 
Zanesville, 167 
Zuni, 713 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 



WEST. 



Twenty years after the great eveut occurred, which has imraor- 
talized the name of Christopher Columbus, Florida was discovered 
by Juan Ponce de Leon, ex-governor of Forto Rico. Sailing from 
that island in March, 1512, he discovered an unknown country, 
which he named Florida, from the abundance of its flowers, the 
trees being covered with blossoms, and its first being seen on 
Easter Sunday, a day called by the Spaniards P«sci<« Florida; 
the name imports the country of flowers. Other explorers soon 
visited the same coast. In May, 1539, Ferdinand de Soto, the 
Governor of Cuba, landed at Tampa Bay, with six hundred fol- 
lowers. He marched into the interior; and on the 1st of May, 
1541, discovered the Mississippi; being the first European who 
had ever beheld that mighty river. 

Spain for many years claimed the whole of the country — bounded 
by the Atlantic to the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the north, all of 
which bore the name of Florida. About twenty years after the 
discovery of the Mississippi, some Catholic missionaries attempted 
to form settlements at St. Augustine, and' its vicinity; and a few 
years later a colony of French Calvinists had been established on 
the St. Mary's, near the coast. In 1565, this settlement was anni- 
hilated by an expedition from Spain, under Pedro Melendez de 
Aviles; and about nine hundred French, men, women and children, 
cruelly massacred. The bodies of many of the slain were hung 
from trees, with the inscription, '"''Not as FrenGhinen^ hut as 
hereticsy Having accomplished his bloody errand, Melendez 
founded St. Augustine, the oldest town by half a century of any 
now in the Union. Four years after, Dominic de Gourges, burn- 
ing to avenge his countr^'men, fitted out an expedition at his own 
expense, and surprised the Spanish colonists on the St. Mary's ; 
destroying the ports, burning the houses, and ravaging the settle- 
ments with fire and sword; finishing the work by also suspending 
some of the corpses of his enemies from trees, with the inscription, 



14 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

^'■Not as Spaniards, hut as vturdGTQTsP Unable to hold possession 
of the country, de Goiirges retired to his fleet. Florida, excepting 
for a few years, remained under the Spanish crown, suffering much 
in its early history, from the vicissitudes of war and piratical 
incursions, until 1819, when, vastly diminished from its original 
boundaries, it was ceded to the United States, and in ]845 became 
a State. 

In 1535, James Cartier, a distinguished French mariner, sailed 
with an exploring expedition up the St. Lawrence, and taking pos- 
session of the country in the name of his king, called it "New 
France." In 1608, the energetic Cliamplain created a nucleus for 
the settlement of' Canada, by founding Quebec. This was the 
same year with the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, and twelve 
years previous to that on which the Puritans first stepped upon the 
rocks of Plymouth. 

To strengthen the establisliment of French dominion, the genius 
of Champlain saw that it was essential to establish missions among 
the Indians. Up to this period "the far west" had been untrod 
by the foot of the white man. In 1616, a French Franciscan, 
named Le Caron, passed through the Iroquois and Wyandot 
nations — to strean.s running into Lake Huron; and in 1634, two 
Jesuits founded the first mission in that region. But just a century 
elapsed from the discovery of the Mississippi, ere the first Canadian 
envoys met the savage nations of the northwest at the falls of St. 
Mary's, below the outlet of Lake Superior. It was not until 1659 
that'any of the adventurous fur-traders wintered on the' shores of 
this vast lake, nor until 1660 that Rene Mesnard founded the first 
missionary station upon its rocky and inhospitable coast. Perish- 
ing soon after in the forest, it was left to Father Claude Allouez, 
five years subsequent, to build the first permanent habitation of 
white men among the Northwestern Indians. In 1668, the mission 
was founded at the falls of St. Mary's, by Dablon and Marquette ; 
in 1670, Nicholas Perrot, agent for the intendant of Canada, 
explored Lake Michigan to near its southern termination. Formal 
possession was taken of the northwest by the French in 1671, and 
Marquette established a missionary station at Point St. Ignace, on 
the mainland north of Mackinac, which was the first settlement in 
Michigan. 

Until late in this century, owing to the enmity of the Indians 
bordering the Lakes Ontario and Erie, the adventurous mission- 
aries, on their route west, on pain of death, were compelled to 
pass far to the north, through " a region horrible with forests," by 
the Ottawa and French Rivers of Canada. 

As yet no Frenchman had advanced beyond Fox River, of 
Winnebago Lake, in Wisconsin ; but in May, 1673, the missionary 
Marquette, with a few companions, left Mackinac in canoes; 
passed up Green Bay, entered Fox River, crossed the country to 
the Wisconsin, and, following its current, passed into and dis- 
covered the Mississippi; down which they sailed several hundred 



OUTLINE HISTORY. 15 

miles, and returned in the Autumn. The discovery of this great 
river gave great joy to New France, it being ''a pet idea" of that 
age that some of its western tributaries would aftbrd a direct route 
to the South Sea, and thence to China. Monsieur La Salle, a man 
of indefatigable enterprise, having been several years engaged in 
the preparation, in 1682, explored the Mississippi to the sea, and 
took formal possession of the country in the name of the King of 
France, in honor of whom he called it Louisiana. In 1685, he 
also took formal possession of Texas, and founded a 'colony on the 
Colorado; but La Salle was assassinated, and the colony dispersed. 

The descriptions of the beauty and magnificence of the Valley 
of the Mississippi, given by these explorers, led many adventurers 
from the cold climate of Canada to follow the same route, and 
commence settlements. About the year 1680, Kaskaskia and 
Cahokia, the oldest town-s in the Mississippi Valley, were founded. 
Kaskaskia became the capital of the Illinois country, and in 1721, 
a Jesuit college and monastery were founded there. 

A peace with the Iroquois, Ilurons and Ottawas, in 17u0, gave 
the French facilities for settling the western part of Canada. In 
June, 1701, De la Mutte Cadillac, with a Jebuit missionary and a 
hundred men, laid the tbundation of Detroit. All of the extensive 
region south of the lakes was now claimed by the French, under 
the name of Canada, or New France. This excited the jealousy 
of the English, and the New York legislature passed a law for 
hanging every Popish priest that should come voluntarily into the 
province. The French, chiefly through the mild and conciliating 
course of their missionaries, had gained so much influence over 
the western Indians, that, when a war broke out with England, in 
1711, the most powerful of the tribes became tiieir allies; and the 
latter unsuccessfully attempted to restrict their claims to the country 
south of the lakes. The Fox nation, allies of the English, in 1713, 
made an attack upon Detroit; but were defeated by the French 
and their Indian allies. The treaty of Utrecht, this year, ended 
this war. 

By the year 1720, a profitable trade had arisen in furs and agri- 
cultural products — between the French of Louisiana and those of 
Illinois; and settlements had been made on the Mississippi, below 
the junction of the Illinois. To confine the English to the Atlan- 
tic coast, the French adopted the plan of forming a line of military 
posts, to extend from the great northern lakes to the Mexican Gulf, 
and as one of the links of the chain. Fort Chartres was built on the 
Mississippi, near Kaskaskia ; and in its vicinity soon flourished 
the villages of Cahokia and Frairie du Rocher, 

The Ohio at this time was but little known to the French, and 
on their early maps was but an insignificant stream. Early in this 
century tiieir missionaries had penetrated to the sources of the Al- 
leghany. In 1721, Joncaire, a French agent and trader, estab- 
lished himself among the Senecas at Lewistown, and Fort Niagara 
was erected, near the falls, five years subsequent. In 1735, accord- 



16 OUTLINE HISTORF. 

ing to some authorities, Post St. Yincent was erected on the 
Wabash. Ahnost coeval with this, was tlie military post of Presque 
Isle, on the site of Erie, Pennsylvania, and from thence a cordon 
of posts extende 1 on the Alleghany to Pittsburgh; and from thence 
down the Ohio to the Wabasli. 

A map, published at London in 1755, gives the following list of 
French posts, as then existing in the west: Two on French Creek, 
in the vicinity of Erie, Pennsylvania; Duquesne, on the site of 
Pittsburgh; Miamis, on the Maumee, near the site of Toledo ; San- 
dusky, on Sandusky Bay; St. Joseph's, on St. Joseph's River, 
Michigan; Ponchartrain, site of Detroit; Massillimacinac; one on 
Fo3^^ River, Green Bay ; Crevecoeur, on the Illinois ; Rockfort, or 
Fort St. Louis, on the Illinois; Vincennes; Cahokia; Kaskaskia, 
and one at each of tlie mouths of the Wabash, Oliio, and Missouri. 
Other posts, not named, were built about that time. On the Ohio, 
just below Portsmouth, are ruins, supposed to be those of a French 
fort ; as they had a post there during Braddock's war. 

In 17-19, the French regularly explored the Ohio, and formed 
alliances with the Indians in Western New York, Pennsylvania, 
and Virginia. The English, who claimed the whole west to the 
.Pacific, but whose settlements were confined to the comparatively 
narrow strip east of the mountains, were jealous of the rapidly 
increasing power of the French in the west. .Not content with 
exciting the savages to hostilities against them, they stimulated 
private enterprise by granting six hundred thousand acres of choice 
land on the Ohio, to the "-Ohio Company." 

By the year 1751, there were in the Illinois country, the settle- 
ments of Cahokia, five miles below the site of St. Louis ; St. Philip's, 
forty-five miles farther down the river; St. Genevieve, a little lower 
still, and on the east side of the Mississippi, Fort Chartres, Kas- 
kaskia and Prairie du Rocher. The largest of these was Kaskas- 
kia, which at one time contained nearly three thousand souls. 

In 1748, the Ohio Company, composed mainly of wealthy Vir- 
ginians, dispatched Christopher Gist to explore the country, gain 
the good-will of the Indians, and ascertain the plans of the French. 
Crossing overland to the Oliio, he proceeded down it to the Great 
Miami, up which he passed to the towns of the Miamies, about 
fifty miles north of the site of Dayton. The next year the com- 
pany established a trading post in that vicinity, on Loramies Creek, 
the first point of English settlement in the western country; it was 
soon after broken up by the French. 

In the year 1753, Dinwiddle, Governor of Virginia, sent George 
Washington, then twenty-one years of age, as commissioner, to 
remonstrate with the French commandant who was at Fort le 
Boeuf, near the site of Erie, Pennsylvania, against encroachments 
of the French. The English claimed the country by virtue of her 
first royal charters; the French by the stronger title of discovery 
and possession. Tlie result of the mission proving unsatisfactory, 
the English, although it was a time of peace, raised a force to 



OUTLINE HISTORY. 17 

expel the invaders from the Ohio and its tributaries. A detachment 
under Lieut. Ward erected a fort on the site of Pittsburgh; but it 
was surrendered shortly after, in April, 1754, to a superior force 
of French and Indians under Contrecceur, <.nd its garrison peace- 
ably permitted to retire to the frontier post of Cumberland. Con- 
treccEur then erected a strong fortification at ''the fork," under the 
name of Fort Dnquesne. 

Measures were now taken by both nations for the struggle that 
was to ensue. On the 2Sth of May, a strong detachment of Vir- 
ginia troops, under Washington, surprised a small body of French 
from Fort Duquesne, killed its commander, M. Jumonville, and 
ten men, and took nearly all tlie rest prisoners. He then fell back 
and erected Fort Necessity, near the site of Uniontown. In July 
he was attacked by a large body of French and Indians, com- 
manded by M. Yilliers, and after a gallant resistance, compelled to 
capitulate with permission to retire unmolested, and under the ex- 
press stipulation that farther settlements or forts should not be 
founded by the English, west of the mountains, for one year. 

On the 9th of July, 1755, Gen. Braddock was defeated within 
ten miles of Fort Duquesne. His army, composed mainly of vete- 
ran English troojjs, passed into an ambuscade formed by a far 
inferior body of French and Indians, who, lying concealed in two 
deep ravines, each side of his line of march, poured in upon the 
Compact body of their enemy vollies of musketry", with almost per- 
fect safety to themselves. The Virginia provincials, under Wash- 
ington, by their knowledge of border warfare and cool bravery, 
alone saved the army from complete ruin. Braddock was himself 
mortally M^ounded by a provincial named Fausett. A brother of 
the latter had disobeyed the silly orders of the general, that the 
troops should not take positions behind the trees, when Braddock 
rode up and struck him down. Fausett, who saw the whole trans- 
action, immediately drew up his rifle and shot him through the 
lungs ; partly from revenge, and partly as a measure of salvation 
to the army which was being sacrificed to his headstrong obstinacy 
and inexperience. 

The result of this ])attle gave the French and Indians a complete 
ascendancy on the Ohio, and put a check to the operations of the 
English, west of the mountains, for two or three years. In July, 
1758, Gen. Forbes, with seven thousand men, left Carlisle, Fenn., 
for the west. A corps in advance, principally of Highland Scotch, 
under Major Grant, were on the 13th of September defeated in the 
vicinity of Fort Duquesne, on the site of Pittsburgh. A short 
time alter, the French and Indians, under Col. Boquet, made an 
unsuccessful attack upon the advanced guard. 

In November, the commandant of Fojrt Duquesne, unable to 
cope with the superior force approaching under Forbes, abandoned 
the fortress, and descended to Nevy Orleans. On his route, he 
erected Fort Massac, so called in honor of M. Massac, who super- 
intended its construction. It vas upon the Ohio, within forty 



18 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

miles of its month — and within the limits of Illinois. Forbes re- 
paired Fort Duquesne, and changed its name to Fort Pitt, in honor 
of the English Prime Minister. 

The English were now for the first time in possession of the 
upper Ohio. In the spring, they established several posts in that 
region, prominent among which was Fort Burd, or Kedstone Old 
Fort, on t\ni site of Brownsville, 

Owing to the treachery of Gov. Lyttleton, in 1760, by which, 
tv/enty-two Cherokee chiefs on an embassy of peace were made 
prisoners at Fort George, on the Savannah, that nation flew to 
arms, and for a while desolated the frontiers of Virginia and the 
Carolinas. Fort Loudon, in East Tennessee, having been besieged 
by the Indians, the garrison capitulated on the 7th of August, and 
on the day afterward, while on the route to Fort George, were 
attacked, and the greater part massacred. In the summer of 1761, 
Col. Grant invaded their country, and compelled them to sue for 
peace. On the north the most brilliant success had attended the 
British arms. Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and Fort Niagara, and 
Quebec were taken in 1759, and the next year Montreal fell, and 
with it all of Canada. 

By the treaty of Paris, in 1763, France gave up her claim to 
New France and Canada ; embracing all the country east of the 
Mississippi, from its source to the Bayou Iberville. The remainder 
of her Mississippi possessions, embracing Louisiana west of the 
Mississippi, and the Island of Orleans, she soon after secretly ceded 
to Spain, which terminated the dominion of France on this con- 
tinent, and her vast plans for empire. 

At this period Lower Louisiana had become of considerable im- 
portance. The explorations of La Salle in the Lower Mississippi 
country, were renewed in 1697, l>y Lemoine D'lberville, a brave 
French naval officer. Sailing with two vessels, he entered tlie 
Mississippi in March 1698, by the Bayou Iberville. He built foi-^s 
on the Bay of Biloxi, and at Mobile, both of which were deserted 
for the Island of Dauphine, which for years was the headquarters 
of the colony. He also erected Fort Balise, at the mouth of the 
river, and fixed on the site of Fort Rosalie ; which latter became 
the scene of a bloody Indian war. 

After his death, in 1706, Louisiana was but little more than a 
wilderness, and a vain search for gold, and trading in furs, rather 
than the substantial pursuits of agriculture, allured the colonists ; 
and much time was lost in journeys of discovery, and in collecting 
furs among distant tribes. Of the occupied lands, Biloxi was a 
barren sand, and the soil of the Isle of Dauphine poor, Bienville, 
the brother and successor of D'Iberville, was at the fort on the 
Delta of the Mississippi, where he and his soldiers were liable to 
inundations, and held joint possession with mosquitoes, frogs, 
snakes and alligators. 

In 1713, Antoine de Crozat, an East India merchant, of vast 

ealth, purchased a grant of the entire country, with the exclusive 



OUTLINE HISTORY. 19 

right of comuierco for sixteen years. But in 1717, the speculation 
liaving resulted in his ruin, and to the injury of the colonists, he 
surrendered his privileges. Soon after, a number of other adven- 
turers, under the name of the Mississippi Company, obtained from 
the French government a charter, which gave them all the rights 
of sovereignty, except the bare title, including a complete nionu- 
poly of the trade, and the mines. Their expectations werechieti)' 
from the mines; and on the strength of a former traveler, Nichohis 
Perrot, having discovered a copper mine in the valle}' of St. Peters, 
the directors of the company assigned to the soil of Louisiana, 
silver and gold ; and to the mud of the Mississippi, diamonds and 
pearls. The notorious Law, who then resided at Paris, was the 
secret agent of the company. To form its capital, its shares were 
sold at five hundred livres each; and such was the speculating 
mania of the times, that in a short time more than a hundred mil 
lions were realized. Although this proved ruinous to individuals, 
yet the colony was greatly benefited by the consequent emigration, 
and agriculture and commerce flourished. 

In 1719, Renault^ an agent of the Mississippi Company, left 
France with about tw^o hundred miners and emigrants, to carry out 
the mining schemes of the company. He bought five hundred 
slaves at St. Domingo, to work the mines, wliich he conveyed to 
Illinois in 17:^0. He established himself a few miles above Kas- 
kasia, and founded there the village of St. Philips. Extravagant 
expectations existed in France, of his probable success in obtaining 
gold and silver. He sent out exploring parties in various sections of 
Illinois and Missouri. His exi)lorations extended to the banks of 
the Ohio and Kentucky rivers, and even to the Cunjberland valley 
in Tennessee, where at '' French Lick," on the site of Nashville, the 
French established a trading post. Although Renault was woe- 
fully disappointed in not discovering extensive mines of gold or 
silver, yet he made various discoveries of lead; among which 
were the mines north of Potosi, and those on the St. Francois. 
He eventually turned his whole attention to the smelting of lead, 
of which he made considerable quantities, and shipped to France. 
He remained in the country until 1711:. Nothing of consequence 
was again done in raining, until after the American Revolution. 

In 1718, Bienville laid out the town of New^ Orleans, on the 
plan of Rochefort, France. Some four years after, the bankruptcy 
of Law threw the colony into the greatest confusion, and occasioned 
wide-spread ruin in France, where speculation had been carried to 
an extreme unknown before. 

The expenditures for Louisiana, were consequently stopped, but 
the colony had now gained strength to struggle for herself. Louisi- 
ana was then divided into nine cantons, of which Arkansas and 
Illinois formed each one. 

About this time, the colony had considerable difficulty with the 
Indian tribes, and were involved in wars with the Chickasaws and 
the Natchez. This latter named tri])e were finally completely con 



20 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

quered. The rernnant of them dispersed among other Indians, so 
that, that once powerful people, as a distinct race, was entirely 
lost. Their name alone survives, as that of a flourishing city. 
Tradition related singular stories of the Natchez. It was believed 
that they emigrated from Mexico, and were kindred to the Incas 
of Peru. The Natchez alone, of all the Indian tribes, had a con- 
secrated temple, where a perpetual fire was maintained by ap- 
pointed guardians. Near the temple, on an artificial mound, 
stood the dwelling of their chief — called the Great Sun ; who was 
supposed to be descended from that luminary, and all around were 
grouped the dwellings of the tribe. His power was absolute; the 
dignity was hereditary, and transmitted exclusively through the 
female line; and the race of nobles was so distinct, that usage had 
moulded language into the forms of reverence. 

In 1732, the Mississippi Company relinquished their charter to 
the king, after holding possession fourteen years. At this period, 
Louisiana had five thousand MJiites, and twenty-five hundred 
blacks. Agriculture was improving in all the nine cantons, par- 
ticularly in Illinois, which was considered the granary of the 
colony. Louisiana continued to advance until the war broke out 
with England in 1775, which resulted in the overthrow of French 
dominion. 

Immediately after the peace of 1763, all the old French forts in 
the west, as far as Green Bay, were repaired and garrisoned with 
British troops. Agents and surveyors too, were making examina- 
tions of the finest lands east and northeast of the Ohio. Judging 
from t!"ie past, the Indians were satisfied that the Briash intended 
to possess the whole country. The celebrated Ottowa chief, Pon- 
tiac, burning with hatred against the English, in that year formed 
a general league with the western tribes, and by the middle of May 
all the western posts had fallen — or were closely besieged by the 
Indians, and the whole frontier, for almost a thousand miles, suf- 
fered from the merciless fury of savage warfare. Treaties of peace 
were made with the different tribes of Indians, in the year follow- 
ing, at Niagara, by Sir William Johnson ; at Detroit or vicinity 
by General Bradstreet, and, in what is now Coshocton county, 
Ohio, by Col. Boquet ; at the German Flats, on the Mohawk, with 
the Six Nations and their confederates. By these treaties, exten- 
sive tracts were ceded by the Indians in New York and Pennsyl- 
vania, and south of Lake Erie. 

Peace having been concluded, the excitable frontier population 
began to cross the mountains. Small settlements were formed on 
the main routes, extending north toward Fort Pitt, and south to 
tlie head waters of the Holston and Clinch, in the vicinity of South- 
western Virginia. In 1766, a town was laid out in the vicinity of 
Fort Pitt. Military land warrants had been issued in great num- 
bers, and a perfect mania for western land had taken possession of 
the people of the middle colonies. The treaty made by Sir William 
ohnson, at Fort Stanwix, on the site of Utica, New York, in 



OUTLINE HISTORY. 21 

October, 1768, with the Six Nations and their confederates, and those 
of Hard Labor and Lochaber, made with the Cherokees, afforded 
a pretext under which the settlements were advanced. It was now 
falsely claimed that the Indian title was extinguished east and south 
of the Ohio, to an indefinite extent, and the spirit of emigration 
and speculation in laud greatly increased. Among the land com- 
panies formed at this time was the " Mississippi Company," of 
which George Washington was an active member. 

Up to this period very little was known by the English of the 
country south of the Ohio. In 1754, James M. Bride, with some 
others, had passed down the Ohio in canoes; and landing at the 
mouth of the Kentucky River, marked the initials of their names, 
and the date on the barks of trees. On their return, they were the 
first to give a particular account of the beauty and richness of the 
country to the inhabitants of the British settlements. No tarther 
notice seems to have been taken of Kentucky until the year 1767, 
when John Finlay, an Indian trader, with others, passed through 
a part of the rich lands of Kentucky — then called by the Indians 
'' tlie Dark and Bloody Ground.'''' Finlay, returning to North 
Carolina, fired the curiosity of his neighbors by the repoi'ts of the 
discoveries he had made. In consequence of this information, Col. 
Daniel Boone, in company with Finlay, Stewart, Ilolden, Monay, 
and Cool, set out from their residence on the Zadkin, in North 
Carolina, Ma}'^ 1st, 1769 ; and after a long and fatiguing march, 
over a mountainous and pathless wilderness, arrived on the lied 
River. Here, from the top of an eminence, Boone and his com- 
panions first beheld a distant view of the beautiful lands of Kentuck}', 
The plains and forests abounded with wild beasts of every kind ; 
deer and elk were common ; the buflalo were seen in herds, and 
the plains covered with the richest verdure. The glowing descrip- 
tions of these adventurers inflamed the imaginations of the border- 
ers, and their own sterile mountains beyond lost their charms, when 
compared to the fertile plains of this newly-discovered Paradise in 
the West. 

In 1770, Ebenezer Silas and Jonathan Zane settled Wheeling. 
In 1771, such was the rush of emigration to Western Pennsylvania 
and Western Virginia, in the region of the Upper Ohio, that every 
kind of breadstuff became so scarce, that, for several months, a great 
part of the population were obliged to subsist entirely on meats, 
roots, vegetables, and milk, to the entire exclusion of all bread- 
stuffs ; and hence that period was long after known as '"''the starvhig 
year.'''' Settlers, enticed by the beauty of the Cherokee country, 
emigrated to East Tennessee, and hundreds of families also, moved 
farther south to the mild climate of West Florida, which at this 
period extended to the Mississippi. In the summer of 1773, Frank- 
fort and Louisville, Kentucky, were laid out. The next year was 
signalized by " Dunmore's war," which temporarily checked the 
Settlements. 

In the summer of 1774, several other parties of surveyors and 



22 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

hunters entered Kentucky, and James Ilarrod erected adwellmpr — 
the first erected by wl)ites in tlie country — on or near the site (»f 
Harrodshnrg, around which afterward arose ^'Ilarrod Statinn." 
In the year 1775, Col. Richard Henderson, a native of North Cuv- 
oliiia, in behalf of himself and his associates, purchased of the Cher- 
okees all the country lying- between the Cumberland liivcr and 
Cumberland Mountains and Kentucky River, and south ot the 
Ohio, which now comprises more tha?! half of the State of Ken- 
tucky. The new country he named Transylvania.' The iirst 
legislature sat at Boonsborough, and formed an independent gov- 
ernment, on liberal and rational principles. Henderson was very 
active in granting lands to new settlers. The legislature of Vir- 
ginia subsequently crushed his schemes; they claimed the sole 
right to purchase lands from the Indians, and declared his purchase 
null and void. But as some compensation for the services re-n- 
dered in opening the wilderness, the legislature granted to the pro- 
jn-ietors a tract of land, twelve miles square, on the Ohio, below 
tlie mouth of Green River. 

In 1775, Daniel Boone, in the employment of Henderson, laid 
out the town and fort afterw:'.rd called Boonsborough. From tliis 
time Boonsborough and Harrodsburg became the nucleus and sup- 
])ort of emigration and settlement in Kentucky. In May, another 
fort was also built, which was under the connnand of Col. Benja- 
m'n Logan, and named Loo-an's Fort. It stood on the site of Stan- 
ford, in Lincoln county, and became an important post. 

In 1776, the jui'isdiction of Virginia was formally extended over 
the colony of Transylvania, wdiich M^as organized into a county 
named Kentucky, and the iirst court was held at Harrodsburg in 
the spring of 1787. At this time the war of the Revolution was 
in full progress, and the early settlers of Kentucky were particu- 
larly exposed to the incursions of the Indian allies of Great Britain; 
a detailed account of which is elsewhere given in this volume. The 
early French settlements in the Illinois countr}^ now being in pos- 
session of that power, formed important points around which the 
British assembled the Indians and instigated them to murderous 
incursions against the pioneer population. 

The year 1779 was marked in Kentucky by the passage of the 
Virginia Land Laws. At this time there existed claims of various 
kinds to the western lands. Commissioners were appointed to ex- 
amine and give judgment upon these various claims, as they might 
be presented. Ti)ese having been provided for, the residue of tlie 
the rich lands of Kentucky were in the market. As a consecpence 
of the passage of these laws, a vast number of emigrants crossed 
the mountains into Kentucky to locate land warrants: and in the 
years 1779-'80 and '81, the great and absorbing topic in Kentucky 
was to enter, survey and obtain patents for the richest lands, 
and this, too, in the face of all the horrors and dangers of an In- 
dian war. 

Although the main features of the Virginia land laws were just 



OUTLINE HISTORY. 23 

and liberal, yet a great detect existed in their not providing for a 
general survey of the country by tlie ])urent State, and its subdi- 
vision into sections and parts of sections. Eacli warrant-holder 
being required to nialce his own survey, and having the privilege 
of locating according to his pleasure, interminable confusion arose 
from want of precision in the boundaries. In unskillful hands, 
entries, surveys, and patents were piled upon each other, overlap- 
ping and crossing in inextricable confusion ; hence, when the 
country became densely populated, arose vexatious lawsuits and 
perplexities. Such men as Kenton and Boone, who had done so 
much for the wellare of Kentucky in its early days of trial, found 
their indefinite entries declared null and void, aiid were di -pos- 
sessed, in their old age, of any claim upon that soil for which they 
had periled their all. 

The close of the revolutionary war, for a time only, sus[)ended 
Indian hostilities, when the Indian war was again carried on with 
renewed energy. This arose from the failure of both countries in 
fully executing the terms of the treaty. By it, England was obli- 
gated to surrender the northwestern posts within the boundaries 
of the Union, and to return slaves taken during the war. The 
United States, on their part had agreed to offer no legal obstacles 
to the collection of debts due from her citizens to those of Great 
Britain. Virginia, indignant at the removal of her slaves by the 
British fleet, by law prohibited the collection of British debts, 
while England, in consequence, refused to deliver up the posts, so 
that they were held by her more than ten years, until Jays, treaty 
was concluded. 

Settlements rapidlj^ advanced. Simon Kenton having, in 1784, 
erected a blockhouse on the site of Maysville — then called Lime- 
stone — that became the point from whence the stream of emigra- 
tion, from down its way on the Ohio, turned into the interior. 

In the spring of 1783, the first court in Kentucky was held at 
Harrodsburg. At this period, the establishment of a government, 
independent of Virginia, appeared to be of paramount necessity, 
in consequence of troubles with the Indians. For this object, the 
first convention in Kentuck}' was held at Danville, in DL-cember, 
1784; but it was not consunnnated until eight separate conventions 
had been held, running through a term of six years. The last was 
assembled in July, 1790; on the 4th of February, 17D1, Congress 
passed the act admitting Kentucky' into the Union, and in the 
April following she adopted a State Constitution. 

Prior to this, unfavorable impressions prevailed in Kentuck}' 
against the Union, in consecjuence of the inabilitj' of Congress to 
compel a surrender of the northwest posts, and the apparent dis- 
position of the Northern States to yield to Spain, for twent}' years, 
the sole right to navigate the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, 
the exclusive right to which was claimed by that power as being 
within her dominions Kentucky was suffering under the horrors 
of Indian warfare, and having no government other own, she saw 



24 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

that that beyond the mountains was nnalile to afford them protec- 
tion. When, in the year 178H, several iStates in Con:i;ress sliowed 
a disposition to yield the ri^lit of navigating the Mississippi to 
Spain for certain commercial advantages, wliich would inure to 
their benefit, but not in the Last to that of Kentucky, there arose 
a universal voice of dissatisfaction ; and many were in favor of de- 
claring the independence of Kentucky and erecting an independent 
government west of the mountains. 

Spain was then an immenc^e landholder in the West. She claimed 
all east of the Mississippi lying south or the 31st degree of north 
latitude, and all west of that river to the ocean. 

In May, 1787, a convention was assembled at Danville to remon- 
strate with Congress against the proposition of ceding the naviga- 
tion of the Mississippi to Spain; but it having been ascertained 
that Congress, through the inlluence of Virginia and the other 
Southern States, would not permit this, the convention had no occa-" 
sion to act upon the subject. 

In the year 1787, quite a sensation arose in Kentucky in conse- 
quence of a profitable trade having been opened with New Orleans 
by General Wilkinson, who descended thither in June, with a boat 
load of tobacco and other productions of Kentucky, Previously, 
all those who ventured down the river within the Spanish settle- 
ments, had their property seized. The lure was then held out by 
the Spanish Minister, that if Kentucky would declare her indepen- 
dence of the United States, the navigation of the Mississippi should 
be opened to her; but that, never would tliis privilege be extended 
while she was a part of the Union, in consequence of existing com- 
mercial treaties between Spain aud other European powers. 

In the winter of 1788-9, the notorious Dr. Connolly, a secret 
British agent from Canada, arrived in Kentucky. His object ap- 
peared to be to sound the temper of her people, and ascertain if 
they "were willing to unite with British troops from Canada, and 
seize upon and hold New Orleans and the Spanish settlements on 
the Mississippi. He dwelt upon the advantages wliich it must be 
to the people of the West to hold and possess the right of navigat- 
ing the Mississippi; but his overtures were not accepted. 

At this time settlements had been commenced within the present 
limits of Ohio. Before giving a sketch of these, we glance at the 
western land claims. 

The claim of the English monarch to the Northwestern Territory 
was ceded to the United States by the treaty of peace signed at 
Paris, September 3, 1783. During the pendency of this negotia- 
tion, Mr. Oswald, the British commissioner, proposed the Kiver 
Ohio as tiie western boundary of the United States, and but for the 
indomitable persevering opi)Osition of John Adams, one of the 
American commissioners, who insisted upon the Mississippi as the 
boundary, this proposition would have probably been acceded to. 

'ihe States who owned western una})j)ropriated lands under their 
original charters from British monarchs, with a single exception. 



OUTLINE HISTORY. 25 

ceded them to the United States. In March, 1784, Yiro;inia ceded 
the soil and jurisdiction of her lands northwest of the Ohio. In 
September, 1786, Connecticut ceded her claim to the soil and juris- 
diction of her western lands, excepting that part of Ohio known as 
the "Western Reserve," and to that she ceded her jurisdictional 
claims in 1800, Massachusetts and New York ceded all their 
claims. Beside these were the Indian claims asserted by the right 
of possession. These have been extinguished by various treaties, 
from time to time, as the inroads of emigration rendered necessary. 

The Indan title to a large part of the territory of Ohio having 
become extinguished, Congress, before settlements were com- 
menced, found it necessary to pass ordinances for the survey and 
sale of the lands in the Northwest Territory, In October, 1787, 
Manasseh Cutler and Winthrop Sargeant, agents of the New Eng- 
land Ohio Company, made a large purchase of land, bounded south 
by the Ohio, and west by the Scioto river. Its settlement was com- 
menced at Marietta in the spring of 1788, which was the first made 
by the Americans within Ohio. A settlement had been attempted 
within' the limits of Ohio, on the site of Portsmouth, in April, 
1785, by four families from Redstone, Pennsylvania, but difficul- 
ties with the Indians compelled its abandonment. 

About the time of the settlement of Marietta, Congress appointed 
General Arthur St. Clair, Governor; Winthrop Sargeant, Secre- 
tary; and Samuel Ilolden Parsons, James M. Varnum and John 
Cleves Symmes, Judges in and over the Territory, They organ- 
ized its government and passed laws, and the governor erected the 
county of Washington, embracing nearly the whole of the eastern 
half of the present limits of Ohio. 

In November, 1788, the second settlement within the limits of 
Ohio was commenced at Columbia, on the Ohio, five miles above 
the site of Cincinnati, and within the purchase and under the 
auspices of John Cleves Symmes and associates. Shortly after, 
settlements were commenced at Cincinnati and at North Bend, 
sixteen miles below, both within Symmes' purchase. In 1790, 
another settlement was made at Galliopolis by a colony from 
France — the name signifying City of the French, 

On the 9th of January, 1789, a treaty was concluded at Fort 
Harmer, at the mouth of the Muskingum, opposite Marietta, by 
Governor St. Clair, in which the treaty which had been made four 
years previous at Fort M'Intosh, on the site of Beaver, Pennsyl- 
vania, was renewed and confirmed. It did not, however, produce 
the tavorable results anticipated. The Indians, the same year, 
committed numerous murders, which occasioned the alarmed set- 
tlers to erect block-houses in each of the new settlements. In 
June, Major Doughty, with one hundred and forty men, commenced 
the erection of Fort Washington, on the site of Cincinnati. In the 
course of the summer. Gen. Ilarmer arrived at the fort with three 
hundred men. 

Negotiations with the Indians proving unfavorable, Gen. Harmer 



26 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

marched, in September, 1790, from Cincinnati with thirteen hundred 
men, less than one-tburth of whom were regulars, to attack their 
towns on the Maumee, He succeeded in burning their towns; but 
in an engagement with the Indians, part of his troops met with a 
severe loss. Tlie next year a larger army was assembled at Cin- 
cinnati, under Gen. St Clair, composed of about three thousand 
men. With this force he commenced his march ttnvard the Indian 
towns on the Maumee. Early in the morning of the 4th of Nov., 
1791, his army, while in camp on what is now the line of Darke 
and Mercer counties, within three miles of the Indiana line, and 
about seventy north from Cincinnati, were surprised by a large 
body of Indians, and defeated with terrible slaughter. A third 
army, under Gen. Anthony "Wayne, was organized. On the 20th 
of August, 1791:, they met and completely defeated the Indians, 
on the Maumee River, about twelve miles south of the site of 
Toledo. The Indians at length, becoming convinced of their 
inability to resist the American arras,' sued for peace. On the 3d 
of August, 179.5, Gen. Wayne concluded a treaty at Greenville, 
sixty miles north of Cincinnati, with eleven of the most powerful 
northwestern tribes in grand council. This gave peace to the 
West of several years' duration, during which the settlements pro- 
gressed with great rapidity. Jay's Treaty, concluded November 
19th, 1791:, was a most important event to the prosperity of the 
West. It provided for the withdrawal of all the British troops 
from the northwestern posts. In 1796, the Northwestern Territory 
was divided into five counties. Marietta was the seat of justice 
of Hamilton and Washington counties; Vincennes, of Knox 
county ; Kaskaskia, of St. Clair county ; and Detroit, of Wayne 
county. The settlers, out of the limits of Ohio, were Canadian or 
Creole French. The headquarters of the northwest army were 
removed to Detroit, at which point a fort had been built, by 
De la Motte Cadillac, as early as 1701. 

Originally Virginia claimed jurisdiction over a large part of 
Western Pennsylvania as being within her dominions, yet it was 
not until after the close of the Revolution that the boundary line 
was permanently established. Then this tract was divided into 
two counties. The one, Westmoreland, extended from the moun- 
tains west of the Alleghany River, including Pittsburgh and all 
the country between the Kishkeminitas and the Youghiogheny. 
The other, Washington, comprised all south and west of Pittsburgh, 
inclusive of all the country east and west of the Monongahela 
River. At this period Fort Pitt was a frontier post, around which 
had sprung up the village of Pittsburgh, which was not regularly 
laid out into a town until 1784. The settlement on the Monon- 
gahela at " Redstone Old Fort," or '" Fort Burd," as it originally 
was called, having become an important point of embarkation for 
western emigrants, was the next year laid off into a town under 
the name of Brownsville. Regular forwarding houses were soon 
established here, by whose lines goods were systematically wagoned 



OUTLINE HISTORY. 27 

over the ir.ountains, thus superseding the slow and tedious mode 
ol* transportation by pack-horses, to which the emigrants had 
previously been obliged to resort. 

In July, 17S6, '' The Pittsburgh Gazette," tiie first newspaper 
issued in the west, was published; the second being the '•'Ken- 
tucky Gazette," established at Lexington, in August of the next 
year. As late as 1791, the Alleghany Iliver was the frontier 
limit of the settlements of Pennsylvania, the Indians liolding 
possession of the region around its northwestern tributaries, with 
the exception of a few scattering settlements, which were all 
simultaneously broken up and exterminated in one night, in 
February of this year, by a band of one hundred and fifty Indians. 
During the cam))aigns of Ilarmer, St. Clair and Wayne, Pitts- 
burgh was the great depot for the armies. 

By this time agriculture and manufactures had begun to flourish 
in Western Pennsylvania and Virginia, and an extensive trade 
was carried on with the settlements on the Ohio and on the Lower 
Mississij)pi, with New Orleans and the rich Spanish settlements in 
its vicinity. Monongahela whisky, horses, cattle, and agricultural 
and mechanical implements of iron were the principal articles of 
export. The Spanish government soon after much embarrassed 
this trade by imposing heavy duties. 

The first settlements in Tennessee were made in the vicinity of 
Fort Loudon, on the Little Tennessee, in what is now Monroe 
county. East Tennessee, about the year 175S. Forts Loudon and 
Chissel were built at that time by Colonel Byrd, who marched into 
the Clierukee country with a regiment from Virginia. The next 
year war broke out with the Cherokees. In 1760, the Cherokees 
besieged Fort Loudon, into which the settlers had gathered their 
families, numbering nearly three hundred persons. The latter 
were obliged to surrender for want of provisions, but agreeably to 
the terms of capitulation were to retreat unmolested beyond the 
Blue llidge. When they had proceeded about twenty miles on 
their route, the savages fell upon them and massacred all but nine, 
not even sparing the women and children. 

The only settlements were thus broken up by this war. The 
next year the celebrated Daniel Boone made an excursion from 
North Carolina to the waters of the Holston. In 1766, Colonel 
James Smith, with five others, traversed a great portion of Middle 
and West Tennessee. At the mouth of the Tennessee, Smith's 
companions left him to make farther explorations in Illinois, wdiile 
he, in company with a negro lad, returned home through the 
wilderness, after an absence of eleven months, during which he 
saw "neither bread, money, women, nor spirituous liquors.'' 

Other explorations soon succeeded, and permanent settlements 
first made in 1768 and '69, by emigrants from Virginia and North 
Carolina, who were scattered along the branches of the Holston, 
French Broad and Watauga. The jurisdiction of North Carolina 
was, in 1777, extended over the Western District, which was 



28] OUTLINE HISTORY. 

organized as the county of Washington, and extending nominaHy 
M'estvvard to the Mississippi. Soon after, some of the more daring 
pioneers made a settlement at Bledsoe's Station, in Middle Terjiies- 
see, in the heart of the Chickasaw nation, and separated several 
hundred miles, by the usual traveled route, from their kinsmen on 
the Holston. A number of French traders had previously estab- 
lished a trading post and erected a few cabins at the "BlulF" nvar 
the site of Nashville. To the same vicinity Colonel James 
Robertson, in the fall of 1780, emigrated with forty families from 
North Carolina, who were driven from their homes by the maraud- 
ing incursions of Tarleton's cavalry, and established ''Robertson's 
Station," which formed the nucleus around which gathered the 
settlements on the Cumberland. The Cherokees having com- 
menced hostilities upon the frontier inhabitants about the com- 
mencement of the year 1781, Colonel Campbell, of Virginia, with 
seven hundred mounted riflemen, invaded their country and defeated 
them. At the close of the Revolution, settlers moved in in large 
numbers from Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia. 
Nashville was laid out in the summer of 1781:, and named trom 
General Francis Nash, who fell at Brandywine. 

The people of this district, in common with those of Kentucky, 
and on the upper Ohio, were deeply interested in the navigation of 
the Mississippi, and under the tempting offers of the Spanish gov- 
ernor of Louisiana, many were lured to emigrate to West Florida 
and become subjects of the Spanish king. 

North Carolina having ceded her claims to her western lands, 
Congress, in iMay, 1790, erected this into a territory under the 
name of the " Southwestern Territory," according to the provi- 
sions of the ordinance of 1787, excepting the article prohibiting 
slavery. 

The territorial government was organized with a legislature, a 
legislative council, with William Blount as their first Governor. 
Knoxville was made the seat of government. A fort was erected 
to intimidate the Indians, by the United States, in the Indian 
country, on the site of Kingston. From this period until the final 
overthrow of the northwestern Indians by Wayne, this territory 
sufll'ered from the hostilities of the Creeks and Cherokees, who were 
secretly supplied with arms and ammunition by the Spanish agents, 
with the hope that they would exterminate the Cumberland settle- 
ments. In 1795 the territory contained a population of seventy- 
seven thousand two hundred and sixty-two, of whom about ten 
thousand were slaves. On the first of June, 1796, it was admitted 
into the Union as the State of Tennessee. 

By the treaty of October 27, 1795, with Spain, the old sore, the 
right of navigating the Mississippi, was closed, that power ceding 
to the United States the right of free navigation. 

The Territory of Mississippi w^as organized in 1798, and Win- 
throp Sargeant appointed Governor. By the ordinance of 1787, 
the people of the Northwest Territory were entitled to elect Repre- 



OUTLINE HISTORY. 29 

scntatives to a Territorial Legislature whenever it contained 5000 
males of full age. Before the close of the year 179S the Territory 
had this number, and members to a Territorial Legislature we e 
soon after chosen. In the year 1799, William H. PLirrison was 
chosen the first delegate to Congress from the Northwest Territory. 
In 1800, the Territory of Indiana was formed, and the next year, 
William H. Harrison appointed Governor. This Territory com- 
prised the present States of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and 
Michigan, which vast country then had less than 6000 whites, and 
those mainly of French origin. On the 30th of April, 1802, C(jn- 
gress passed an act authorizing a convention to form a constitution 
for Oliio. This convention met at Chillicothe in the succeeding 
November, and on the 29th of that month, a constitution of State 
Government was ratified and signed, by which act Ohio became 
one of the States of the Federal Union. In October, 1802, the 
whole western country was thrown into a ferment by the suspension 
of the American right of depositing goods and produce at New 
Orleans, guaranteed by the treaty of 1795, with Spain. The whole 
commerce of the West was struck at in a vital point, and the treaty 
evidently violated. On the 25th of February, 1803, the port was 
opened to provisions, on paying a duty, and in April following, by 
orders of the King of Spain, the right of deposit was restored. 

After the treaty of 1763, Louisiana remained in possession of 
Spain until 1803, when it was again restored to France by the 
terms of a secret article in the treaty of St. Ildefonso concluded 
with Spain in 1800. France held but brief possession ; on the 30th 
of April she sold her claim to the United States for the considera- 
tion of fifteen millions of dollars. On the 20th of the succeeding 
December, General Wilkinson and Claiborne took possession of the 
country for the United States, and entered New Orleans at the head 
of the American troops. 

On the 11th of January, 1805, Congress established the Terri- 
tory of Michigan, and appointed William Hull, Governor. This 
same year Detroit was destroyed by fire. The town occupied only 
about two acres, completely covered with buildings and cumbusti- 
ble materials, excepting the narrow intervals of fourteen or fifteen 
feet used as streets or lanes, and the whole was environed with a 
very strong and secure defense of tall and solid pickets. 

At this period the conspiracy of Aaron Burr began to agitate 
the western country. In December, 1806, a fleet of boats with 
arms, provisions, and ammunition, belonging to the confederates 
of Burr, were seized upon the Muskingum, by agents of the United 
States, Vv'hich proved a fatal blow to the project. In 1809, the Ter- 
ritory of Illinois was formed from the western part of the Indiana 
Territory, and named from the powerful tribe which once had 
occupied its soil. 

The Indians, who, since the treaty of Greenville, had been at 
l^eace, about the year 1810, began to commit aggressions upon the 
inhabitants of the West, under the lead.Mship of Tecumseh. The 



30 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

next year they were defeated by General Harrison, at the Ijatt'e of* 
Tippecanoe, in Indiana. This year was also distini^aiished by the 
voyage from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, of the steamboat " New 
Orleans," the first steamer ever launched upon the western waters. 

In June, 1812, the United States declared war against Great 
Britain. Of this war, the West was the principal theater. Its 
opening scenes were as gloomy and disastrous to the American 
arms as its close was brilliant and triumphant. 

At the close of the war, t!ie population of the Territories of In- 
diana, Illinois, and Michigan was less than 50,000. But from that 
time onward, the tide of emigration again went forward with un- 
precedented rapidity. On the 19th of April, 1816, Indiana was 
admitted into the Union, and Illinois on the 3d of December, 1818. 
The remainder of the Northwest Territory, as then organized, was 
included in the Territory of Michigan, of which that section west 
of Lake Michigan bore the name ot the Huron District. This part 
of the West increased so slowly that^, by the census of 1830, the 
Territory of Mich'gan contained, exclusive of the Huron District, 
but 28,000 souls, while that had only a population of 3,640. Em- 
igration began to set in more strongly to the Territory of Michigan 
in consequence of steam navigation having been successfully intro- 
duced upon the great lakes of the West. The first steamboat upon 
these immense inland seas was the " Walk-in-the- Water," which, 
in 1819, went as far as Mackinaw; yet it was not until 1826 that a 
steamer rode the waters of Lake Michigan, and six j'ears more had 
elapsed ere one had penetrated as far as Chicago. 

The year 1832 was signalized by three important events in the 
history of the West, viz: the first appearance of the Asiatic 
Cholera, the Great Flood in the Ohio, and the war with Black 
Hawk. 

The West has suffered serious drawbacks, in its progress, from 
inefiicient systems of banking. One bank frequently was made 
the basis of another, and that of a third, and so on throughout the 
country. Some three or four shrewd agents or directors, in estab- 
lishing a bank, would collect a few thousands in specie, that had 
been honestly paid in, and then make up the remainder of the 
capital with the bills or stock from some neighboring bank. Thus 
so intimate was the connection of each bank with others, that 
when one or two gave way, they all went down together in one 
common ruin. 

In 1804, the year preceding the purchase of Louisiana, Congress 
formed, from part of it, the "Territory of Orleans," which was 
admitted into the Union, in 1812, as the State of Louisiana. In 
1805, after the Territory of Orleans was erected, the remaining 
part of the purchase from the French was formed into the Territory 
of Louisiana, of which the old French town of St. Louis was the 
capital. This town, the oldest in the Territory, had been founded 
in 1764, by M. Laclede, agent for a trading association, to whom 
had been given, by the French government of Louisiana, a mono- 



OUTLINE HISTORY. 31 

poly of the commerce in furs and peltries with the Indian tribes 
of the Missouri and Upper Mississippi. The population of the 
Territory in 1805 was trifling, and consisted mainly of French 
Creoles and traders, who were scattered along the banks of the 
Mississippi and the Arkansas. Upon the admission of Louisiana 
as a State, the name of the Territory of Louisiana was changed to 
that of Missouri. From the southern part of this, in 1819, was 
erected the Territory of Arkansas, which then contained but a few 
thousand inhabitants, who were mainly in detached settlements on 
the Mississippi and on the Arkansas, in the vicinity of the "Post 
of Arkansas." Tlie first settlement in Arkansas was made on the 
Arkansas River, about the year 1723, upon the grant of the noto- 
rious Jolm Law; hut, being unsuccessful, was soon after aban- 
doned. In 1820, Missouri was admitted into the Union, and 
Arkansas in 1836. 

Michigan was admitted as a State in 1837. The Huron District 
was organized as the Wisconsin Territory in 18->6, and was admitted 
into the Union as a State in 1848. The first settlement in Wis- 
consin was made in 1665, when Father Claude Allouez established 
a mission at La Pointe, at the western end of Lake Superior. 
Four years after, a mission was permanently established at Green 
Bay; and, eventually, the French also established themselves at 
Prairie du Chien. In 1819, an expedition, under Governor Cass, 
explored the Territory, and found it to be little more than the 
abode of a few lndi.,n traders, scattered here and there. About 
this time, the Government established military posts at Green Bay 
and Prairie du Cliicn. About the year 1825, some farmers settled 
in the vicinity of Galena, which had then become a noted mineral 
region. Innnediately after the war with Black Hawk, emigrants 
flowed in from New York, Ohio, and Michigan, and the flourishing 
towns of Milwaukie, Sheboygan, Racine, and Southport were laid 
out on the borders of Lake Michigan. At the conclusion of the 
same war, the lands west of the Mississippi were thrown open to 
emigrants, wlio commenced settlements in the vicinity of Fort 
Madison and Burlmgton in 1833. Dubuque had long before been 
a trading post, and was the first settlement in Iowa. It derived its 
name from Julian Dubuque, an enterprising French Canadian, 
who, in 1788, ol)tained a grant of one hundred and forty thousand 
acres from the Indians, upon which he resided until his death in 
1810, when he had accumulated immense wealth by lead-mining 
and trading. In June, 1838, Iowa was erected into a Territory, 
and in 1846 bectime a State. 

In 1849, Minnesota Territory was organized; it then contained 
a little less than five thousand souls. The first American estab- 
lishment in the Territory was Fort Snelling, at the mouth of St. 
Peter's or Minnesota River, which was founded in 1819. The 
French, and afterward the English, occupied this country with 
their fur-trading forts. Pembina, on the northern boundary, is the 
oldest village, having been established in 1812 by Lord Selkirk, a 



62 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

Scottish nobleman, under a grant from the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany. 

There were not until near the close of the war with Mexico, any 
American settlements on the Pacific side of the continent. At the 
beginning of the century not a single white man had ever been known 
to have crossed the continent north of the latitude of St. Louis. 
The geography of the greater part of the Pacific slope was almost 
"Wholly unknown, until the explorations of Fremont, between the 
years 1842 and 1848. That region had formerly been penetrated 
only by fur traders and trappers. The Mexican war of 1846-48, 
gave to the Union an immense tract of country, the large original 
provinces of Upper California and New Mexico. The discovery of 
gold in Upper California in 1848, at once directed emigration to that 
part of the continent. From that period settlements were rapid and 
territories formed in quick succession. In 1848, the Mormons, ex- 
pelled from Missouri, settled in Utah, which was erected into a ter- 
ritory in 1850. In 1848, Oregon became an organized territory, and 
California, then conquered from Mexico, in 1850, was admitted as a 
State, and Oregon in 1859. The emigration to California was im- 
mense for the first few years : in the years 1852 and 1853, her pro- 
duct in gold reached the enormous value of one hundred and sixty 
millions of dollars. 

In 1854, after the first excitement in regard to California had 
somewhat subsided, the territories of Kansas and Nebraska were 
organized. Kansas became for a time a favorite country for emi- 
grants ; and at last a bloody arena between the free soil and pro- 
slavery parties for mastery. The overwhelming preponderance of 
the former, resulted in its success, and Kansas was admitted as a 
free State in 1861. 

The formation of territories from the close of the Mexican War to 
the close of the Southern RebelHon, was rapid without precedent, as 
the following summary exhibits. This was consequent upon the dis- 
covery of vast mineral wealth in the mountain country : 

California, ceded by treaty with Mexico in 1848; admitted as a State in 
1850. 

New Mexico, ceded by treaty with Mexico, and organized as a Territory in 
1848. 

Minnesota, organized as a Territory in 1849 ; admitted as a State in 1858. 

Utah, organized as a Territory in 1850. 

Arizona, purchased of Mexico in 1854; organized as a Territory in 1863. 

Oregon, organized as a Territory in 1848; admitted as a State in 1859. 

Washington, organized as a Territory in 1853. 

Kansas, organized as a Territory in 1854; admitted as a State in 1861. 

Nebraska, organized as a Territory in 1854. 

Nevada, organized as a Territory in 1861 ; admitted as a State in 1864, 

Dacotah, organized as a Territory in 1861. 

Colorado, organized as a Territory in 1861. 

Idaho, organized as a Territory in 1863. 

Montana, organized as a Territory in 1864. 



WEST VIRGINIA. 




West Yirginia owes her existence to the Great Eebellion ; or rather 
to the patriotism of her people, who, when the mother State, Virginia, 

plunged into the vortex of seces- 
sion, resolved to stand by the Union. 
The wisdom of their loyalty has 
been signally shown by its saving 
them from the sore desolation that 
fell upon most parts of the Old Do- 
minion. 

The seal of the state is remarka- 
bly appropriate. It has the motto, 
' ' Moniani semper liheri ' ' — m oitnia in- 
eers alivays free. In the center is a 
rock, with ivy, emblematic of sta- 
bility and continuance; the face 
of the rock bears the inscription,. 
"June 20, 1863," the date of found- 
ation, as if "-graved with a pen of 
iron in the rock forever." On the 
Arms of West viroini4. right stauds a farmer clothed in the 

Moniani semper !i6er£— Mountaineers always free, traditional huuting-shirt peculiar tO 

this region; his right arm resting on the plow handles, and his left 
supporting a woodman's ax— indicating that while the territory is par- 
tially cultivated it is still in process of being cleared of the original 
forest. At his right is a sheaf of wheat and corn growing. On the left 
of the rock stands a miner, indicated by a pickax on his shoulder, 
with barrels and lumps of mineral at his feet. On his left is an anvil 
partly seen, on which rests a sledge hammer, typical of the mechanic 
arts— the whole indicating the principal pursuits and resources of the 
state. In front of the rocks and figures, as if just laid down by the 
latter, and ready to be resumed at a moment's notice, are two hunter s 
rifles, crossed and surmounted at the place of contact by the Phrygian 
cap, or cap of Liberty— indicating that the freedom and independence 
of the state were won and will be maintained by arms. 

In the spring of 1861, when the question of secession was submitted 
to the people, those of Eastern Virginia voted almost unanimously in 
its favor, but in the northwestern counties quite as strongly against it. 
In fact, the desire for a separate state government had for a quarter 
of a century prevailed in this section, where the slaveholdmg interest 
was slight, and the habits of the people diverse. The reasons for this 
3 ^^^> 



34 WEST VIRGINIA 

were, that they were in a measure cut off from intercourse with East- 
ern Virginia by chains of mountains, and that state legislation had 
been unfavorable to the development of their resources. The break- 
ing out of the rebellion was a favorable moment to initiate measures 
for the accomplishment of this long-desired separation. As the move- 
ment was one of grave importance, we must give it more than a pass- 
ing notice, from a pen familiar with the subject. 

"It has passed into history, that for many years, while the western 
counties of Virginia had the preponderance of white population and 
taxable property, the eastern counties controlled the legislation of the 
state, by maintaining an iniquitous basis of representation. It is 
enough to say, that the western counties, with few slaves, were a mere 
dependency of the eastern, with many slaves ; and the many revenues 
of the state were exj^ended for the benefit mainly of the tide-water re- 
gion, while the west paid an unjust proportion of the taxes. This was 
always a cause of dissatisfaction. Besides, there was no homogeniety 
of j)opulation or interest, and the Alleghany Mountains were a natu- 
ral barrier to commercial and social intercourse. There were much 
closer relations in these respects with Ohio and Pennsylvania, than 
with the tide-water region, growing as well out of the substantial sim- 
ilarity of society, as the short-sighted policy of having no great public 
•improvement in the direction of Eichraond. The construction of the 
Baltimore & Ohio Eailroad, and its connections, intensified the isolation 
of the west from the rest of the state. 

"When the ordinance of secession was submitted to the people, the 
western counties, with great unanimity, voted against it. This was 
on the 23d of May, 1861. The traitors never waited the result of the 
popular vote, for as soon as the ordinance passed the convention, Vir- 
ginia was practically hitched on to the Confederacy; and while at 
Richmond the state authorities were busy in the military seizure of 
the state, the people of Virginia, who were still loyal, met at Wheeling 
immediately after the vote on the ordinance and called a convention, 
the members of which should be duly elected, to assemble at that city 
on the 11th of June. The loyal people of the whole state were invited 
to join in this movement. There was nothing in the state constitu- 
tion against it, on the contrary, it provided for it by just this method. 
There happened to be, also, a notable precedent for this action, in the 
history of the state. In 1774, Lord Dunmore, the colonial governor 
of Virginia, dissolved the house of burgesses ; and for the purj)ose of 
preventing legislation in any event, retired with his council on board 
a British man-of-war. The assembly being thus deprived of a gov- 
ernment, met together in convention, as private citizens, and assumed 
the powers of the state. They issued an invitation, without any leg- 
islative authority, for the several counties or districts to send delegates 
to a convention. There was no legal or authorized act calling this 
convention, or for the choice of delegates; but it was the spontaneous 
act of the people, who Avere in favor of a free government. The con- 
vention met in 1775, and declared 'the necessity of immediately put- 
ting the country in a posture of defense, for the better protection of 
our lives, liberties and property.' And after enumerating the acts by 
which the colonial authorities had subverted government, asserted 
that ' we are driven to the necessity of supplying the present want of 



WEST VIRGINIA. 



35 



government, by appointing proper guardians of the lives and liberties 
of our country.' And thereupon they elected state officers and re- 
stored the government. 

"Mark, these Virginians, when they restored the government thus 
abandoned, did not proclaim revolution or secession from Gi-eat 
Britain; on the contrary, they said: 'Lest our views be misre})resentcd 
or misunder.stood, we publicly and solemnly declare before God and 
the world that we do bear true faith and allegiance to his majesty 
King George the Third, as our lawful and rightful king.' 

" Accordingly-, on the 11th of June, 1861, the convention assembled, 
there being quite a number of delegates from the eastern counties! 
The first ordinance, after reciting the grievances of the people, sol- 
emnly declares: 'That the preservation of their dearest rights and 
liberties, and their security in person and property, imperatively de- 
mand the reorganization of the government; and that all acts of the 
convention and executive (at Richmond) tending to separate this 
state from the United States, or to levy and carry on war against them 
are without authorit}- and void; and that the offices of alfwho adhere 
to the said convention and executive, whether legislative, executive 
or Judicial, are vacated.' They then proceeded to elect a governor and 
other state officers, who should hold their offices until an election could 
he had; and to mark the era of reorganization, they added the words 
'Union and Liberty' to the ^ Sic semper ti/rannis' of the state arms. 

"This was not revolution, for it was a case within the constitution 
of the state. It could not be revolution to support the constitution 
and laws, both of which the Richmond traitors had abrogated. They 
could not be the government, for they had destroj-ed it. That can not 
be revolution which upholds or sustains the supreme law of the land, viz: 
the constitution of the United States and the laws in pursuance of it. 

"But it is said, there was only a fraction of the people who joined 
in this movement. We answer in the language of another: 'Doubtless 
it is desirable that a clear majority should always speak in government- 
but where a state is in insurrection, and the loyal citizens are under du- 
ress, the will of the people, who are for the constitution and the laws, is 
the only lawful will under the constitution; and that will must be col- 
lected as far as is practicable under the external force.' 

"Immediately upon the election of Francis H. Pif.rpont as gov- 
ernor, he notified the president of the United States, that there existed 
a treasonable combination against the constitution and laws, known as 
'The Confederate States of America,' whose design was to subvert the 
authority of the United States in Virginia; that an army of the insur- 
gents was then advancing upon the loyal people of the state for the 
purpose of bringing them under the domination of the Confederacy; 
and that he had not at his command sufficient force to sujipresa the 
insurrection, and as governor of Virginia, requested national aid. This 
he had an undoubted right to do, if he were governor of Virginia, for 
the constitution of the United States provides for the very case. [See 
article iv, sec. 4.] 

"Was he governor of Virginia? Who was to decide between Gov. 
Pierpont, at Wheeling, and Gov. Letcher, at Richmond? Wliich was 
the government of Virginia, the Wheeling or the Richmond? 

"Happily, the supreme court of the United States furnished a solu- 



36 WEST VIRGINIA. 

tion of the question, and put forever at rest, any doiibt about the 
legitimacy of the Wheeling government. [Luther v. Borden, 7 How- 
ard Eep. p. 1.1 This is the case growing out of the celebrated Dorr 
rebellion in Ehode Island, in 1840, and involves the very question 
under consideration. It is useless to go into the history of the origin of 
that conflict. There were two govei-nors and legislatures in that state 
— the minority, or charter government, with Gov. Xing at its head, 
and the majority, or popular government, with Gov. Dorr at its head. 
John Tyler, a Virginian, then president of the United States, decided 
in favor of the minority or charter government; and in pursuance of a 
request of Gov. King for national aid, similar to that made by Gov. 
Pierpont, the president offered the military and naval force of the 
United States to Governor King, and the Dorr government thereupon 
succumbed and was disbanded. The question involved was carried to 
the supreme court of the United States, and Chief Justice Taney de- 
livered the opinion of the whole court. No lawyer can deny, that if 
President Tyler had recognized the Dorr government, the supreme 
court would have guided its judgment accordingly. The supreme 
coui't say : 

'"The power of deciding whether the government of the United 
States is bound to interfere (in case of domestic violence between con- 
flicting parties in a state), is given to the president of the United States. 
He is to act upon the application of the legislature or of the executive, 
and consequently he must determine ichat body of men constitute the legislature, 
and who is the governor, before he can act. The fact that both parties 
claim to be the government can not alter the case, for both can not be 
entitled to it. If there be an armed conflict, it is a case of domestic 
violence, and one of the parties must be in insurrection against the 
lawful governnaent; and the president must necessarily decide which is 
the government, and which party is unlawfully arrayed against it, in 
order to perform his duty. And after the president has acted and 
called out the militia, his decision can not be reviewed by any legal tribunal, 
It is said this power in the president is dangerous to liberty, and may 
be abused. All power may be abused if placed in unworthy hands ; 
but it would be difficult to point out any other hands in which this 
power could be more safe and at the same time equally effective. At 
all events, it is conferred upon him by the constitution and laws of the 
United States, and must, therefore, be respected and enforced by its judicial 
tribunals.' 

"In one word, the question between two governments in a state, 
tinder these circumstances, is not a judicial question at all, but rests 
solely with the president under the constitution and laws; and his 
decision is final and binding, and settles all claims between conflicting 
jurisdictions in a state. 

"President Lincoln responded nobly to the call of Gov. Pierpont, 
and furnished the requisite aid to the restored government. The battles 
of Phillipi and Eich Mountain followed, and the Confederates were 
driven out of Western Virginia. Here, then, was a definite and final 
settlement of the questions as to who was governor of Virginia, by the 
president, and no tribunal or authority can review that decision or call 
it in question. The heads of the executive departments have recog- 
nized the restored government — the secretary of war by assigning 



WEST VIRGINIA. 



37 



quotas under calls for volunteers; the treasurer by paying over to the 
state, upon the order of its legislature, her share of the proceeds' of the 
sales of public lands, and so on. 

"On the 20th of August, 1861, the convention at Wheeling, beinc^ 
still in session, provided for the election of congressmen, and they 
were received into the lower house. They also called the legislature 
of Virginia together at Wheeling, to consist of such members as had 
been elected previous to the passage of the ordinance of secession, and 
provided for filling vacancies if any by election. And on July 9th, the 
legislature elected John S. Carlile and Waitman T. Willey as senators 
of the United States, from Virginia, to supply the places of E. M. T. 
Hunter and James M. Mason. These senators were admitted to seats 
in the senate of the United States, and were so recognized by both the 
executive and legislative branches of the federal government, so that 
any question as to the rightfulness of the legislature at Wheeling as 
the legislature of Virginia was at an end. 

"Thus the State of Virginia, with a governor and legislature, and 
other state machinery in operation, recognized by all departments of 
the federal government, was fully adequate to the exercise of all the 
functions of a state, as well then and now, as at any period of her 
history. 

"Let us now turn to the constitution of the United States, article iv, 
sec. 3, which reads as follows: 'New states may be admitted by the 
congress into the Union ; but no new state shall be formed or erected 
within the jurisdiction of any other state, nor any state be formed by 
the junction of two or moi*e states, or parts of states, without the con- 
sent of the legislatures of the states concerned, as well as of the con- 
gress.' 

"Kow it is apparent that to form a new state out of a part of the 
State of Virginia, the concuri-ent consent of the legislature of Virginia 
and of congress is all that is needed under the constitution. We have 
shown that the government at Wheeling was the government of Vir- 
ginia, with a duly constituted governor, legislature, etc.; and the way 
jjointed out by the constitution is plain. Let us now see whether the 
necessary steps were taken as prescribed by the constitution of the 
United States. 

"On August 20, 1861, the convention passed an ordinance providing 
for the submission of the question of the formation of a new state to 
the people, and also further the election of delegates to a convention 
to form a constitution for the new state, if the jseople decided in favor of 
it; and also for the various details of the movement. The governor 
was directed to lay before the general assembly, at its next ensuing 
meeting, for their consent, the result, if that result should be flivorable 
to a new state, in accordance with the constitution of the United States. 
The peoples expressed themselves by an overwhelming majority in 
favor of a new state. The constitutional convention for the new state 
met and prepared a constitution, which was ratified by the people, and 
the necessary officers for the state government chosen. At the next 
session of the legislature of Virginia, on May 13, 1862, that body gave 
its formal consent to the formation of the State of West Virginia, 
within the jurisdiction of Virginia, and directed that the act be 
transmitted to their senators and representatives in congress, and they 



38 WEST VIRGINIA. 

were requested to use their endeavors to obtain the consent of congress 
to the admission of the new state into the Union. 

"At the following session of congress, the application was formally 
made, first to the senate. Pending its consideration, an amendinent 
to the state constitution was proposed, providing for the gradual abo- 
lition of slaveiy, and also for the submission of the amendment to the 
people of the new state; and if approved by them, the president of the 
United States w^as, by proclamation, to announce the fact, and the 
state should be admitted into the Union. In this shape the bill for 
admission passed the senate, and afterward the house, and was aj)- 
proved b}^ the president. The constitutional convention for the new 
state held an immediate session, approved the congressional amend- 
ment, and sul)mitted the constitution thus amended, to the jjeoplo, who 
also approved it by an overwhelming majority; and so, now, all that 
was needed in order to its admission into the Union, was the procla- 
mation of the president, which was accordingly issued; and on the 
20th of June, 1863, the new member, with its motto, ^'- Montani semper 
liberi" was born into the family of states in the midst of the throes of 
a mighty revolution, and cradled in storms more terrible and de- 
structive than any that ever swept among its mountains, but clothed 
in the majesty of constitutional right. 

"Until the time fixed by act of congress. West Virginia was not a 
state, and the movement, therefore, did not interfere with the regular 
and successful operation of the government of Vii'ginia. As soon, 
however, as the time for the inauguration of the new state arrived, 
Gov. Pierpont and the officers of the government of Virginia, in ac- 
cordance with an act of the legislature, removed to Alexandria, Va., 
wdiere the seat of government was, and still is located; and A. J. Bore- 
man, the first governor of West Virginia, was duly installed, and the 
seat of government temporarily fixed at Wheeling, until the times 
become more settled, so that the capital of the new state may be located 
nearer the geographical center of its territory. 

" The area of the new state is 23,000 square miles — twenty times as 
large as Rhode Island, more than ten times as large as Delaware, five 
times as large as Connecticut, three times as large as Massachusetts, 
more than twice as large as New Hampshire, and more than twice as 
large as Maryland — an area about equal to the aggregate of Rhode 
Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts and Vermont. 

"According to the census of 1860, it had a' white population of 
335,000 — a population much greater than any of^thenew states, at the 
time of their admission into the Union, and much greater than many 
of the old states. 

"It is among the most loyal of the states, for she has always filled 
her quotas under all calls without a draft: she furnished more than 
20,000 soldiers lor the Union, and several thousands in excess of all 
drafts. The revenue of the whole State of Virginia in 1850 was onl}^ 
^533,000, wliile in 1860 the forty-eight counties' composing the new 
state paid over 8600,000 into the state treasury. 

"The new state has a rich legacy committed to her keeping, and 
lias all the elements to make a great and prosperous commonAvealth. 
Lumber, coal, iron, petroleum, salt, etc., abound, and the fertility of 
her soil is equal to that of most states in the Union. And now that 



WEST VIRGINIA. 



39 



she is freed from the incubus of slavery, and wealth and enterprise are 
beg-inning to develop her resources, she will outstrip many of the more 
favored states and take her place among the foremost common- 
wealths." 



The most noted towns of the state are Wheeling and Parkersburo-, 
both of which are on the Ohio. Parkersburg is situated on the river at 
the mouth of the Little Kanawha, a few niiles below Marietta, Ohio, 
and 100 below Wheeling. It has a connection with the west by 
the Cincinnati & Marietta railroad, and Avith the east by the North- 
western railroad, the southernmost fork of the Baltimore & Ohio rail- 
road. It is a thriving town of about 7000 inhabitants. The valley of 
the Little Kanawha is of growing importance from its wealth in pe- 
troleum: oil wells of great richness are being worked. Just below 
Parkersburg is the long celebrated Blannerhasset's Island, so charm- 
ingly described by Wirt in his graceful oratory at the trial of Aaron 
Burr at Eichmond, half a century ago. Herman Blannerhasset was 
of wealthy Iri.sh parentage and born in England. He married Miss 
Adeline Agnew, a grand-daughter of General Agnew, who was with 
Wolfe at Quebec. She was a most elegant and accomplished woman 
and he a refined and scholarly man. In 1798 he began his improve- 
ments upon the island. In 1805, Aaron Burr landed on the island, 
where he was entertained with hosiDitality by the family. 

Wheeling is on the east bank of Ohio River, and on both sides of Wheeling 
creek, 351 miles from Richmond, 56 miles from Pittsburg, and 365 above 
Cincinnati. The hills back of the city come near the river, so as to leave but 
a limited area for building, so that the place is forced to extend along the 
high alluvial bank for two miles. A fine stone bridge over Wheeling creek 
connects the upper and lower portions of the city. Wheeling is the most 
important place on the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Pittsburg. It is 
surrounded by bold hills containing inexhaustible quantities of bituminous 
coal, from which the numerous manufacturing establishments are supplied at 
a small expense. The place contains several iron foundries, cotton mills, and 
factories of various kinds. \ large business is done in the building of steam- 
boats. Population 1860, 14,000, 

The National Road, irom Cumberland across the Alleghany Mountains to 
St. Louis, passes through Wheeling, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 
terminates here, making this place a great thoroughfare of travel between the 
east and west. The Ohio River is crossed here by a magnificent wire sus- 
pension bridge, erected at a cost of upward of $200,000. Its span, one of the 
longest in the world, measures 1,010 feet. The hight of the towers is 153 feet 
above low water mark, and 60 above the abutments. The entire bridge is 
supported by 12 wire cables, 1,380 feet in length and -1 inches in diameter, 
each composed of 550 strands. These cables are laid in pairs, 3 pairs on 
each side of the flooring. 

In 1769 Col. Ebenezer Zane, his brothers Silas and Jonathan, with some 
others from the south branch of the Potomac, visited the Ohio for the pur- 
pose of making improvements, and severally proceeded to select posi- 
tions for their future residence. They chose for their residence the site now 
occupied by the city of Wheeling, and having made the recpiisite preparations 
returned to their former homes, and brought out their families the ensuing 



40 



WEST VIRGINIA, 



year. The Zanes were men of enterprise, tempered with prudence, and di- 
rected by sound judgment. To the bravery and good conduct of these three 
brothers, the Wheeling settlement was mainly indebted for its security and 
preservation during the war of the revolution. Soon after the settlement of 
this place other settlements were made at different points, both above and be- 
low Wheeling, in the country on Buffalo, Short and Grave creeks. 

The name of Wheeling was originaW j Weeling, which in the Delaware lan- 
guage signifies the place of a head. At a very early day, some whites de- 
scending the Ohio in a boat, stopped at the mouth of the creek and were mur- 
dered by Indians. The savages cut off the head of one of their victims, and 
placing it on a pole with its face toward the river, called the spot Weeling. 




Southern Vieio of Wheeling. 

The view shows the apjiearance of Wheeling as it is entered upon the Baltimore and Ohio Kailroad. The 
Bteaniboat landing and part of the city are seen in the central part. The suspension bridge crossing over to 
Wheeling Island on the left. Part of the railroad depot is on the right. 

The most important event in the history of Wheeling was the siege of Fort 
Henry, at the mouth of Wheeling creek, in September, 1777. The fort was 
originally called Fort Fincastle, and was a place of refuge for the settlers in 
Dunuiore's war. The name was afterward changed to Henry, in honor of 
Patrick Henry. The Indians who besieged the fort were estimated at from 
380 to 500 warriors, led on by the notorious Simon Girty. The garrison 
numbered only -12 fighting men, under the command of Col. Shepherd. The 
savages made several attempts to force themselves into the fort; they were 
driven back by the unerring rifle shots of the brave little garrison. A rein- 
forcement of about 50 men having got into the fort, the Indians raised the 
siege, having lost from 60 to 100 men. The loss of the garrison was 26 
killed, all of whom, excepting three or four, fell in an ambuscade outside the 



WEST VIRGINIA. 41 

walls before the attack on the fort commenced. The heroism of Elizabeth 
Zane during J'he siege is worthy of record. This heroine had but recently 
returned from school at Philadelphia, and was totally unused to such scenes 
as were daily transpiring on the frontier : 

"The stock of gunpowder in the fort having been nearly exhausted, it was de- 
termined to seize the favorable opportunity offered by the suspension of ho.stilities 
to send for a keg of gunpovrder which was known to be in the house of Ebenezer 
Zane, about sixty yards from the gate of the fort. The person executing this ser- 
vice would necessarily expose himself to the danger of being shot down by the In- 
dians, who were yet sufficiently near to observe everything that transpired about 
the works. The colonel explained the matter to his men, and, unwilling to order 
one of them to undei'take such a desperate enterprise, inquired whether any man 
would volunteer for the service. Three or four young men promptly stepped for- 
ward in obedience to the call. The colonel informed them that the weak state of 
the garrison would not justify the absence of more than one man, and that it was 
for tbemselves to decide who that person should be. The eagerness felt by each 
volunteer to undertake the honorable mission prevented them from making the ar- 
rangement proposed by the commandant; and so much time was consumed in the 
contention between them that fears began to arise that the Indians would renew 
the attack before the powder could be procured. At this crisis, a young lady, the 
sister of Ebenezer and Silas Zane, came forward and desired that she might be 
permitted to execute the service. This proposition seemed so extravagant that it 
met with a peremptory refusal; but she instantly renewed her petition in terms of 
redoubled earnestness, and all the remonstrances of the colonel and her relatives 
failed to dissuade her from her heroic purpose. It was finally reiDresented to her 
that either of the young men, on account of his superior fleetness and. familiarity 
with scenes of danger, would be more likely than herself to do the work success- 
fully. She replied that the danger which would attend the enterprise was the 
identical reason that induced her to offer her services, for, as the garrison was very 
weak, no soldier's life should be placed in needless jeopardy, and that if she were 
to fall her loss would not be felt. Her petition was ultimately granted, and the 
gate opened for her to pass out. The opening of the gate arrested the attention of 
several Indians who were straggling through the village. It was noticed that their 
eyes were upon her as she crossed the open space to reach her brother's house; 
but seized, perhaps, with a sudden freak of clemency, or believing that a woman's 
life was not Avorth a load of gunpowder, or intluenced by some other unexplained 
motive, they permitted her to pass without molestation. When she reappeared 
with the powder in her arms the Indians, suspecting, no doubt, the character of her 
burden, elevated their firelocks and discharged a volley at her as she swiftly glided 
toward the gate, but the balls all flew wide of the mark, and the fearless girl 
reached the fort in safety with her prize. The pages of history may furnish a 
parallel to the noble exploit of Elizabeth Zane, but an instance of greater self- 
devotion and moral intrepidity is not to be found anywhere." 

Sixteen miles above Wheeling on the river is the thriving business 
town of Wellsburg. Eight miles east of this place in a healthy, beau- 
tiful site among the hills, is the flourishing institution known as Beth- 
any' College. It was founded by Elder Alexander Campbell, and is 
conducted under the auspices of the Disciples or Christians. Their 
peculiarity is that they have no creed — just simply a belief in the 
Bible as the sufficient rule of Christian faith and practice; thus leav- 
ing its interpretation free to each individual mind. 

Below Wheeling eleven miles, at the village of Moundsville, on the 
river flats, is the noted curiosity of this region, the Mammoutb Mound. 
It is 69 feet in height, and is in full view of the passing steamers. — 
An aged oak, cut downi on its summit some years since, showed by its 
concentric circles that it was about 500 years old. 



42 WEST VIRGINIA. 

Point Pleasant is a small village at the junction of the Kanawha with the 
Ohio. It is noted as the site of the most bloody battle ever fought with the 
Indians in Virginia — the battle of Point Pleasant— which, took place in Dun- 
more's war, Oct. 10, 1774. The Virginians, numbering 1,100 men, were 
under the command of Gen. Andrew Lewis. The Indians were under the 
celebrated Shawnee chieftain Cornstalk, and comprised the flower of the 
Shawnee, Wyandot, Delaware, Mingo and Cayuga tribes. The action lasted 
from sunrise until sunset, and was contested with the most obstinate bravery 
on both sides. The Virginians at length were victorious, but with a loss of 
more than 200 of their number in killed a:nd wounded, among whom were 
some of their most valued officers. This event was made the subject of a 
rude song, which is still preserved among the mountaineers of western Vir- 
ginia: 

SONG ON THE SHAWNEE BATTLE. 

Let us mind the tenth day of October, By which the heathen were confounded, 

Seventy-four, which caustfed woe, Upon the banks of the Ohio. 

The Indian savages they did cover 

The pleasant banks of the Ohio. Col. Lewis and some noble captains 

Did down to death like Uriah go, 
The battle beginning in the morning, Alas ! their heads wound up in napkins, 

Throughout the day it lashed sore. Upon the banks of the Ohio. 

Till the evening shades were returning down 

Upon the banks of the Ohio. Kings lamented their mighty fallen 

Upon the mountains of Gilboa, 
Judgment precedes to execution. And now we mourn for brave Hugh Allen, 

Let fame throughout all dangers go, Far from the banks of the Ohio. 

Our heroes fought with resolution 

Upon the banks of the Ohio. bless the mighty King of Heaven 

For all his wondrous works below, 
Seven score lay dead and wounded Who hath to us the victory given. 

Of champions that did face their foe, Upon the banks of the Ohio. 

Ceredo is a new town established by Eli Thayer, of Massachusetts, 
just before the rebellion, and settled by New England emigrants. It 
is on the Ohio river, about five miles above the line of West Virginia 
and Kentucky. The settlement Avas nearly broken up by the rebel- 
lion. A few mileg above it is G-uyandotte, which was mostly burnt in 
the war. 

Charleston is the most important town in AVest Virginia excej^ting 
Wheeling and Parkersburg. It is in the rich valley of the Kanawha, 
46 miles east of the Ohio river, and contains several thousand people. 

The mineral wealth of this valley is immense in salt and coal. In 
coal alone, it has been said, this valley could supply the whole world 
for fifty years, if it could be had from no other source. The Kanawha 
salt works commence on the river near Charleston and extend on both 
sides for nearly fifteen miles. Millions of bushels of salt are annually 
manufactured. The salt water is drawn from wells bored in solid 
rock from 300 to 500 feet in depth. Bituminous coal, which abounds 
in the neighborhood, is used in the evaporation, of the water. 

Lewisburq is an important town near the southeastern line of the 
state, on the direct road from Charlestoii to Richmond, about 100 
miles east from the former, and 200 west from the latter; near it and in 
the same county, are the Blue Sulphur and White Sulphur Springs: the 
latter, the most celebrated watering place in the south: long the fa- 
vorite resort of the wealthy planters and prominent politicians of the 
south. 



WEST VIRGINIA. 



43 



The situation of the White Sulphur Springs is charming', it is in a 
beautiful valley environed by soltly curving mountains. Fifty acres 
or more are occupied with lawns and walks, and the cabins and cot- 
tages for the guests, built in rows around the public apartments, the 
dining-room, the ball-room, etc., which give the place quite a village 
air. The rows of cottages are variously named, as Alabama row, 
Louisiana, Paradise, Baltimore, Yirginia, Georgia, Wolf and Bachelor 
rows, Broadway, the Virginia lawn, the Spring, the Colonnade, and 
other specialities. The cottages are built variously, of brick, wood 
and logs, one story high. The place is 205 miles west from Eichmond, 
and 242 southwest of Washington City. 

In the northern part of the state, in the rich valley of the Monon- 
gahela, are some thriving noted towns, as MorgantoAvn, Clarksburg, 
Weston, etc. At the latter place is the state Asylum for the Insane. 
The Baltimore & Ohio railroad is doing much for the development of 
this region of the state. This great work of engineering skill is here 
given a more than passing notice. 

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad., 379 miles in length, extending from 
the waters of the Chesapeake, at Baltimore, to those of the Ohio, at Wheel- 
ing, is one of the greatest 
, works of engineering skill 

on the continent. This im- 
portant undertaking owes its 
origin to the far-reaching sa- 
gacity of Philip E. Thomas, 
a Quaker merchant of Balti- 
more, who lived to see its 
completion, although nearly 
thirty years had elapsed from 
the time of its commence- 
ment. At that period, Bal- 
timore city was worth but 
$25,000,000, yet it unhesita- 
tingly embarked in an enter- 
prise which cost 31,000,000. 
The first stone was laid on 
the 4th of July, 1828, by 
the venerable Charles Car- 
roll, of Carrolltou, who pro- 
nounced it, next to signing 
the declaration of indepen- 
dence, the most important 

Tray Kun Viaduct, B. & 0. Kailkoad. act of his life. 

This elegant structure is of cast iron, 600 feet in length, and " This was at a verv earlv 

150 feet above the level of the stream. •!• !i i-, />'■! 

period in the history of rail- 
ways; and during the progress of the work, from year to year, old theories were 
exploded and new principles introduced, increasing in boldness and originality as 
it advanced. Its annual reports went forth as text hooks ; its workshops were 
practical lecture rooms, and to have worthily graduated in this school, is an hon- 
orable passport to scientific service in any part of the world. In its struggles 
with unparalleled difficulties — financial, physical, legislative and legal — the gallant 
little state of Maryland found men equal to each emergency as it arose, and the 




44 WEST VIRGINIA. 

development of so much talent and hi^h character in various departments, should 
not be esteemed the smallest benefit which the country has derived from this great 
enterprise." 

''The line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, traversing the Alleghanies, has 
already become somewrhat classic ground. The vicinity of Harper's Ferry, old 
Fort Frederick, Cumberland, and other portions along the Potomac River, have 
long been known to the world for their imposing scenery, as well as for their 
historical interest. It is beyond Cumberland, however, that the grandest and most 
effective views on this route ai-e presented. The Piedmont grade; Oakland, with 
its inviting summer atmosphere ; Valley River Falls ; the Monongahela, and other 
attractive points, inspire wonder in all who witness them. 

Nor should the grand scientific features of the Baltimore and Ohio Road be 
overlooked. To say nothing of its unique and most successfully planned grades 
(by which an elevation of nearly three thousand feet above tide is reached), there 
are its numerous splendid bridges of iron, and brick, and stone ; its massive build- 
ings of all kinds; its solidly arched tunnels, and numerous other features, devel- 
oping the greatest skill and ingenuity upon the part of the strong minds which 
wrought them. The longest finished tunnel in America is Kingwood Tunnel^ 261 
miles from Baltimore ; it is four fifths of a mile in length, and cost more than a 
million of dollars ! 

Our engraving of 'Tray Run Viaduct,' " says Leslie's Pictorial, from which this 
is copied, "is from an accurate and faithful drawing, made upon the spot, by Mr. 
D. C. Hitchcock, our artist, who has also been engaged in taking numerous views 
on this atti-active route for the London Hlustrated News. Appropriate to our no- 
tice of the Tray Run Viaduct we may quote the following paragraphs from the 
'Book of the Great Railway Celebration of 1857,' published by the Appletons : 

Cheat River is a rapid mountain stream, of a dark coffee colored water, which is sup- 
posed to take its hue from the forests of laurel, hemlock and black spruce in which it has 
its rise. Our road crossed the stream at the foot of Cranberry grade by a viaduct. This 
is composed of two noble spans of iron, roofed in on abutments, and a pier of solid free- 
stone taken from a neighboring quarry. Arrived at this point, we fairly entered the ' Cheat 
River valley,' which presents by far the grandest and most boldly picturesque scenery to be 
found on the line of this road, if indeed it is not the finest series of railroad views on our 
continent. The European travelers in our party were as much enraptured by it as were 
those of us who have never visited the mountains, lakes and glens of Scotia or Switzer- 
land. For several miles, we ran along the steep mountain side, clinging, as it were, to the 
gigantic cliffs, our cars like great cages suspended — though upon the safest and most solid 
of beds — midway, as it were, between heaven and earth. At one moment the view was 
confined to our immediate locality, hemmed in on every side, as we were, by the towering 
mountain spurs. At the next, a slight curve in the road opened to view fine stretches of 
the deep valley, with the dark river flowing along its bottom, and glorious views of the for- 
est-covered slopes descending from the peaks to the water's edge. Amazed at the grand- 
eur of the ever-varying scenery of this region, a French gentleman is said to have ex- 
claimed in ecstacy, ' il^"^"jA9"c.' Zcre is nossinq like zis in France! ' The engineering dif- 
ficulties, overcome in tlie part of the road within the first few miles west of Cheat River 
bridge, must have been appalling , but for us the rough places had been made smooth as 
the prairie levels. After crossing this river itself, at Rowlesburg, the next point was to as- 
cend along its banks the ' Cheat River hill.' The ravine of Kyer's run, a mile from the 
bridge, 76 feet deep, was crossed by a solid embankment. Then, after bold cutting along 
the steep, rocky hill side, we reached Buckeye hollow, which is 108 feet below the road level, 
and finally came to Tray run, which we crossed at a hight of 150 feet above its original 
bed by a splendid viaduct, 600 feet long, founded on a massive base of masonry piled upon 
the solid rock below. These viaducts are of iron — designed by Mr. Albert Fink, one of 
Mr. Latrobe's assistants — and are exceedingly graceful, as well as very substantial struc- 
tures. When we reached the west end of the great Tray run viaduct, the cars halted, and 
the company alighted for a better view of the works. A walk of a few feet brought us to 
the brow of the precipice overlooking the river, nearly .300 feet below. The view from this spot, 
both of the scenery and the grand structure which so splendidly spanned the immense mount- 
ain ravine, was truly inspiring. From our great elevation the stream appeared to be almost 
beneath our feet, an illusion promptly dispelled when the strongest and longest armed 
among us failed to throw a stone far enough to drop in its bed. With the entire train full 
of guests, the band also, alighted here, and taking position near the cliff, struck up the pop- 
ular air of ' Love Not,' in sweet harmony with the emotions inspired by the scene. 




AVERILL'S RAID. 



THE TIMES 
THE REBELLIOIST 

WEST VIRGINIA. 



"West Yirginia early became a theater of military operations. 
These were on a comparatively small scale, owing to the difficulties of 
providing and sustaining large armies. The country as a whole may 
be defined as a collection of lofty mountains, with deep narrow valleys 
that seem to exist merel}'" to define the mountains. Along these valleys 
are a primitive people, simple in their wants, dressing in homespun, and 
living a varied life of hunting and agriculture. They are scattered in 
cabins often miles apart, the mountains so encroaching upon them as 
to leave but mere threads of arable land. The roads for want of room 
are much of the way in the beds of the streams, which are swollen by 
every heavy shower to raging, impassable torrents. Bridges do not 
exist excepting at a few points. Military operations are very difficult; 
transportation at times being impossible. 

The best partis in the Northwest, along the valley of the Ohio and its 
tributaries. In this section runs the Baltimore & Ohio Eailroad, which 
forks at G-raffcon about 100 miles from the Ohio, one branch termi-' 
nating at Parkersburg and the other at Wheeling. The secessionists 
at the beginning made strenuous exei'tions to hold this country, 
and suppress its union sentiment: also to possess the fertile valley of 
the Kanawha, so valuable to them for its abundant crops of grain and 
inexhaustible supplies of salt. 

The first event of the war in West "Virginia was the surprise by two 
union regiments under Cols. Kelly and Lander, on the morning of the 
3d of June, 1861, of some 1500 secession troops under Col. Porterfield, 
at Philippi, a small village on the Monongahela about 20 miles south 
of Grafton. None of the unionists were killed; and the loss of the 
secessionists trifling. The surprise occurred at daybreak; but it so 
happened that the secessionists mostly made good their escape. Their 
flight is amusingly described by one present. Said he "Did you ever 
drive a stake into an ant hill, and watch the movements of the panic 
stricken inhabitants? It was nothing to this flight. They didn't stop 
to put on their clothes, much less their shoes; grabbing the first thing 
they could reach, and dressing as they ran, each turned his face to- 
ward Beverly. One fellow had cased one leg in his unwhisperables, 
when the cannister came whizzing about him. — ^' Delay was death,' 
and with his shirt streaming behind, and the unfilled leg of his pants 
flopping and trailing after him, he presented a most comical figure. 

(47) 



48 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

Some, half-naked, mounted horses unbridled, and grasping the mane, 
urged them into a sharp run by their cries and vigorous heel-punches. 
Many took to the thickets on the hills; and among these unfortunates 
the Indianians, after the melee was over, ignorant of their presence, 
discharged their minie rifles, for the purpose of clearing their guns, and 
with fatal eftect." 

Gen. McClellan, in command of the department of the Ohio, for politi- 
cal reasons, refrained from crossing into "Western Yirginia until the 27th 
of May, after the ordinance of secession had been voted upon in a state 
election. Then the western troops crossed over and took a position at 
Grafton. On the 11th of July, occurred the battle of Eich Mountain. 
At that period the secession forces under Gen. Garnett, numbering 
several thousand men, occupied near Beverly two intrenched camps — 
Rich Mountain and Laurel Hill, a few miles apart. Garnett remained 
at the last named, leaving Rich Mountain under the immediate com- 
mand of Col. Pegram. Rosecrans was sent with three regiments of 
Indiana and Ohio troops to make an attack upon Pegram. Passing 
around the mountain, through miles of almost impenetrable thickets, 
Rosecrans, assisted by Col. Lander, made a spirited attack upon the 
upper intrenchment of the enemy, who were routed and fled. McClel- 
lan was preparing to attack Garnett, but he fled also. On the 13th 
Col. Pegram, who had been wandering in the hills for two days without 
food, surrendered unconditionally. When Pegram advanced to hand 
his swoi'd to Major Laurence "Williams, each instantly recognized the 
other, and both were moved to tears, and turned away unable to speak 
for a few moments. They had been classmates at West Point, and 
had met thus for the first time in many years. The number captured 
amounted to about 600. Pegram was killed late in the war, at the 
battle of Hatcher's Run, before Richmond, Feb. 1865. 

The same day. Gen. Garnett, with the main body, on his retreat, 
was overtaken some thirty miles north at Carrick's Ford on Shafer's 
Fork of Cheat River, by the advance of Gen. Morris. He attempted 
to make a stand to cover his retreat: his men became panic stricken 
and fled before half their number. Here Garnett was killed by a 
sharpshooter. Not a Virginian was at his side when he fell: a young 
lad from Georgia alone stood by him bravely to the last, and when 
Garnett fell, he fell too. Garnett was about 40 years of age, a brother- 
in-law of Gov. Wise, and in the Mexican war aid to Gen. Taylor. He 
was a roommate at West Point of Major Love, of Gen. Morris' staff. 

" But an hour or two before, the major had been talking about his former ac- 

?uaintance and friendship with Garnett, and had remarked that he would be glad if 
rarnett could only be taken prisoner, that he might be able to see him again, and 
talk with him about the government which had educated and honored him. When 
the major reached the field, a short time after the flight of the rebels, he was led 
to the bank of the river, where the body of his old roommate lay stretched upon 
the stones! Who shall blame him for the manly tears he shed kneeling by that 
traitor corpse? The brave boy who fell by, was taken to the hill above the head- 
quarters and buried by our troops. At his head they placed a board, with the 
inscription: "Name unknown. A brave fellow who shared his general's fate, and 
fell fighting by his side, while his companions fled." 

The appearance of the battle field is thus described by an eye witness. 

Returning from the bank where Garnett lay, I went up to the blufi" on which 

the enemy had been posted. Around was a sickening sight Along the brink of 



TIMES OF THE REBELLION 49 

that bluff lay the dead, stiffening in their own gore, in every contortion which 
their death anguish had produced. Others were gasping in the last agonies, and 
still others were writhing with horrible but not mortal wounds, surrounded by the 
soldiers whom they really believed to be about to plunge the bayonet to their 
hearts. Never before had I so ghastly a realization of the horrid nature of this 
fraternal struggle. These men were all Americans — men whom we had once been 
proud to claim as countrymen — some of them natives of our own northern states. 
One poor fellow was shot through the bowels. The ground was soaked with his 
blood. I stooped and asked him if anything could be done to make him more 
comfortable ; he only whispered, " J'm so cold !" He lingered for nearly an hour, 
in terrible agony. Another — young and just developing into vigorous manhood — 
had been shot through the head by a large luinie ball. The skull was shockingly 
fractured; his brains were protruding from the l>ullet hole and lay spread on the 
grass by his head. And he was still living! I knelt by his side and moistened 
his lips with water from my canteen, and an officer who came up a moment after- 
ward poured a few drops of brandy from his pocket flask into his mouth. God 
help us! what more could we do? A surgeon rapidly examined the wound, sadly 
shook his head, saying it were better for him if he were dead already, and passed 
on to the next. And there that poor Georgian lay, gasping in the untold and un- 
imaginable agonies of that fearful death, for more than an hour! 

Near hiiu lay a Virginian, shot through the mouth, and already stiffening. He 
appeared to have been stooping when he was shot; the ball struck the tip of his 
nose, cutting that off, cut his upper lip, knocked out his teeth, passed through the 
head and came out at the back of the neck. The expression of his ghastly face 
was awful beyond diiscription. And near him lay another, with a ball through the 
right eye, which had passed out through the back of the head. The glassy eyes 
were all open; some seemed still gasping with opened mouths; all were smeared 
in their own blood, and cold and clammy with the dews of death upon them. 

But why dwell on the sickening details? "^lay I never see another field like 
that! All around the field lay men with wounds in the leg, or arm, or face, groan- 
ing with pain, and trembling lest the barbarous foes they expected to find in our 
troops, should commence mangling and torturing them at once. Words can hardJy 
express their astonishment, when our men gently removed them to a little knoil, 
laid them all togetlier, and formed a circle of bayonets around them, to keep off 
the curious crowd, till they could be removed to the hospital, and cared for by our 
surgeons. 

There was a terrible moral in that group on the knoll, the dead, the dying, the 
wounded, protected by the very men that had been fighting and who were as 
ready then as they had ever been to defend by their strong arms every right these 
self-made enemies of theirs had ever enjoyed. 

Every attention was shown the enemy's wounded, by our surgeons. Limbs were 
amputated, wounds were dressed with the same care with which our own brave 
volunteers were treated. The wound on the battle field removed all diSerences — 
in the hospital all were alike, the objects of a common humanity that left none 
beyond its limits. 

Among the enemy's wounded was a young Massachusetts boy, who had received 
a severe wound in the leg. He ha(J been visiting in the South, and had been im- 
pressed into the ranks. As soon as the battle began, he broke from the rebel ranks 
and attempted to run down the hill, and cross over to our side. His own lieutenant 
saw him in the act, and shot him with a revolver! Listen to such a tale as that, 
as I did, by the side of the sad young sufferer, and tell me if your blood does not 
boil warmer than ever before, as you think, not of the poor deluded followers, but 
of the leaders, who, for personal ambition and personal spite, began this infernal 
rebellion." 

Some amusing anecdotes were related of this battle. 

Previous to the fight, before any shells had been thrown, a Georgian, who wa."* 

behind a tree some distance from one of our men, called out to him, " What troops 

are you ?" One soldier, squinting around his tree, and seeing that there was no 

chance for a shot at his questioner, replied: "Ohio and Indiana volunteers." 

4 



50 IN WEST VIRGINIA. 

"Volunteers! ," exclaimed the Georgian, "you needn't tell me volunteers 

stand fire that way ! " The day's skirmish presented some instances of extraor- 
dinary daring. Perhaps the most astoundinii was that of a fellow who undertook 
to furnish the news to the rebels. One of Milroy's Swamp Devils, (as the boys 
of the Ninth Indiana were called,) took a paper and deliberately walked up the 
road at the foot of the hill, on which the enemy were placed, till he got within 
convenient talking distance. Then asking them if they wouldn't like to have the 
news, and they having answered in the affirmative, he unfolded his paper and 
began, "Great battle at Manassas Gap; rebels completely routed ; one thousand 
killed, ten thousand wounded, and nearly all the rest taken prisoners; all traitors 
to he hung and their property confiscated ! " By this time the bullets be^jan to 
rain down upon him rather thickly, and he beat a rapid retreat to a convenient 
tree, carefully folding up his paper as he went, and shouting back that if they would 
come over to camp, he would give them the balance of the newsl " 
Another incident woi'th preserving is as follows: 

In one of the Indiana regiments was a Methodist preacher, said to be one of the 
very best shots in his regiment. During the battle, he was particularly conspic- 
uous for the zeal with which he kept up a constant fire. The I4th Ohio Regiment, 
in the thick of the fight, fired an average of eleven rounds to every man, but this 
parson managed to get in a great deal more than that average. He fired carefully, 
with perfect coolness, and always after a steady aim, and the boys declare that 
every time, as he took down his gun, after firing he added, "And may the Lord 
have mercy on your soul." 

The loss in killed and wounded was slight. In the result, the enemy- 
were for the time being driven from Northwestern Virginia. The 
whole affair was a mere skirmish compared to an hundred later battles 
of the war, too inconsequential to be described in history. But it was 
the first decided union victory, and gave great eclat to Gen. McClellan, 
who, in the enthusuism of the time, was in consequence transferred to 
the command of the army of the Potomac. A second Napoleon was 
euj)posed to have been found in the person of an ex-captain of U. S. 
engineers. 

The next engagement of importance was, the battle of Carnifex 
Ferry, which took place on the 10th of September between the union 
forces under Gen. Rosecrans and the rebels under Gen. Floyd, ex-sec- 
retary of war. Floyd's position was a high intrenched camp on the 
summit of a mountain in the forest, on Gauley river, opposite the 
precise point where the Meadow river falls into it. The intrench- 
ments extended about a mile and a half in his front, each end resting on 
the bank of the river, which here by its curving formed a kind of bow, 
while the intrenched line answered for the string. In the center of 
Floyd's line was an extensive earthen mound, supporting his main 
battery. The rest of his works were of fallen timber exclusively. 
The position could not well be flanked, and the only resource was to 
attack him in front. Floyd had six regiments and 16 pieces of artillery. 

On the last day of August, Gen. Eosecrans, moved from Clarksburg, 
to put himself at the head of his army, and resume active operations. 
His plan was to engage Floyd in the region of the Kanawha line. 
After much delay, the army moved from Birch river toward Sumraer- 
ville on the 9th. On the 10th he marched eighteen miles, to near the 
intrenched position of the enemy, in front of Carnifex Feriy. At 
three o'clock in the afternoon he began the strong reconnoissance, 
termed the battle of Carnifex Ferry. This lasted until night came on, 
when the troops being exhausted, he drew them out of the woods and 



IN WEST VIRGINIA. 52 

posted them in line of battle, intending to storm the works in the 
morning. In the night Floyd having become alarmed at the strength 
of the attack upon him, silently fled, crossed the Grauley and destroyed 
the bridge after him. Eosecrans took possession of the camp, captured 
a few prisoners, and some arms and some stores. The union loss was 
114; among the killed was the brave Col. Lowe. 

At the time Rosecrans was operating against Floyd, Gen. J. J. Ecyn- 
olds of Indiana, was stationed with his brigade at two fortified camps 
on Cheat Mountain, one called Cheat Summit, and the other Elkwator, 
seven miles apart by a bridle path. The rebel G-eneral R. E. Lee, 
desired to get into their rear into Tygart Valley, and once there with 
a large force he would have advanced against Grafton and Clarksburg, 
the principal military depots in Northwestern Virginia. On the 12th 
inst. he marched up the Staunton pike, with about 9000 men and from 
8 to 12 pieces of artillery. He made attempts for several successive 
days to take these works ; and was finally repulsed on the 15th. Among 
the rebc'ls killed was Col. John A. Washington, proprietor of Mt. Ver- 
non. He was shot by a small scouting party while reconnoitering, 
and at the moment he and his escort had turned to flee, the latter 
galloping off leaving their commander wounded and dying by the road 
side. 

''The party ran up to the wounded man, and found him partially raised upon one 
hand, attempting!; to arasp his pistol. As they approached, the dying man smiled 
faintly, and said ''How are you boi/s f gioe me some loater." One of the party 
placed his canteen to the soldier'.^ lips, bat they were already cold in death. A 
litter was made, and the body carried to headquarters, when an examination of the 
person was made. Judge, if you can, of thti surprise excited, when upon his 
clothing was found the name of John A. Woshington I Four balls had passed 
through his body, two entering either lung and any one inflicting a mortal wound. 
A flag of truce was sent the next morning to the rebels, ofi'ering to return the 
body, and all the colonel's effects. It was met by Lieut Col. Stark, of Louisiana, who 
was coming to our camp to demand the body. When told that Colonel Washington 
was dead. Col. Stark was very deeply afi'ected. and fur some moments was unable 
to speak at all. He finally said, "Col. Washington's temerity killed him; he was 
advised not to go where he did, but was on his first expedition, and extremely 
anxious to distinguish himself" Col. Washington was attached to the stafl" of 
General Lee, as engineer, from which it is judged Gen. Lee in person commands 
the forces in our front. What a sad commentary Col. VV^ishingtons death afl'ords us. 
His illustrious uncle, the founder of our liberties, the great leader in the war for 
our independence ! The degenerate nephew, taken in arms, fighting against the 
government his progenitor has called into being; losing his life in attempting to 
undo what that noble man had done ! To be shot in the back was a proper termi- 
nation to the career of a relative who in selling at an exorbitant price the Mount 
Vernon estate to a patriotic association of ladies, had speculated upon the bones 
of George Washington." 

Guyandotte a town of about 600 inhabitants, situated on the Vir- 
ginia bank of the Ohio, at the mouth of the Guyandotte, twelve or 
fourteen miles above the Kentucky line, was the scene of tragic events 
-on Sunday night and on Monday, November 10th and 11th. The 
people were nearly all bitter secessionists. Col. Whaley was forming 
there the Ninth Virginia (union) regiment, and had with him on Sun- 
day about 120 of his own men, and 35 of Zeigler's 5th Virginia Cavalry, 
A little after sundown this small hoAy was surprised by a force of several 
hundred cavalry under the notorious guerrilla chief Jenkins. The 



52 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

attack was entirely unexpected, and "W"haley's men were " taking it 
easy," some at church, some sauntering about, some asleep in their 
quarters, and only a camp guard out and no pickets. The men rallied 
and gathered in squads, sheltering themselves behind buildings and 
making the best fight possible, in which the gathering darkness in- 
creased their chances for escape. The rebels pursued the squads, 
charging upon them around the corners, running down individuals, 
killing some, wounding others, and taking prisoners. After the light 
was over, they hunted many from places of concealment. As our men 
fought from sheltering positions, and the enemy were in the open 
streets, the loss was supposed to be nearly equal in killed and wounded, 
— from 40 to 50 each. The enemy captured some seventy prisoners. 

The attack was accompanied by acts of savage barbarity. Some of the fleeing 
soldiers in attempting to cross the bridge over the Guyandotte, were shot, and those 
only wounded, while begging for their lives were thrown into the river to be 
drowned. Others were dragged from their hiding places in the town and mur- 
dered. Some poor fellows who had taken to the river were killed as they were 
swimming, or when they had crawled out on the other bank. One John S Gar- 
nett, who hid on that side was busy at this bloody business. A witness testified 

that he heard them shout across "John! Ho! John Garnett, shoot them devils 

coming out of the water there," and two guns went off. "There is another just 

behind the tree." "Oh! I have sunk that Yankee.'' Soon another shot and 

a yell, " I've got one of the dad's scalps and a first rate Enfield rifle." 

Early the next morning, the rebels fearing pursuit, left the town, 
carrying off with them as prisoners some of the union citizens, having 
first taken and destroyed their goods. When they left, twenty one 
secession women all with their secession aprons on, paraded and cheered 
the visitors. Col. Zeigler with a few union troops immediately landed 
from a steamer, arrested ten of the leading citizens as jjrisoners. As 
the people had fired on the troops from their dwellings, the soldiers 
set fire to the houses of the rebels, which communicating to the others, 
fi'om one half to two thirds of all the buildings in the place were 
burnt. 

The guerrilla war in West Virginia was marked with many horrible 
atrocities and thrilling adventures. There was scarcely a county 
which did not contain moi'e or less secessionists who degenerated into 
assassins. They shot down in cold blood their neighbors in open day, 
and at night stealthily burnt their dwellings. Hundreds of these 
villains were arrested, but for want of positive evidence discharged 
on t?aking the oath of allegiance : when they again renewed their acts 
of savage barbainty. So little was this sacred obligation obserred, so 
venomous did they remain, that it had its proper illustration in the 
popular anecdote of the time, told of a union soldier who had caught 
a rattlesnake; and asked his companion "what should he do with him?" 
'■'■ Swear him and let him ^o," was the instant response. A writer of 
the time well illustrates the fiend-like spirit that was rife in these jDar- 
agraphs. 

A thrilling incident of the war occurred to-day, within two miles of Parkers- 
burg. There lives in that vicinity a farmer named Smotherton. He is of the 
germs termed " white trash " by the contrabands ; a renting farmer, who lives from 
liiind to mouth, ignorant, quarrelsome and reckless. He has quite a family. 
Smotherton is a secessionist, a very bitter one, and he has imbued the idea and 
its spirit into all his family, from his wife down to his youngest child. The sue- 



IN WEST VIRGINIA. 



53 



cess of the federal arms has only served to embitter and enrage him, and time and 
again he has threatened to poison the water which supplies the camp at this place, 
to destroy by fire the property of his union neighbors, kill their cattle and muti- 
late their horses. 

For several months he has done little else than make threats of this character. 
His wife was as bad with her tongue as he was, and even his children have been 
taught to hate and curse those who were for the union. Smotherton bein^ in- 
formed that he would be driven from the neighborhood if he did not improve his 
conduct, replied that he would not leave until he had destroyed the property and 
shed the blood of some of the union men. "They can't hurt mc for it," he con- 
tinued, "kase the war's commenced, an* there haint no law." That seemed to be 
his firm belief 

To-day two sons of Smotherton, the oldest not yet thirteen years of age, was out 
in the woods with a rifle. They came across another lad, named King, about the 
same age, whose family is for the union, and reside in the same neighborhood. 
The young Smothertons, following the example of their father, immediately 
called him to account. Young King stood up for the union, which so enraged the 
other two boys that they threatened to shoot him. Young King then boldly 
straightened himself up and shouted, "Hurrah for the union." The oldest of the 
Smotherton boys — not yet thirteen years old, remember — deliberately raised his 
rifle, fired, and gave young King a mortal wound. To-night it is said he can not 
survive until morning. 

As soon as the affair became known, a file of soldiers were dispatched from town 
to Smotherton's hut, which they surrounded, and, without resistance, took the old 
man, his sons, and two or three others prisoners. I need not say that the soldiers 
were disappointed in not meeting resistance, for they did not want to bring in any 
prisoners. The party was marched to town surrounded by bayonets, and com- 
mitted to prison, to await examination before the military authorities to-morrow. 
An indignant crowd followed them, and many voluntarily stepped forward as 
witnesses. An intelligent country girl said that she heard the boy Smotherton 
declare, several days ago, that he would shoot the boy King if he did not stop 
hurraing for the union, for he (Smotherton) was a secessionist, and he wasn't 
agoing to stand it. 

Just such people you will find all over Western Virginia, and as their cause 
sinks they become more desperate, and endeavor to support it by blood and crime. 
Until they are treated and dealt with as traitors, the war in Western Virginia, 
will not approximate a close. Our troops curse the policy that has heretofore 
governed the military authorities, and now they take no prisoners whenever they 
can avoid it. 

Eetalliation, as above stated, at last became the common rule. The 
union scouts learned to take no prisoners. One of the best pictures 
which gives the lights and shadows of this border war, is drawn by 
a writer in the first year of the struggle, an union soldier from the 
New England settlement of Ceredo. He says : 

In February 1861, nine others and myself were threatened with expulsion from 
the "sacred soil" of the Old Dominion for voting for Lincoln: all residents of 
Ceredo. In May the war against us raged fiercer, and some of the marked ones 
left for fear of violence. Some of my neighbors could not leave if they would, and 
my courageous wife agreed with me that it was better to stay, for we might by 
that course do more for the good cause than in any other way. 

In June and July the excitement was all the time increasing, and by the mid- 
dle of the latter month it was publicly stated that the "Lincolnites" of Ceredo 
must leave, and notices to that effect were sent to ua. We sent back word to 
them to "come on," we were prepared for them (but we were not though), and 
defied them. 

For several weeks in the middle of Summer we watched every night for the 
coming of the indignant seces.sionists. They looked for ue to submit and take the 
oath of allegiance to the Southern Confederacy, or leave. It was during this time 



54 TIMES OF THE KEBELLION 

of fearful peril — for we had sworn to stand hy each other and resist to the death 
if necessary — that everything; else was forsotten. All biisiness was abiindonod. 
The farmers who had been ''nfluenced by our position and action, left their crops 
and joined us in consultation and watch. They were made to understand that 
they were riskinsi; all their property and their lives, and perhaps the lives of their 
families, by joinin^j; us. But they pledged themselves willing to make the sacrifice, 
if need be, for the sake of the union. Our fears were reasonably increased by 
the treatment of union men in the adjoining counties, and we did not hope for 
mercy. The enemy outnumbered us who would fight more than three to one; 
yet our bold stand and defiant declarations kept them back For many nights my 
wife did not retire to rest with any certainty that she would not be a>-oused before 
morning by the torch and bullet of the rebel guerrillas, now organized in three 
different places in our own county, and in large numbers in the next and nearest 
county above us. A little band of twenty-live, and sometimes thirty or more, 
when our country neighbors came in, stood on guard through manv summer 
nights, with such arms as we could pick up, waitintc to resist the attack of three 
hundred or more; but I have no doubt we should have made a desperate resist- 
ance. We had become so exasperated by the infamous threats of the rebels, and 
80 incensed at their conduct toward union men up the country, that we all felt 
that it was our solemn duty to resist. 

Then began the or;i;anization of a regiment. One of the old residents was urged 
to take the lead in this; we New Englanders pledged ourselves to sustain him. 
Tt was a fearful undertakin-jj, but we had the rii^ht kind of a man to leal off, and 
it was successful. The rebels were of course indii^nant that we should attempt to 
have a military force in the "abolition" village of Ceredo. 

It has been one continued whirl of bustle, and e.xcitement and panic. It seems 
as though years ou.^ht to embrace the crowded events of the past few months. In 
fact, it does seem years since last June. I remember a few scenes, a few days, 
and the balance is one confused jumble of stirring incidents, panics, fearful and 
energetic struggles to calm the popular feeling, painful and tedious niijjht watch- 
ings. long rides for reconnoiterins, anxious consultations, and frequent renewal 
of pledges. It makes me shudder to think of the danger we escaped. I can 
hardly realize that we did pass throuijh all and are yet safe, and that the d^ar 
ones at home were permitted to remain there, when danger passed so near, — and 
particularly since we have learned what nefarious plots were concocted for our 
destruction. 

While the recruitinsr was going on we were all the time in danger, and before 
the regiment was half full we had men out constantly on the scout, either to hunt 
rebels among the hills, or to ^uard union mens property away from our camp. 
While our men were takins prisoners and running the scamps from hill to hiding- 
place, the union men in Cabell county were rode over rough-shod. Every one 
who had a shot-gun or rifle, or a grain of powder, was robbed. The robbers also 
took beef and corn, and the union men in that county said not a word, for fear of 
farinsi worse. The few who dared to say anything were driven away or killed. 
Two others were shot, but recovered, and are now in the union army. One who 
had always maintained the right of a Viririnian, clinging to the old government, 
was called to his door one morninsj; by some of Jenkins' cowardly crew, and shot 
dead — four of the assassins shooting at once. In our county, young men, who 
were out of the reach of our protection were forced into the rebel army. I can 
not describe with what a high hand many outrages were perpetrated — how heart- 
less and cruel, and with how little sense of honor, these "chivalrous southrons" 
committed numerous wrongs upon loyalists, upon their riirhts, liberty and prop- 
<>rfv However, every prominent secessionist in our county has been killed or 
twkt^n prisoner. This is some consolation, though it does not compensate for the 
suffering of the loyal men. 

I entered the army as a private, determined to be useful. I was put where it 
was thought I could be of most use, and have been constantly and ceaselessly en- 
gaired. My duties have not prevented my making some observations of the 
character and the moral effect of our enterprise. 



IN WEST VIRGINIA. 55 

How curiously — to me it seems — has this matter operated. The northerner and 
Virginian, it appeared, never could affiliate. They never did. It was plain that 
a Yankee never would be respected by the Virjiinian; from the most ignorant to 
the most cultivated, there was the same inborn prejudice. If common courtesy 
and the studied politeness of the educated man ( V^irginian) led him into sociable- 
ness and cordiality of friendly intercourse for a time, he would all at once assume 
a coldness as though he had forgot himself and done wrong. Among the ignorant 
it was still more unpleasant; but now all is changed. 'I'oey now seem to think 
we are of one nation — we are all brothers — we should all be united — we should 
help each other — we should not rememl)er that one was froui a free state, and an- 
other was born in a slave state. This is of the union men. The secessionists hate 
us more, if possible, and hate their neighbors who have joined us still worse. 
•Nothing else, it appears to me could ever have destroyed this prejudice. And to 
us, who have seen this inveterate prejudice, this appears strange. Is it love of 
country, or is it the dai\ger? Who can tell ? 

I have witnessed many scenes in this brief time which 1 had never expected to 
see — altogether a great deal of the worst of the "horrors of war," and mingled 
with the soldiers who are roughest and hardest, and heard their talk and their 
nonsense. Instead of feeling as though I had been hardened, or had become 
callous to the suffering of men and the cruelties of war, it seems as though the 
best feelings were sharpened. I know men who never before appeared to have 
any real and natural love for their fumilies, manifest the l^esfc and most encourag- 
ing aspects of fraternal affection — the most delicate and tender love for friends and 
fiimilies — since this war commenced. Men. unconscious of the best feeliniis of 
criltioated natures, manifest that tender and affectionate regard for their wives 
which we expect to see only among the most enlightened and harmonious fiimi- 
lies. Many of tiie natives are roniih and uncultivated. The war does them 
good! 80 it seems to me. This is my question: why is it? How would you ex- 
plain it? How is it possible that civil war, where there is so much of awful trag- 
edy, and wherein neighbor will shoot neighbor, to say nothing of the lesser 
wrongs and outrages, will improve men generally ? While they talk so glibly of 
this one and that one of their acquaintance who are rebels, as deserving to be shot, 
they seem to be progressing in other respects. They become less selfish, more 
confiding, more generous, more considerate, and better men, I think, altogether. 
And this while we have not the best discipline in our regiment, and there is none 
too little whisky in camp. Is it love for country? Is it that the union is in 
danger, or that their families are in danger? Would this last produce such aa 
effect? Or is it that the love for country is such a great and noble virtue that it 
increases other good qualities in men f Yes, this is it, it can be nothing else. 

The bitter contempt and hate with which the union men were held 
throughout the south at the outbreak of the rebellion, found full ex- 
pression in their secession papers: of which the following extract pub- 
lished in the Jeffersonian at Barboursville, West Virginia, in May 1861, 
is a fair specimen : 

Capt. Roger's company of volunteers are making active preparations for service. 
They are a fine body of men, as true as steel, and fighting in the cause of liberty, 
everi/ single man of them is equal to a d"zen of the base hirelings icithichom they 
have to contend. In the hour of battle, we doubt not but what each man 2oill 
prove himself a Spartan. 

Should old Lincoln grow so insane as to send 100,000 of his box-ankled 
Yankees up through this part of Virginia, our mountain boys will give them a 
warm reception, and icill be sure to save enough Yankee shin bones to make husk- 
ing pegs with tchich to husk all our corn for a hundred years. 

A few months of actual exjjerience dispelled some of those pleasant 
delusions in regard to the cowardice of union men. As the rebels were 
soon driven by our brave volunteei-s from their various cnmps at Phil- 
ippi, Laurel Hill, Cheat Mountain, Gauley river and other points, they 



56 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

left behind in their panic hurry, bushels of private letters. These 
revelations of the inner life of the rebellion, are important conti-ibutions 
to the history of the times. They illustrate the ideas that prevailed 
among the poor whites of the South, their ferocity against the people 
of the free states; and an ignorance so profound as to show how readily 
they became the willing instruments in the hands of their aristocracy, 
to perjDetuate and increase their own degradation. The most amusing 
of these were the love letters of which the camps were full. Some of 
the tender documents could not be exceeded in ferocity of spirit by the 
cannibals of Fejee. Mingled with good religious advice to husbands 
by wives to trust in the Lord and offer up continued prayers for his 
guidance, are blended requests to kill every Yankee they met, and 
bring the scalps home as trophies of the war. Little children also 
write to their papa's for union scalps, and tender swains and love 
stricken maidens all appear to revel in visions of blood. We oj)en 
with one of this description. 

Sewel Mountain October 3d 1861. 

Dear Maiss Sarah margret Waup I send you my best love and respects to you. 
I am well at this present time in hopinji these few lines will find you in the same 
helth and in the Same mind as you was when I gote the last letter. My love is 
round as a ring that has no end and so is my to you. I waunt you not to foregit 
mea and pick up eny of the Raleigh boys fore I am goun to Sleep in youres arms 
if I live and the dam yankee devels dont kill mea. I still lives in hopes the devels 
Cant kill mea, I hope that we will Jine handes again. I waunt you to never have 
eny thing to 8aye to the Raleigh boyes they are all purty mutch unean [union] 
mean I understand and that is a poore Cuntry I no. I have got youres lik- 
nesia yet and kiss hit evry Day hites no ende that howe I lov you. 1 think of you 
when [ am marced into the battle feal. I waunt you to ware the Seccions war 
riben a white peas of cloth around your wast; the unean [union] lades wars the 
black beltes around their wast * * 

[ The writer indulges in some thorough going profanity in reference to " Linken," 
and expresses a few uncharitable wishes respecting his future.] 
* * mair raar<;ret I would like to see you So we Could laff and talk all about old 
times. My pen hade my ink is no count and I hant have but 8 minets to rite to 
you and I have to rite hit on my lapt. Pleas exkoose mea I have rote 6 letteres 
and reserved 3 from you and the hole of them thare was mise rote this you see 
rember mea if this not except please exkooss mea and burn hitup 

Sarah margret Waup 

JAMES BOLTON. 

From another letter found in Laurel Hill camp we take two lines. 

"i sa a!j;en deer Melindy weer fitin for our liburtis to dew gest as we pleas, and 
we loill fite fur them so long as GODDLEMITY givs us breth." 

Here are two letters from loving maidens. The first according to 
her own revelations had been some time "on the market." 

Mr. , Dkar Sir: I take the pleasure in writing you a few lines to-night. 

And to answer the kind & excepted note. We are all well at present. J think 
■that good health & company is all that one should wish for. I know that I am 
contented when I am in your good company, that I love to be in so much. But 
I hope the kind Providence will soon permit us to be to gather soon. I wished 
that all of those Yankees heads teas shot off and piled up. Beck has formed a 
good opinion of you. Hut 1 think that 1 like you the best. She said that she 
wished that she was married. She says that she wants me to put the holtar on 
'first. There is no man here I care anything about now. I was once 12 years 
engaged, but am free now. There was a certain person told me to keep myself 
free from all engagements for him, but did not answer, and that was the last. I 



IN WEST VIRGINIA. 57 

dreamt about you last night. 1 thought I heard you talking to papa. T tell you 
1 almost was under John's control, but it may be for the best yet. If things had 
of went on, I would of been married, some time ago. These are times to try 
persons faith and feelings. I think every one should be candid. I know that you 
love me. That love can be returned. I am in for anything that you say, »fcc., &c. 

Wyths vill VA August 17th 1861 
Dear sur — it is with grate plesur for me to ancer yore letter I was glad to think 
that you thougt that much of me amany A time I think of you all and wod like to 
see you all but I think that it will be A longe time be fore i will see you all but 1 
hoape that it will not be so longe you sade that you had that arboviter that me and 
sue give you and that likeness that miss sue Pattison had of yores she has got it 
yet. She sase that she is A goante to kepe it. The times air loancem hear know 
sence you all lefte hear. 11 tell you that campe Jacksom lokes loancem know. I 
havente northen much to rite to you at this time but I hoape that I will have nore 
to rite to you. The nexte tine that you rite if that ever will be but 1 hoap that 
you will not forgit to rite. I woante you to excuse me for not hav ritten sooner 
but I havent not had the chance but 1 tride mity harde to ancer it sooner but I 
cudent. I hearde this morninge that you all was a goanto leave thair and I thaute 
that I wod ancer it this eaven. I woante you to tell mr yomce to rite to me. 
Ancer this as soon as you git this. I have northen more to sa at the present time 
but excuse bad riten and spellinge. Dearest frende 

Miss Mary D McA 

Here is a third maidenly letter found at Carnifex Ferry after Floyd's 
flight by some of Rosecrans' soldiers. Tt was in a highly scented white 
envelope, and was evidently addressed to one of the secession chaplains, 
that " Gronuine itinerant Methodist minister." Miss Becky repels the 
base charge that she is given to tobacco chewing. 

Rev. Wm. H. Dear, in high esteem your very welcom letters arrived in 

due time, which were pleastant visitant, it was truely gratifying to hear of the 
abundance of good things you are blessed with in N. Carolina. I recon Egypt 
will certainly divide with Canaan. 

Well Parson I suppose you are in the Dominion state this year among polished 
characters. I don't know how you can think of the plain people in Fentresa 
Tennessee. 

I would just say as it regard my useing tobacco it is altogether a false suppo- 
sition. 1 protest the use of tobacco in every shape and form, so enough on that 

subject. Dear I appreciate you as a genuine Itinerant Methodist minister 

and will take pleasure in any writen correspondence with you. There have been 
revivals on this mission since you left. 

We expect Parson at his appointment. 

Well Dearest we are many miles apart Oh ! the deep between us roll the 

rough Hills which intervene between you & I. yet all things are possible in the 
sight of the Lord. May the good Lord bless thee my dearest I hope you will find 
friendes that will treat you kindly. Oh ! that this may be a glorious Conference 
year. You are still remembered by Rebecca. 

Things are going on smoothly. 

Mary is primping and fixing herself looking for her beaugh. Dear me ! Clear 
the way, move the chairs, & make room. Well Parson, T must now close by solic- 
iting your prayers in my behalf. Respond to this the first opportunity. 

Fare-well this time Rebecca 

Oh ! I remember how you looked 
Remember well your silvery Tone 
And placid smile of sweetest lore 
Though Many hours hare rapid flown. 

Poetical effusions in great quantities were found "to fire the Southern 
heart."- This one is a fair specimen. It was obtained at Camp Gauley, 
among the official papers of the adjutant of a Virginia regiment : 



68 



TIMES OF THE REBELLION 



Come all you brave Virginia boys 
With iiearts both stout and true 

Conie let us go down to the luason line 
And Whip the Nothern crue 

Old lincoln is there president 

That evry body knows 
Arul he was elected by the Vote 

Of men as black as Crows 

A Miilgamation is ther theme 

And that will never do 
Come lets go down to the Battle ground 

And Whip the Nothern Crue 

Be brave and Bold you Valiant boys 
and keep your Armors Bright 

For Sothern Boys Wonts nothing else 
But Just the things that Right 

God made the peopl Black and white 

he made the red man to 
And for to mix up is not Right 

lets Whip the Negro crue 



if honor sease your Soards brave boys 
And Muskets not A few 

Come lets go down to the Battle ground 
And Whip the Nothern crue 

Fight on Brave Boys with out a doubt 
On til you gain the Field 

The god of Battle he is stout 
He will caus our foas to yeald 

Our Wives and sweet hearts 

tell us go and fight Just like A man 

And keep the nothern negro crue 
off of Virginue land 

if luckey is our doom Brave Boys 

in old Abe lincoln hall 
On our next Independent day 
We will Take a Sothern Ball 

and when we come safe home Again 

Our wives and sweet harts to 
We they will welcom us from Washington 
for they have nothing elce to do 
August the 14 1861. 

The war in West Virginia was confined to small battles, skirmishes, 
and conflicts with guerrillas. One of the most important of the bat- 
tles, in its consequences, in the latter part of the war, was that of 
Droop Mountain, in the G-reenbrier countr}'-, Nov. 6, 1863. In this at- 
tion. the rebels were attacked in their works on the summit of the 
mountain by Gen. Averill, and routed with a loss of 400 men. 

The guerrilla leaders, Jenkins and Imboden, were, for a time, active 
and enterprising, and the union troops were kept busy under Cox, 
iScatnnion, Crook, Averill, Kelly, and other union officers, whose terror- 
inspiring raids, and the hardships endured by those who took part in 
them, will show how noble a part was played in the great drama of 
the present age b}^ the union-loving sons of West Virginia. 

The most noted of all the raids was that of Averill in the winter of 
1863—4. The object of the expedition, which was planned by Gen. 
Kelly, was to cut the Virginia and Tennessee railroad, and so sever 
the communication between Lee, in Virginia, and Longsti'eet, in Ten- 
nessee. 

Several fei<:ne(i movements were made in order to mislead the enemy, which 
were successful. 'I'he command of the real expedition was given to General 
Averill. On the 8tli of DeeemOer, he started from New Creek, near the Mary- 
land border, with four mounted rejiiments and a battery, marching almost due 
south, which brought him almost directly between the confederate armies in Vir- 
ginia and Tennessee. On the l(3th, he struck the line of the railroad at Salem, 
and begun the work of destruction. The telegraphic wire was cut, three depots, 
with a large amount of stores, destroyed, and the. track torn up, bridges and cul- 
verts destroyed for a space of 15 miles; this was the work of a few hours. The 
enemy in the meantime had learned of his position and operations, and sent out 
six separate commands, under their ablest generals, to intercept him on his re- 
turn. They took possession of every road through the mountains which was 
thought passable. One road, which crossed the tops of the Alleghanies, and was 
thought impracticable, remained. By this, Averill made his escape, carrying off 
all his material, with the exception of four caissons, which were burned in order 
to increase the teams of the pieces. His entire loss in this raid was 6 men 
drowned in crossing a river, 4 wounded, and about 90 missing. He captured 
about 200 prisoners, but released all but 84, on account of their inability to walk. 
In his report, General Averill says, " My march was retarded, occasionally, by the 



IN WEST VIRGINIA. 



59 



tempest in the icy mountains, and the icy roads. I was obliged to swim my com- 
mand, and drag my artillery with ropes, across Crog's creek seven times in twenty- 
four hours. My horses liave subsisted entirely upon a very poor country, and the 
officers and men have suffered cold, hunger, and fatigue witli remarkable fortitude. 
My command has inarched, climbed, slid, and swam three hundred and JiJ'ti/-Jive 
miles in fourteen days." 

What must have been the sufferings on such a march, from cold, 
fatigue, and hunger, in the depths of winter, in that dreary, inhosj)i- 
table, mountain wilderness, sui-rouuded by fierce, deadly enemies, 
thirsting lor blood ! Writes one : 

The nights were bitter. It rained, snowed, and hailed. Imagine the gathering 
of cktuds, the twilight approaching, the wearied soldier and foot-sore horse climb- 
ing and scraping up the steep mountain roads ; then the descending of the storm, 
the water freezing as it touched the ground, the line winding its way up one side 
and down another, entering passages that seemed to be the terminus of these 
mountainous creations, and then emerging upon open lands but to feel the fury 
of ^he storm the more severe, and he can form but a mere idea of what was the 
scene on this trying occasiou. 



KENTUCKY. 




Kentucky was originally included in the limits of Virginia, and the nnme, 
said to signify, in the Indian tongue, "The dark and bloody ground," is in- 
dicative of her early conflicts with a 
wily and savage foe. The first ex- 
plorer of her territory of whom we have 
any very definite knowledge was Col. 
James Smith, who traveled westward 
in 1766, from Holston River, with 
three men and a mulatto slave. The 
beautiful tract of country near the 
Kentucky River appears to have been 
reserved by the Indians as a hunting 
ground, and consequently none of their 
settlements were found there. The dark 
forests and cane thickets of Kentucky 
separated the Creeks, Cherokees and 
Catawbas of the south from the hostile 
tribes of the Shawnees, Wyandots and 
Delawares of the north. 

In 1767, John Findley and some 
others made a trading expedition from North Carolina to this region. In 
1769, Daniel Boone (the great pioneer of Kentucky), with five others, among 
whom was Findley, undertook a journey to explore the country. After a 
long fatiguing march over a mountainous wilderness, they arrived upon its 
borders, and from an eminence discovered the beautiful valley of the Ken- 
tucky. Boone and his companions built a cabin on Red River, from whence 
they made various excursions. Boone being out hunting one day, in com- 
pany with a man named Stuart, was surprised and both taken prisoners by 
the Indians. They eventually succeeded in making their escape. On re- 
gaining their camp, they found it dismantled and deserted. The fate of its 
inmates was never ascertained. After an absence of nearly three years, Boone 
returned to his family in J^orth Carolina. 

In 1770, Col. James Knox led into Kentucky a party from Holston, on 
Clinch River, who remained in the country about the same length of time 
with Boone's party, and thoroughly explored the middle and southern part 
of the country. Boone's party traversed the northern and middle region with 
gre£.t,attention. Although both parties were in the country together, they 

(61) 



Arms of Kentucky. 



62 KENTUCKY. 

never met. When these pioneers returned, they gave glowing description - 
of the fertility of the soil throughout the western territories of Virginia and 
North Carolina. The lands given to the Virginia troops for their services 
in the French war were to be located on the western waters, and within two 
years after the return of Boone and Knox, surveyors were sent out for this 
purpose. In 1773, Capt. Bullitt led a party down the Ohio to the Falls, 
where a camp was constructed and fortified. 

In the summer of 1774, parties of surveyors and hunters followed, and 
within the year James Harrod erected a log cabin where Harrodsburg is now 
built; this soon grew into a settlement or station — the oldest in Kentucky. 

In 1775, Daniel Boor.e constructed a fort, afterward called Boonesborough, 
during which time his party was exposed to fierce attacks from the Indians. 
By the middle of April, the fort was completed, and soon after his wife and 
daughters joined him and resided in the fort — the first white women who ever 
stood on the banks of Kentucky River. 

In 1775, the renowned pioneer Simon Kenton erected a log cabin where 
the town of Washington now stands, in Mason county. In the winter of this 
year, Kentucky was formed into a county by the legislature of Virginia. In 
the spring of 1777, the court of quarter sessions held its first sitting at Har- 
rodsburg. 

The years 1780 and 1781 were distinguished for a great emigration to Ken- 
tucky, and great activity in land speculations, and by inroads of the Indians. 
In 1780, an expedition of Indians and British troops, under Col. Byrd, threat- 
ened the settlements with destruction. Cannon were employed against the 
stockade forts, some of the stations were destroyed, and the garrisons 
taken. 

In 1781, every portion of the country was continually in alarm, and many 
lives were lost. The most important battle between the whites and Indiana 
ever fought on its soil was on the 19th of August, 1782, near the Blue Lick 
Springs. The celebrated Col. Boone bore a prominent part in this engage- 
ment, in which he lost a son. The whites numbered but 182, while the In- 
dians were twice or thrice that number. From the want of due caution in 
advancing against the enemy, they were, after a short but severe action, routed 
with the loss of seventy-seven men and twelve wounded. Kentucky being 
the first settled of the western states, a large number of expeditions were sent 
out by her from time to time against the Indians in the then wilderness coun- 
try north of the Ohio; these were mostly within the present limits of Ohio, 
which thus became the battle ground of Kentucky, and was watered with 
the blood of her heroic pioneers. 

After the revolutionary war, there was a period of political discontent. 
This arose partly from the inefficient protection of Virginia and the old fed- 
eral congress against the inroads of the Indians, and partly by a distrust lest 
the general government should surrender the right to navigate the Missis- 
sippi to its mouth. 

Kentucky was the central scene of the imputed intrigues of Aaron Burr 
and his coadjutors to form a western republic. What the precise designs of 
Burr really were has perhaps never been fully understood. 

Kentucky took an active part in the war of 1812. After the surrender of 
Hull at Detroit, the whole quota of the state, consisting of upward of 5,000 
volunteers, was called into active service. In addition to these, a force of 
mounted volunteers was raised, and at one time upward of 7,000 Kentuckians 
are said to have been in the field, and such was the desire in the state to 



KENTUCKY 63 

enter into the contest that executive authority was obliged to interpose to 
limit the number. At this period, Isaac Shelby, a hero of the revolutionary 
war, was governor of the state. At the barbarous massacre of the River 
Raisin, and also in the unfortunate attempt to relieve Fort Meigs, many 
of her brave sons perished. In the recent war with Mexico, several of her 
distinguished citizens engaged in the contest. 

Kentucky was separated from Virginia in 1786, after having had several 
conventions at Danville. In 1792, it was received into the Union as an in- 
dependent state. The first constitution was formed in 1790, the second in 
1796. The financial revulsion which followed the second war with Great 
Britain was severely felt in Kentucky. The violence of the crisis was much 
enhanced in this state by the charter of forty independent banks in 1818, 
with a capital of nearly ten millions of dollars, which were permitted to re- 
deem their notes with the paper of the bank of Kentucky. The state was 
soon flooded with the paper of these banks. This soon depreciated, and the 
state laws were such that the creditor was obliged to receive his dues at one 
half their value. Tlie people of the state became divided into two parties; 
the debtor party, which constituted the majority, was called the Relief, and 
the creditors the Anti-Relief party. The judges of the courts declared the 
acts of the legislature, in sustaining the currency, unconstitutional. The ma- 
jority attempted to remove them from office by establishing new courts; the 
people became divided into the "new court" and "old court" parties. The 
contest was finally decided in the canvass of 1826, when the old court party 
pervailed. 

Kentucky is bounded N. by the Ohio River, separating it from the states of 
Ohio, Indiana and Illinois; E. by Virginia; W. by the Mississippi River, sepa- 
rating it from Missouri, and S. by Tennessee. It is situated between 36° 30' 
and 39° 10' N. Lat., and between 81° 50' and 89° 20' W. Long. Its length 
is about 400 miles, and its breadth 170 miles, containing 37,680 square 
miles. 

Kentucky presents a great diversity of surface. In the eastern part, where 
it is bordered by the Cumberland Mountains, there are numerous lofty eleva- 
tions; and on the Ohio River, through nearly the whole extent of the state, 
there is a strip of hilly but fertile land from five to twenty miles in breadth. 
On the margin of the Ohio are numerous tracts of bottom lands, which are 
periodically overflowed. Between the hilly countiy of the more mountain- 
ous eastern counties and Green River is a fertile tract, frequently called the 
"garden of the state." This is in the blue limestone region, in the midst of 
which is the beautiful town of Lexington. The line demarking this region 
passes from the Ohio round the heads of Licking and Kentucky Rivers, 
Dick's River, and down Great Green River to the Ohio; and within this 
compass of above one hundred miles square is found one of the most fertile 
and extraordinary countries on which the sun has ever shone. The soil is 
of a loose, deep and black mold, without sand — on first-rate lands, from two 
to three feet deep — and exceedingly luxuriant in all its productions. It is 
well watered by fine springs and streams, and its beautiful climate and the 
salubrity of the country are unequalled ; the winter, even, being seldom so 
inclement as to render the housing of cattle necessary. In a state of nature, 
nearly the whole surface of this region was covered with a dense forest of 
majestic trees, and a close undergrowth of gigantic reeds, forming what in 
the country are called canebrakes. In the southern part, however, on the 
head waters of Green River and its tributaries, is an extensive tract, thinly 



64 



KENTUCKY. 



wooded, and covered in summer with high grass growing amid scattered and 
stunted oaks. Struck with the contrast this region presented to the luxu- 
riant forests of the neigboring districts, the first settlers gave the country the 
unpromising name of "6arre?is." 

In 1800, the legislature considering this tract but of little value, made a 
gratuitous grant of it to actual settlers. This land proved to be excellent f(;r 
grain, and also adapted to the raising of cattle. The whole state, below the 
mountains, has, at the usual depth of eight feet, a bed of limestone, which has 
frequent apertures. The rivers have generally worn deep channels in the 
calcareous rocks over which they flow. There are precipices on the Ken- 
tucky River of solid limestone 300 feet high. Iron ore and coal are widely 
diffused; coal, especially, occupies an extensive field. Salt springs are nu- 
merous, and mineral springs are found in many places. The great agricul- 
tural productions are hemp, flax, Indian corn, tobacco, wheat and live stock. 
More than half of all the hemp raised in the Union is grown in Kentucky. 
Population, in 1790, 73,077; in 1820, 564,317; in 1840, 779,828; in 1850, 
982,405 ; in 1860, 1,185,567, of whom 225,490 were slaves. 




South-eastern view of Frankfort. 

Showing the appearance of the place from the railroad. The soiithern entrance of the tunnel through 
the limestone bluff, and under the State Arsenal and foot path to the Cemetei-y, is seen on the right. The 
Capitol and some other public buildings are seen in the central part, Kentucky River in front on the left. 

Frankfort, the capital of Kentucky, is 25 miles N. W. from Lexington, 
and 53 E. from Louisville. It is beautifully situated on the right or north- 
east bank of Kentucky River, 60 miles above its mouth, in the midst of the 
wild and picturesque scenery which renders that stream so remarkable. The 
city stands on an elevated plain between the river and the high bluff's, which 
rise 150 feet immediately behind the town. The river, which is navigable 
for steamboats to this place, is nearly 100 yards wide, and flows through a. 
deep channel of limestone rock. A chain bridge crosses the river here, con- 
meeting the city with South Frankfort, its suburb. The railroad from Lex • 



KENTUCKY 



65 




State House, Frankfoet. 



ington passes into the city in a tunnel through the limestone rock or ledi.'e 
on which the State Arsenal is erected. Frankfort is well built, and has fine 
ediiices of brick and Kentucky marble. The State House is a handsome ed- 
ifice of white marble. The 
city is well supplied with ex- 
cellent spring water, which is 
conveyed into the town by 
iron pipes. The State Peni- 
tentiary is located here, and 
the trade of the place is fa- 
cilitated by railroads in vari- 
ous directions. The Ken- 
tucky Military Institute, a 
thriving institution, is in the 
vicinity of Frankfort. Popu- 
lation about 5,000. 

"Frankfort was established 
by the Virginia legislature ic 
1786, though the first survey 
of GOO acres was made by 
Robert McAfee, on the Itith 
of July, 1773. The seat of government was located in 1792, and the first 
session of the assembly was held 
in 1793. The public buildings 
not being ready, the legislature 
assembled in a large frame house 
belonging to Maj. James Love, 
on the bank of the river, in the 
lower part of the city." 

The Frankfort Cemetery is laid 
out on the summit of the high and 
commanding bluffs which imme- 
diately rise in an eastern direc- 
tion from the city. The "Mili- 
tary Monument" (an engraving of 
which is annexed) was erected in 
pursuance of an act of the legisla- 
ture, Feb., 1848. The following 
inscriptions and names are en- 
graved upon- it, viz : 

Military Monument Erected by 
Kentucky, A. D., 1860. 
Mexico, Lt. J. W. Powell ; Boones- 
borniigh, Harmars Defeat^ Capt. J. 
MitMurtsy; Monterey, P. M. Bar- 
bour; Buena Fis/a, Col. William R. 
McKee, Lieut. Col. Clay, Cant. Wm. 
T. Willis, Adjutant E. P. Vaughn; 
H'ai-sin, Col. John Allen, Maj. Benja- 
min Graves, Capt. John Woolfolk, 
("apt. N. G. S. Hart, Capt. James Meade, Capt. Robert Edwards, Capt. Virgil Mc- 
Cracken, Capt. William Price, Capt. John Edraundson, Capt. John feimpson, Capt 
Pascal Hickman, Lieut. John Williamson; Thames, Col. Wm. Whitley, Capt. Elijah 

5 




Military Monument, Frankfort. 
The Bmall monument in front is that of Mnj. B;ir. 
bour; in the distance is shown that of Col. R. M. Johnscni 



66 KENTUCKY. 

Craig, Lieut. Robert Logan, Lieut. Thos. C. Graves, Lieut. Thos. Overton, Lieut. 
Francis Cliinn, Ensign Levi Wells, Ensign Shawhan, Surgeon Alex. Mont- 
gomery, Surgeon Thomas C Davis, Surgeon John Irvin, Surgeon Thos. Mcllvaino; 
Indian Wars^ Col. John Floyd, Col. Nathaniel Hart, Col. Walker Daniel, Col. Wm. 
Christian, Col. Rice Galloway, Col. James Harrod, Col. Wm. Lynn, Maj. Evan 
Shelby, Maj. Bland Ballard, Capt. Christ Irvin, Capt. Wm. McAfee, Capt. John 
Kennedy, Capt. ('hristopher Crepps, Capt. Rogers, Capt. Wm. Bryant, Capt. Tip- 
ton, Capt. Chapman, Capt. McCracken, Capt. James Shelby, Capt. Samuel Grant, 
Supv'r Hanc'y Taylor, Supv'r Willis Lee; Massissinaway, St. Clair's Defeat, Col. 
Wm. Oldham; Estill's Defeat, Capt. James Estill, Lieut. South; 2''ippecanoe, Col. 
Joseph H. Daviess, Col. Abram Owen; Fort Meigs, Col. Wm. Dudley, Capt. John 
C. Morrison, Capt. Chris'r Jrvin, Capt. Joseph Clark, Capt. Thomas Lewis; Blue 
Licks, Col. John Todd, Col. Stephen Trigg, Major Silas Harlan, Maj. Wm. McBride, 
Capt. Edward Bulger, Capt. John Gordon, Capt. Isaac Boone. 

The principal battles and campaigns in which her sons devoted their lives to 
their country are inscribed on the bands, and beneath the same are the names of 
the officers who fell. The names of her soldiers who died for their country are too 
numerous to be inscribed on any column. By order of the legislature, the name 
of Col. J. J. Hardin, of the 1st Reg. Illinois Infantry, a son of Kentucky, who fell 
at the battle of Buena Vista, is inscribed hereon. 

Kentucky has erected this column in gratitude equally to her officers and soldiers. 



To the memory of Col. Richard M. Johnson, a faithful public servant for nearly 
half a century, as a member of the Kentucky legislature and senator in congress. 
Author of the Sunday Mail Report, and of the laws for the abolishment for debt in 
Kentucky and in the United States. Distinguished for his valor as a colonel of a 
Kentucky regiment at the battle of the Thames. For four years vice-president of 
the United States. Kentucky, his native state, to mark the sense of his eminent 
services in the cabinet and in the field, has erected this monument in the resting 
place of her illustrious dead. Richard Mentor Johnson, born at Br.yiiut's Station, 
on the 17th day of October, 1781 ; died in Frankfort, Ky., on the 19th day of No- 
vember, 1850. 

Philip Norbourne Barbour, born in Henderson, Kentucky, graduated with 
merit at West Point in 1829; and immediately commissioned Lieutenant 3d Regi- 
ment U. S. Infantry; captain by brevet for valor in the Florida War; served with 
distinction at Palo Alto; major by brevet for distinguished gallantry and skill at 
Resaca de la Palma. He fell at the head of his command, covered with honor and 
glory, at the storming of Monterey, Sept. 21; 1846. Florida, Palo Alto, Resaca de 
Palma, Monterey. Kentucky has erected this monument to a bnive and noble son. 



"At its session of 1844-45, the legislature of Kentucky adopted measures to have 
the mortal remains of the celebrated pioneer; Daniel Boone, and those of his wife, 
removed from their place of burial on the banks of the Missouri, for the purpose 
of interment in the public cemetery at Frankfort. 

The consent of the surviving relations of the deceased having been obtained, a 
commission was appointed, under whose superintendence the removal was effected; 
and the 13th of September, 1845, was fixed upon as the time when the ashes of the 
venerable dead would be committed with fitting ceremonies to the place of their 
final repose. The deep feeling excited by the occasion was evinced by the as- 
sembling of an immense concourse of citizens from all parts of the state, and the 
ceremonies were most imposing and impressive. A procession, extending more 
than a mile in length, accompanied the coffins to the grave. The hearse, decorated 
with evergreens and flowers, and drawn by four white horses, was placed in its as- 
signed position in the line, accompanied, as pall bearers, by the following distin- 
guished pioneers, viz: Col. Richard M. Johnson, of Scott; General James Taylor, 
of Campbell, Capt. James Ward, of Mason ; Gen. Robert B. McAfee and Peter Jor. 
dan, of Mercer ; Waller Bullock, Esq., of Fayette ; Capt. Thos. Joyce, of Louiaville * 



KENTUCKY. 



G7 



Mr. Landin Sneed, of Franklin; Col. John Johnston, of the state of Ohio; Major 
Z. Williams, of Kenton, and Col. Wni. Boone, of iShclby. The procession was a,>'- 
companied by several military companies, and by the members of the Masonic Fra 
ternity, and the Independent order of Odd Fellows, in rich regalia. Arrived at the 
grave," the company was brought together in a beautiful hollow near the grav.-, as- 
cending from the 
center on every sid". 
Here the funeral scr 
vices were perlonu 
ed. The hymn was 
given out bv the 
Rev. Mr. Godell, of 
the Baptist Church; 
prayer by Bishop 
Soule, of the Metho- 
dist E. Church; ora- 
tion by the Honora- 
ble John .J. Critten- 
den; closing prayer 
by the Rev. J. J. 
Bullock, of the Pres- 
byterian Church, 
and benediction by 
the Rev. P. S. Fall, 
of the Christian 
Church. The coffins 
Avere then lowered 
into the graves. The 
spot where the 
graves are situated 
is as beautiful as na- 
ture and art com- 
bined can make it' " 




Ge.wks of Daniel Boone and his Wife at Frankfort. 

The graves of Boone and his wife are without a nionumont save the forest 
scene by which they are surrounded. The spot wliere they were interred is 
at the foot of the two trees, around which is a simple board seat. It is near 
the edge of the high bluff rising from the river. The beautiful valley of 
Kentucky River is seen in the extreme distance. 



Only two persons 
were present of all 

the assembled thousands who had known Boone personally. One of these 
was the venerable Col. John Johnston, of Ohio, lon<r an agent of the U. S. 
government over the Indians, having been appointed to that office by Wash- 
ington. The other was a humble old man named Ellison Williams, who 
walk*»d barefoot from Covington to Frankfort, a distance of sixty miles, to 
see Boone's bones buried, but he was a silent mourner and an entire stranger 
in that vast crowd. He left as his dying request that he should be buried 
by the side of Boone, and the legislature of Kentucky in 1860 appropriated 
ninety dollars for that purpose. At the same session they passed a bill ap- 
propriating two thousand dollars to erect a monument over the remains of 
Boone and his wife. The originator of the bill was the Hon. Samuel Hay- 
craft, senator from Hardin, who advocated the measure in a speech of "al- 
most matchless beauty, eloquence and patriotism." 



Harrodsburg, the county seat of Mercer county, is situated near the 
^•eographical center of the state, thirty miles south from Frankfort, on an 
eminence, 1 mile from Salt River and 8 miles from Kentucky River. It 
contains the county buildings, 7 churches, 2 banks 25 stores, several m;iiia- 
facturing establishments, the Kentucky University, 2 female colleges, and 
about 2,500 inhabitants. Bacon College, founded in 1836, under the pat- 
ronage of the Christian denomination, is located in this place. The Har 



(;3 KENTUCKY. 

rodsbura; Springs are celebrated for the medicinal virtue of their waters, and 
for the beauty and extent of the adjoining grounds. 

According to some authorities, Harrodsburg was the first settled place in 
Kentucky. In July, 1773, the McAfee company from Bottetourt county, 
Va., visited this region, and surveyed lands on Salt River. Capt. James 
Harrod, with forty-one men, descended the Ohio River from the Mononga- 
hela, in May, 1774, and penetrating into the intervening forest made hic 
principal camp about one hundred yards below the town spring, under the 
branches of a large elm tree. About the middle of June, Capt. Harrod and 
companions laid off a town plot (which included the camp), and erected a 
number of cabins. The place received the name of Harrodstown, afterward 
Oldtown, and finally the present name of Harrodsburg. The first corn raised 
in Kentucky was in 1775, by John Harmon, in a field at the east end of 
Harrodsburg. During the year 1777, the Indians, in great numbers, col- 
lected about Harrodsburg, in order, it was supposed, to prevent any corn 
being raised for the support of the settlers. In this period of distress and 
peril, a lad by the name of Ray, seventeen years of age, rendered himself an 
object of general favor by his courage and enterprise. He often rose before 
day, and left the fort on an old horse to procure (by hunting) food for the 
garrison. This horse" was the only one left unslaughtered by the Indians 
of forty brought to the country by Major M'Grary. He proceeded, on these 
occasions, cautiously to Salt River, generally riding in the bed of some small 
stream to conceal his course. When suflUciently out of hearing, he would 
kill his load of game and bring it in to the suffering people of the fort after 
nightfall. 

Louisville, the seat of justice for Jefferson county, is the largest city in 
the state, and, next to Cincinnati and Pittsburg, the most important on the 
Ohio. It is situated on the left bank of the river, at the head of the rapids, 
65 miles by railroad W. of Frankfort, 130 below Cincinnati, 590 W. by S. from 
Washington, and 1,411 above New Orleans. The city is built on a gentle ac- 
clivity, 75 feet above low watermark, on a slightly undulating plain. Eight 
handsome streets, nearly two miles in length, run east and west, parallel with 
the river: they are crossed by more than 30 others running at right angles. 
The situation and surrounding scenery of Louisville are beautiful, and from 
some parts is had a delightful view of the Ohio River and of the town of 
New Albany, a few miles below. 

Its immediate trade extends into all the surrounding country, and em- 
braces within the state of Kentucky a circuit of one of the most productive 
regions of the world. The manufactures of Louisville are very extensive, 
embracing a great variety. It has iounderies and machine shops, steam bng- 
ging factories, cotton, woolen and tobacco factories, mills of various kinds, 
distilleries, breweries, agricultural factories, etc. Ship building is also ex- 
tensively carried on. The trade of Louisville is estimated at one hundred 
millions of dollars annually. The principal agricultural exports are tobacco, 
pork, hemp, and flour. It is connected with its suburb Portland by a rail- 
rond operated by horse power, and by a canal 2^ miles around the Falls of 
the Ohio, with a total lockage of 22 feet. It is also connected by railroads 
with the interior. Since the completion of the railroad to Nashville, an im- 
mense trade has opened with the south, which has given a great impulse to 
the prosperity of the city. Louisville contains many splendid public build- 
ings, 10 banks, about 50 churches, and a population, in 1860, of 75,196. 

The Medical Institute^ organized in 1837, by an ordinance of the city 



KENTUCKY. 



69 



council, ranks high among the public institutions of Louisville. The Uni- 
verai/j/ of Louisville is in successful operation, and has buildings which are an 
ornament to the city. The Maritie Hospital, designed as a refuge for sick 




View of the Central part of Louisville. 

The view shows the appearance of the central part of Louisville, from tlie Indiana side of the Ohio. 
The Jrjffersou City Ferry Landing, and Gait House apjiear on ihe left, the Louisville Hotel in the din- 
tauce on the right, the Court House and City Hall, the Catholic and other Churches in the central pa;t. 

and infirm mariners, is an important public institution, located and established 
here in 1820, by a grant from the state of $40,000. Another Marine Asy- 
lum has been erected here by the general government. The Ast/lnin for the 
Blind, established by the state in 1842, has a spacious building erected by 
the joint contributions of the state and citizens of Louisville. The students, 
beside their literary studies, are also instructed in various kinds of handi- 
craft, by which they can support themselves after leaving the institution. St. 
Jospplis LifrmprT/ is a Catholic benevolent institution. The Kentucky His- 
torical Societi/, in this place, was incorporated in 1838: it has collected valua- 
ble documents relating to the early history of the state and of the west. 
The Mercantile Library Association has a large and valuable collection of 
books. The Artesian Well, at Louisville, sends up immense quantities of 
mineral water of rare medicinal value in various complaints, proving a bless- 
ing as great as it was unexpected to the citizens. 

The following, relative to the first settlement, etc., of Louisville, is from 
Collins' Historical Sketches of Ky.: 

Captain Tlioinas Bullitt, of Virginia, uncle of the late Alexander Scott l)iilii<\ 
who was the first lieutenant-governor of Kentucky, is sai<l to have laid oft" Louis-, il' • 
in 1773. This was before the first log cal>in was built in Kentucky. For simi",- i 
years after this, the silence of the forest was undisturbed by the white man. 'l"li(> 
place was occasionally visited by different persons, but no settlement was niaile un- 
til 1778. fn the spring of this year, a party, consisting of a small number of 
families, came to the Falls with George Rogers Clark, and were left by him on an 



70 



KENTUCKY. 



island near the Kentucky shore, now called Corn Island. The name is supposed 
to have been derived from the circumstance that the settlers planted their tirst In 
dian corn on this island. 

These settlers were sixty or seventy miles distant from any other settlement, and 
had nothing hut their insular position to defend them from the Indians. The posts 
in the Wabash country, occupied by the British, served as points of support lor 
tiKi incursions of the savai:;e8. After these had been taken by Clark, the settlers 
\\i:ve inspired with confidence, and, in the fall of 1778, removed from the island to 
tie site now occupied by Louisville. Here a block house was erected, and tlie 
iiuinher of settlers was increased by the arrival of other emi<^rants from Vir<:inia. 

In 1780, the legislature of Virginia passed 'an act for establishing the town of 
Louisville, at the falls of Ohio.' By this act, 'John Todd, jr., Stephen Trigg, Geo. 
Slaughter, John Floyd, William Pope, George Meriwether, Andrew Hynes, James 
Sullivan, gentlemen,' were appointed trustees to lay off' the town on a tract of one 
thousand acres of land, which had l)een granted to John Connelly by the British 
government, and which he had forfeited by adhering to the English monarch. 
Each purchaser was to build on his own lot 'a dwelling house sixteen feet by twenty 
at least, with a brick or stone chimney, to be finished within two years from the day 
of sale.' On account of the interruptions caused by the inroads of the Indians, 
the time was afterward extended. I'he state of the settlers was one of constant 
danger and anxiety. Their foes were continually prowling around, and it was 
risking their lives to leave the fort. 

The settlement at the fiills was more exposed than those in the interior, on ac- 
count of the facility with Avhich the Indians could cross and recross the river, and 
the dilliculties in the way of pursuing them. The savages frequently crossed the 
river, and after killing some of the settlers, and committing depredations upon 
projx^rty, recrossed and escaped. In 1780, Colonel George Slaughter arrived at 
tlie Falls with one hundred and fifty state troops. The inhabitants were inspired 
with a feeling of security which led them frequently to expose themselves with too 
little caution. Their foes were ever on the Avatch, and were continually destroying 
valuable lives. Danger and death crouched in every path, and lurked behind 
every tree. 




Medical and Law Colleges, Lonisville. 

The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in the graveyards 
of Louisville, the first three being in the old yard in the city, the remainder 
in the Cave Hill Cemetery: 

Elected by Dr. J. M. Tiilbot to the memory of bis Father, Capt. Isham Talbot, who de- 
parted Ibis lite July 30, 1839, iu his 81st year. He was burn in Virginia. At a tender age 



KENTUCKY. 



71 



he entered the Army of the Revolution, was in the memorable battles of Brandywine, Ger- 
mantown and Monmouth. Visited Ky. in '79, and after his permnnent location in '82, was 
in the disastrous engagement with the Indians at the Lower Blue Licks. He sustained 
through life the character of a high minded, honorable gentleman. His Honesty and In- 
tegrity were never questioned, and far better than all, he died with a bright hope of enjoying 
eternal Life beyond the grave. • 



Rev. Isaac McCot, born June 13th, 1784, died June 21st, 1836. For near 30 years, his 
entire time and energies were devoted to the civil and religious improvement of the Abo- 
riginal tribes of this country. He projected and founded the plan of their Colonization, 
their only hope, the imperishable monument of his wisdom and benevolence. 

The Indian's Friend, for them he loved through life, 

For them in death he breathed his final prayer. 

Now from his toil he rests — the care — the strife — 

And waits in heaven, his works to follow there. 



To the memory of Major John Harrison, who was born in Westmoreland Co., Virginia, 
A.D. 1754. After having fought for the Liberty of his Country during the struggles of the 
American Revolution, he settled in Louisville in 1786, and paid nature's final debt, July 15th, 
1821. 

Pearson Follansbee, City Missionary in Louisville, born March 4, 1808, in Vassalboro, 
Me., died Sept. 6th, 1846. " He went about doing good. His record is on high." 
00 

Sacred to the memory of John McKinley, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the 
U. S. Born May 1, 1780; died July 19, 1852. "In his manner he was simple and unaf- 
fected, and his character was uniformly marked with manliness, integrity and honor. Ho 
was a candid, impartial and righteous judge, shrinking from no responsibility. He was 
fearless in the performance of his duty, seeking only to do right, and fearing nothing but 
to do wrong." — Hon. J. J. Crittenden's remarks in U. S. Court. 

Wm. H. G. Butler, born in Jefferson Co., Ind., Oct. 3, 1825, died at Louisville, Ky., 
Nov. 2, 1853. A man without fear and without reproach, of gentle and retiring disposi- 
tion, of clear and vigorous mind; an accomplished scholar, a devoted and successful 
teacher, a meek and humble Christian. He fell by the hand of violence in the presence of 
his loving pupils, a Martyr to his fidelity in ihe discharge of duty. This monument is 
erected by his pupils, and a bereaved community, to show their appreciation of his worth, 
and to perpetuate their horror at his murder. 

Jane McCullough, wife of John Martin, died by the falling of the Walnut Presby- 
terian Church, Aug. 27, 1854. Aged 59 years. 

She loved the Courts of God below, I And while engaged in worship there. 

There found her Saviour nigh, | Was called to those on high. 



Annexed is a view of the magnificent bridge over Green River on the 
Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Excepting the Victoria Bridge, at Mon- 
treal, it is the largest iron bridge on this continent. The iron work of the 
superstructure, which was built by Inman & Gault, of Louisville, was begun 
in July, 1858, and by July, 1859, the bridge was in its place ready for the 
passage of trains. 

" It crosses the valley of Green Kiver near the town of Mumfordsville, Kentuekv, 
about 70 miles from Louisville, and twenty miles above the celebrated Mammoth 
Cave, which is located on the same stream. Its total length is 1,000 feet, consist- 
ing of three spans of 208 feet, and two of 2S8 feet each ; is 118 feet above low- 
water; contains 638.000 pounds of cast, and 381,000 pounds of wrought iron, and 
2,.500 cubic feet of timber in the form of rail joists. There are 10,220 cubic yards 
of masonry in the piers and abutments. The cost of the superstructure, includ- 
ing that of erection, was sixty-eight dollars per foot lineal — that of the entire work, 
$165,000. The plan of truss is that invented by Albert Fink, the desiirner and 
construc't()r of the bridges and viaducts on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; and 
is peculiar in this, that it is self-compensating and selfadjusting, and no extremes 
of temperature can put it in such a condition that all the parts can not act in their 
accustomed manner and up to their full capacity." 



KENTUCKY. 



The celebrated Mammoth Cave, one of the great wonders of the ■western 
world, is in Edmondson county, near the line of the Louisville and Nashville 




Iron Bridge over Grteu liiccr. 

Railroad, and about 90 miles from each of the two cities. It is said to have 
been explored to the distance of lOinileswithout reaching its termination, while 

the aggregate width of all 
its branches exceeds forty 
miles. 

"The cave is approached 
through a romantic shade. 
At the entrance is a rush 
of cold air; a descent of 30 
feet, by stone steps, and an 
advance of 150 feet inward, 
brings the visitor to the 
door, in a solid stone wall, 
which blocks up the en- 
trance of the cave. A nar 
row passage leads to tho 
great vestibule, or ante 
chamber, an oval hall, 200 
by 150 feet, and 50 feet 
high. . Two passages, of 
one hundred feet width, 
open into it, and the whole 
is supported without a sin- 
gle column. This chamber 
was used by the races of 
yore as a cemetery, judg- 
inii from the bones of gi- 
gantic size which are dis- 
covered. A hundred feet 
Gothic Ci.a. t.L, Ma.«m th Oavi;. ^bove your head, you catch 

a htful jjhmpse of a dark 
gray ceiling, rolling dimly away like a cloud; and heavy buttresses, apparently 




KENTUCKY. 73 

hendinj!; under the superincumbent weight, project their enormous masses from the 
shadowy wall. The scene is vast, solemn, and awful. In the silence that pervades, 
you can distinctly hear the throbbings of your heart. In Audubon Avenue^ lead- 
ing from the hall, is a deep well of pure spring water, surrounded by stalagmite 
columns from the floor to the roof The Little Bat Eoom contains a pit of 2S0 
feet deep, and is the resort of myriads of bats. The Grand Gallery is a vast tun- 
nel, many miles long and 50 feet high, and as wide. At the end of the first quar- 
ter of a mile are the Kentucky Cliffs, and the Church, 100 feet in diameter and 
63 feet high. A natural pulpit and organ loft are not wanting. ' In this temple 
religious services have frequently been performed.' The Gothic Aveiuie, reached 
by a flight of stairs, is 40 feet wide, 15 feet high, and 2 miles long. Mummies have 
been discovered here, which have been the subject of curious study to science; 
there are also stalagmites and stalactites in Lonisas Bower and Vulcan's Furnace. 
On the walls of the Register Rooms are inscribed thousands of names. The 
Gothic Chapel, or Stalagmite Hall, is an elliptical chamber, 80 feet long bv 50 
wide. Stalagmite columns of immense size nearly block up the two ends; and 
two rows of pillars of smaller dimensions, reaching from the floor to the ceiling, 
and equidistant from the wall on either side, extend the entire length of the hall. 
This apartment is one of surprising grandeur, and when illuminated with lamps, 
inspires the beholder with feelings of solemnity and awe. At the foot of the 
Devil's Arm Chair is a small basin of sulphur Avater. Then there is the Breast- 
work, the Elephant' s Head, Lover s Leap, Gatewood' s Dining Table, and the Cool- 
ing Tub, a basin 6 feet wide and 3 feet deep, of the purest water, Napoleon' s Dome, 
etc. The Ball Room contains an orchestra 15 feet high; near by is a row of 
cabins for consumptive patients — the atmosphere being always temperate and pure. 
The Star C7i«w&er presents an optical illusion. 'In looking up, the spectator 
seems to see the firmament itself studded with stars, and afar oS" a comet with a 
bright tail.' The Temple is an immense vault, covering an area of two acres, and 
covered by a single dome of solid rock, 120 feet high. It rivals the celebrated 
vault in the Grotto of Antiparos, which is the largest in the world. In the middle 
of the dome there is a large mound of rocks rising on one side nearly to the top, 
very steep, and forming what is called the Motintain. The River Hall descends 
like the slope of a mountain; the ceiling stretches away before you, vast and grand 
as the firmament at midnight. A short distance on the left is a steep precipice, 
over which you can look down, by the aid of torches, upon a broad, black sheet 
of water, 80 feet below, called the Dead Sea. This is an awfully impressive place, 
the sights and sounds of which do not easily pass from memory." 

Mnysville is situated on the left bank of the Ohio, 73 mile.? N.E. from 
Frankfort, 441 below Pittsbur":, and 55 above Cincinnati by the river. It is 
beautifully located on a high bank, having a range of lofty verdant hills or 
bluffs rising immediately behind the city. Maysville has a good harbor, and 
is the port of a large and productive section of the state. Among the pub- 
lic buildings, there is a handsome city hall, 2 large seminaries, a hospital 
and 7 churches. Bagging, rope, machinery, agricultural implements, and 
various other articles, are extensively manufactured. It is one of the largest 
hemp markets in the Union. Population about 3,000. 

Mnysville was known for many years as Limestone, from the Creek of that 
name, which here empties into the Ohio. It received its present name from 
John May, the owner of the land, a gentleman from Virginia. The fiist set- 
tlement was made at this place in 1784, and a double log cabin and block 
house were built by Edward and John Waller, and George Lewis, of Vir- 
ginia. Col. Daniel Boone resided here in 1786, and while here made a 
treaty with the Indians at the mouth of Fishing Gut, opposite Maysville. 
The town was established in 1788. The first school was opened in 1790, by 
Israel Donaldson, who had been a captive among the Indians. The frontier 
and exposed situation of Maysville retarded its progress for many years, and 



74 



KENTUCKY. 



it was not until about the year 1815, that its permanent improvement fairly 
commenced. It was incorporated a city in 1833. 




Vieio of the Mouth of Liclang River, between Newport and Covington. 

The Suspension Bridge between Newport and Covington is seen in the central part, passing over Licking 
River. The U. S. Barracks, in Newport, appear on the left, part of Covington on tlie right. 

Covington is in Kenton county, on the west side of Licking River, at its 
mouth, also on the south bank of the Ohio, opposite Cincinnati, and at the 
northern terminus of the Kentucky Central Eailroad: it is 60 miles N.N.E. 
from Frankfort. It is built on a beautiful plain several miles in extent, and 
the streets are so arranged as to appear, from the hills back of Cincinnati, as 
a continuation of that city, of which, with Newport, it is a suburb. The fa- 
cilities of communication are such that many persons reside here, whose 
places of business are in Cincinnati. Its manufacturing interests are ex- 
tensive and varied. A magnificent suspension bridge is now constructing 
over the Ohio, to connect Covington with Cincinnati. Population about 
15,000. 

Newport is on a handsome plain, on the Ohio River, opposite Cincinnati : 
it is separated from Covington by Licking River, with which it is connected 
by a beautiful suspension bridge. An U. 8. arsenal and barracks are located 
here. It contains several rolling mills, iron founderies, steam mills, etc. 
Population about 12,000. 

The valley of the Ohio, a short distance from the Licking, was the scene of 
a most sanguinary event years before white men had settled in this vicinity. 
It was Rogers' defeat and massacre, which occurred in the fall of 1779, at 
which time this spot, and the site of the now flourishing city of Cincinnati, 
opposite, was one dense forest : 

Col. David Rogers and Capt. Benham, with 100 men, were in two large keel 
boats, on their way from New Orleans, with supplies of ammunition and provis- 
ions for the western posts. In October, when near the mouth of the Licking, a 
few Indians were seen, and supposing himself to be superior in numbers, Rodgers 
landed to attack them, and was led into an ambuscade of 400 Indians. The whites 
fought with desperation, but in a furious onset with tomahawk and scalping-knife, 
the commander, with about ninety of his men, were soon dispatched. The e«cape 
of Capt Benham was almost miraculous. A shot passed through both legs, shat 



KENTUCKY. 75 



terino- the bones. With great pain he dra^jied himself into the top of a fallen tree, 
where he lay concealed from the search of the Indians after the battle was over. 
He remained there until the evening of the next day, when, being m danger of 
fimishino- he shot a raccoon which he perceived descending a tree near where he 
lay Just at that moment he heard a human cry, apparently within a few rods. 
Supnosin<T it to be an enemy, he loaded his gun and remained silent A second, 
and thenli third halloo was given, accompanied by the exclamation, ' Whoever you 
kre for God's sake answer me?' This time Benham replied, and soon found the 
unknown to be a fellow soldier, with both arms broken ! Thus each was enabled 
to supply the deficiency of the other. Benham could load and shoot game while 
his companion could kick it to Benham to co(>k. In this way they supported them- 
selves for several weeks until their wounds healed sufficiently to enable them to 
move down to the mouth of Licking River, where they remained until the 2 (th of 
November, when a flat-boat appeared moving by on the river. 1 hey hailed the 
boat but the crew feavino- it to be an Indian decoy, at first refused to come to their 
aid but eventually were prevailed upon to take them on board. Both of them re- 
covered Benham served through the Indian wars down to the victory of Wayne, 
and subsequently resided near Lebanon, Ohio, until his death, about the year 
1808. . 

The Blue Lich Springs is a watering place of high repute on the Licking 
River, in Nicholas county, 19 miles from Lexington, and 80 miles south- 
easterly from Covington. At an early period, the Licks became a place of 
much importance to the settlers, as it was chiefly here that they procared, at 
o-reat labor and expense, their supply of salt. In modern times it has be- 
come a fashionable place of resort/the accommodations greatly extended, 
and the grounds improved and adorned. The Blue Lick water has become 
an article of commerce, several thousand barrels being annually exported. 

It was at this place, on the 19th of Aug., 1782, that a bloody battle was 
fought with the Indians, "which shrouded Kentucky in mourning," and, 
next to St. Clair's defeat, has become famous in the annals of savage war- 
fare. Just prior to this event, the enemy had been engaged in the siege of 
Bryant's Station, a post on the Elkhorn, about five miles from Lexington. 
As tl.e battle was a sequel to the other, we give the narrative of the first in 
connection, as described in McClung's Sketches: 

In the summer of 1782, 600 Indians, under the influence of the British at De- 
troit assembled at old Chillicothe, to proceed on an expedition to exterminate the 
" Loj)Q Knife" from Kentucky, and on the night of the 14th of August, this body 
cathered around Bryant's Station. The fort itself contained about forty cabins, 
placed in parallel lines, connected by stwng palisades, and garrisoned by forty or 
tilW men It was a parallelogram of thirty rods in length by twenty in breadth, 
formino- an inclosure of nearly four acres, which was protected by digging a trench 
fcmr or'^five feet deep, in which strong and heavy pickets were planted by ramming 
the earth well down against them. These were twelve feet out of the grouna, 
bein./ formed of hard, durable timber, at least a foot in diameter. Such a wall, it 
must" be obvious, defied climbing or leaping, and indeed any means of attack, can- 
non excepted At the angles were small squares or block-houses, which projected 
beyond the palisades, and served to impart additional strength at the corners, as 
well as permitted the besieged to pour a raking fire across the advanced party ot 
the assailants Two folding gates were in front and rear, swinging on prodigious 
wooden hinges, sufficient for the passage in and out of men or wagons in times of 
security These were of course provided with suitable bars. 

This was the state of things, as respects the means of defense, at Bryant s Sta- 
tion on the morning of the lath of August, 1782, while the savages lay con.oaled 
in the thick weeds around it, which in those days grew so abundantly and tall, as 
would have sufficed to conceal mounted horsemen. They waitedfor davlight, and 
the oi.enin<' of the gates for the garrison to get water for the day s supply Irom an 
adjacent sparing, before they should commence the work of carnage. 



76 KENTUCKY. 

It seems that the jrarrison here were rather taken off their jruard. Pome of the 
palisade work had not been secured as permanently' as possible, and the original 
party whit'li built the fort had been tempted, in the hurry of constructing and their 
fewness of hands, to restrict its extent, so ns not to include a spring of water within 
its limits. tJreat as were these disadvantages, they were on the eve of exposure tc 
a still greater one, for had the attack been delayed a few hours, the garrison would 
have been found disabled by sending off a reinforcement to a neighboring station 
— Holder's settlement — on an unfounded alarm that it was attacked by a party of 
savages. As it was, no sooner had a few of the men made their appearance out- 
side of the gate than they were fired on, and compelled to regain the inside. 

According to custom, the Indians resorted to stratagem for success. A detach- 
ment of one hundred warriors attacked the south east angle of the station, calcu- 
lating to draw the entire body of the besieged to that quarter to repel the attack, 
and thus enable the residue of the assailants, five hundred strong, who were on the 
opposite side in ambush near the spring, to take advantage of its unprotected situ- 
ation, when the whole force of the defense should be drawn off to resist the assault 
at the south-east. Their purpose, however, was comprehended inside, and instead 
of returning the fire of the smaller party, they secretly dispatched an express to 
Lexington for assistance, and began to repair the palisades, and otherwise to put 
themselves in the best possible posture of defense. 

The more experienced of the garrison felt satisfied that a powerful party was in 
ambuscade near the spring, but at the same time, they supposed that the Indians 
would not unmask themselves until the firing upon the opposite side of the fort 
was returned with such warmth as to induce the belief that the feint had suc- 
ceeded. Acting upon this impression, and yielding to the urgent necessity of the 
case, they summoned all the women, without exception, and explaining to them the 
circumstances in which they were placed, and the improbability that any injury 
would be offered them until the firing had been returned from the opposite side of 
the fort, they urged them to go in a body to the spring and each to bring up a 
bucket full of water. Some of the ladies had no relish for the undertaking, and 
asked why the men could not bring water as well as themselves? observing that 
they were not bullet-proof, and that the Indians made no distinction between male 
and female scalps. To this it was answered, that the women were in the habit of 
bringing water every morning to the fort, and that if the Indians saw them engaged 
as usual, it would induce them to believe that their ambuscade was undiscovered, 
and that they would not unmask themselves for the sake of firing upon a tew 
women, when they hoped, by remaining concealed a few moments longer, to obtain 
complete possession of the fort. That if men should co down to the spring the In- 
dians would immediately suspect that something was wrong, would despair of suc- 
ceeding bv ambuscade, and Avould instantly rush upon them, follow them info the 
fort, or shoot them down at the spring. The decision was soon over. A few of 
the boldest declared their readiness to brave the danger, and the younger and more 
timid rallying in the rear of these veterans, they all marched down in a body to 
the spring, within point blank shot of five hundred Indian warriors! Some of the 
girls could not help betraying symptoms of terror, but the married women, in gen- 
eral, moved with a steadiness and composure which completely deceived the In- 
dians. Not a shot was fired. The party were permitted to fill their buckets one 
after another, without interruption, and although their steps became quicker and 
quicker (m their return, and when near the fort degenerated into a rather unmili- 
tnry celerity, attended Avith some little crowding at the gate, yet not more than one 
fifth of the water was spilled. 

When an ample supply of water had been thus obtained, and the neglected de- 
fenses completed, a party of thirteen men sallied out in the direction in which the 
assault had been made. They were fired on by the savages, and driven again within 
the palisades, but without sustaining any loss of life. Immediately the five hun- 
dred on the opposite side rushed to the assault of what they deemed the unpro- 
tected side of the fort, without entertaining any doubts of their success. A well 
directed fire, however, put them promptly to flight. Some of the more daring and 
desperate approached near enough with burning arrows to fire the houses, one or 
two of which were burned, but a favorable wind drove the flames away from the 



KENTUCKY. 



77 



mas8 of the buildings, and the station escaped the danirer threatened from this 
source. A second jissauit from the ;j;reat b'udy of the Indians, was repelled with 
the same viiior and suct^ess as the first. 

Disappointed of their object thus far, the assailants retreated, and concealed 
themselves under the bank of the creek to await and intercept the arrival of the 
assistance which they were well aware was on its way from Lexinijton. The ex- 
press from Bryant's Station reached that town without difficulty, but found its 
male inhabitants had left there to aid in the defense of Holder's Station, which 
was reported to be attacked. Followinij; their route, he overtook them at IJdones- 
borouiih, and sixteen mounted men, with thirty on foot, immediately retraced their 
steps for the relief of tiie besieged at Bryant's. When this reinfon^ement ap- 
proached the fort, the firing had entirely ceased, no enemy was visible, and the 
party advanced in reckless confidence tliat it was either a false alarm, or that the 
Indians had abandoned the siege. Their avenue to the garrison was a lane be- 
tween two cornfields, which growing rank and thick formed an eflectual hidincr 
place to the Indians even at the distance of a few yards. The line of ambush ex- 
tended on both sides nearly six hundred yards. Providentially it was in the heat 
of midsummer, and dry accordingly, and the approach of the horsemen raised a 
cloud of dust so thick as to compel the enemy to fire at random, and the whites 
happily escaped without losing a man. The footmen, on hearing the firing in 
front, dispersed amidst the corn, in hopes of reaching the garrison unobserved. 
Here they were intercepted by the savages, who threw themselves between them 
and the fort, and but for the luxuriant growth of corn they must all have I)een shot 
down. As it was, two men were killed and four wounded of the party on foot, be- 
fore it succeeded in making its way into the fort. 

Thus reinforced, the garrison felt assured of safety, while in the same measure 
the assailing party began to despair of success. 

One expedient remained, which was resorted to for the purpose of intimidating 
the brave spirits who were gathered for the defense of their wives and little ones. 
As tlie shades of evening approached, Girty, who commanded the party, addressed 
the inmates of the fort. Mounting a stump, from which he could be distinctly 
heard, with a demand for the surrender of the place, he assured the garrison that a 
reinforcement with cannon would arrive that night, that the station must fall, that he 
could assure them of protection if they surrendered, but could not restrain the 
Indians if they cai-ried the fort by storm; adding, he supposed they knew who it 
was that thus addressed them. A young man, named Reynolds, fearing the effect 
which the threat of cannon might have on the minds of the defending party, with 
the fate of Martin's and Ruddle's Stations fresh in their memories, left no oppor- 
tunity for conference, by replying instantly, that he knew him well, and held him 
in such contempt that he had called a good for nothing dog he had by the name 
of Simon Ciirty. ' Know you,' added he, ' we all know you for a renegade cowardly 
villain, that delights in murdering women and children? Wait until morning, 
and you will find on what side the reinforcements are. We expect to leave not 
one of your cowardly souls alive, and if yoii are caught, our women shall whip you 
to death with hickory switches. Clear out, you cut-throat villain.' Some of the 

Kentuckians shouteii out, ' Shoot the d d rascal ! * and Girty was glad to retreat 

Dut of the range of their rifles lest some one of the garrison might be tempted to 
adopt the advice. 

The night passed away in uninterrupted tranquillity, and at daylight in the morn- 
ing the Indian camp was found deserted. Fires were still burning brightly, and 
several pieces of meat were left upon their roasting sticks, from which it was in- 
ferred that they had retreated just before daybreak. 

Battle of the Blue Licks. — Early in the day reinforcements began to drop in, 
and bj^ noon 107 men were assembled at Bryant's Station, among whom were Cols. 
Boone, Todd, and Trigg; Majors Harland, McBride, M'Gary, and Levy Todd; and 
Captains Buker and Gordon; of the last six named, except Todd and M'Gary, all 
fell in the subsequent battle. A tumultuous conversation ensued, and it was unan- 
imously resolved to pursue the enemy forthwith, notwithstanding that they were 
tliree to one in numbers. The Indians, contrary to their usual custom, left a broad 
and obvious trail, and manifested a willingness to be pursued. Notwithstanding, 



78 KENTUCKY. 

such was the impetuosity of the Kentuckians, that they overlooked these consid 
orations, and hastened on with fatal resokition, most of them being mounted. 

The next day, about noon, they came, for the first time, in A'iew of the enemy 
at the Lower Blue Licks. A number of Indians were seen ascending the rocky 
ridge on the opposite side of the Licking. They halted upon the appearance of 
the Kentuckians, and gazed at them a few moments, and then calmly and leisurely 
disappeared over the top of the hill. An immediate halt ensued. A dozen or 
twenty officers met in front of the ranks and entered into a consultation. The 
wild and lonely aspect of the country around them, their distance from any point 
of support, with the certainty of their being in the presence of a superior enemy, 
seems to have inspired a portion of seriousness bordering upon awe. All eyes 
were now turned upon Boone, and Col. Todd asked his opinion as to what should 
be done. The veteran woodsman, with his usual unmoved gravity, replied: 

That their situation was critical and delicate; that the force opposed to them 
was undoubtedly numerous and ready for battle, as might readily be seen from the 
leisurely retreat of the few Indians who had appeared on the crest of the hill; that 
he was well acquainted with the ground in the neighborhood of the Lick, and was 
apprehensive that an ambuscade was formed at the distance of a mile in advance, 
where two ravines, one upon each side of the ridge, ran in such a manner that a 
concealed enemy might assail them at once both in front and flank, before they 
were apprised of the danger. 

It would be proper, therefore, to do one of two things. Either to await the arri 
val of Logan, who was now undoubtedly on his march to join them, with a strong 
force from Lincoln, or, if it was determined to attack without delay, that one half 
of their number should march up the river, which there bends in an elliptical form, 
cross at the rapids and fall upon the rear of the enemy, while the other division 
attacked in front. At any rate, he strongly urged the necessity of reconnoitering 
the ground carefully before the main body crossed the river. 

Boone was heard in silence and with deep attention. Some wished to adopt the 
first plan ; others preferred the second ; and the discussion threatened to be drawn 
out to some length, when the boiling ardor of M'Gary, who could never endure the 
presence of an enemy without instant battle, stimulated him to an act, which had 
nearly proved destructive to his country. He suddenly interrupted the consulta- 
tion with a loud whoop, resembling the war-cry of the Indians, spurred his horse 
into the stream, waved his hat over his head, and shouted aloud: 'Let all who are 
not cowards follow me 1 ' The words and the action together, produced ai electri- 
cal effect. The mounted men dashed tumultuously into the river, each striving to 
be foremost. The footmen were mingled with them in one rolling and irregular 
mass. 

No order was given, and none observed. They struggled through a deep ford as 
well as they could, M'Gary still leading the van, closely followed by Majors Har 
land and McBride. With the same rapidity they ascended the ridge, which, by 
the trampling of Buffalo foragers, had been stripped bare of all vegetation, with 
the exception of a few dwarfish cedars, and which was rendered still more desolate 
in appearance, by the multitude of rocks, blackened by the sun, which was spread 
over its surface. 

Suddenly the van halted. They had reached the spot mentioned by Boone, 
where the two ravines head, on each side of the ridge. Here a body of Indians 
presented themselves, and attacked the van. M'Gary's party instantly returned 
the fire, but under great disadvantage. They were upon a bare and open ridge; 
the Indians in a bushy ravine. The center and rear, ignorant of the ground, hur- 
ried up to the assistance of the van, but were soon stopped by a terrible fire from 
the ravine, which flanked them. They found themselves inclosed as if in the wings 
of a net, destitute of proper shelter, while the enemy were, in a great measure, 
covered from their fire. Still, however, they maintained their ground. The action 
became warm and bloody. The parties gradually closed, the Indians emerged 
from the ravine, and the fire became mutually destructive. The officers suffered 
dreadfully. Todd and Trigg, in the rear; Harland, McBride, and young Boone, in 
front, were already killed. 

The Indians gradually extended their line, to turn the right of the Kentuckians. 



KENTUCKY. 79 

and cut off their retreat. This was quickly perceived by the weight of the fire 
from that quarter, and the rear instantly fell back in disorder, and attempted to 
rush through their only opening to the river. The motion quickly communicated 
itself to the van, and a hurried retreat became general. The Indians instantly 
sprung forward in pursuit, and falling upon them with their tomahawks, made a 
cruel slaughter. From the battle ground to the river, the spectacle was terrible. 
The horsemen generally escaped, but the foot, particularly the van, which had ad- 
vanced forthest within the wings of the net, were almost totally destroyed. Col. 
Boone, after witnessing the death of his son and many of his dearest friends, 
found himself almost entirely surrounded at the very commencement of the re- 
treat. 

Several hundred Indians were between him and the ford, to which the great 
mass of the fugitives were bending their flight, and to which the attention of the 
savages was principally directed. Being intimately acquainted with the ground, 
he, together with a few friends, dashed into the ravine which the Indians had occu- 
pied, but which most of them had now left to join in the pursuit. After sustaining 
one or two heavy fires, and baffling one or two small parties, who pursued him for 
a short distance, he crossed the river below the ford, by swimming, and entering 
the wood at a point where there was no pursuit, returned by a circuitous route to 
Bryant's Station. In the meantime, the great mass of the victors and vanquished 
crowded the bank of the ford. 

The slaughter was great in the river. The ford was crowded with horsemen and 
foot and Indians, all mingled together. Some were compelled to seek a passage 
above by swimming; some, who could not swim, were overtaken and killed at the 
edge of the water. A man by the name of Netherland, who had formerly been 
strongly suspected of cowardice, here displayed a coolness and presence of mind, 
equally noble and unexpected. 

Being among the first in gaining the opposite bank, he then instantly checked 
his horse, and in a loud voice, called upon his companions to halt, tire upon the 
Indians, and save those who were still in the stream. The party instantly obeyed, 
and facing about, poured a close and fatal discharge of rifles upon the foremost of 
the pursuers. The enemy instantly fell back from the opposite bank, and gave 
time for the harrassed and miserable footmen to cross in safety. The check, how- 
ever, was but momentary. Indians were seen crossing in great numbers above and 
below, and the flight again became general. Most of the foot left the great buffalo 
track, and plunging into the thickets, escaped by a circuitous route to Bryant's 
Station. 

But little loss was sustained after crossing the river, although the pursuit was 
urged keenly for twenty miles. From the battle-ground to the ford, the loss was 
very heavy ; and at that stage of the retreat, there occurred a rare and striking in- 
stance of magnanimity, which it would be criminal to omit. The reader could not 
have forgotten young Reynolds, who replied with such rough but ready humor to 
the pompous summons of Girty, at the siege of Bryant's. This young man, after 
bearing his share in the action with distinguished gallantry, was galloping with 
several other horsemen in order to reach the ford. The great body of fugitives 
had preceded them, and their situation was in the highest degree critical and dan- 
gerous. 

About half way between the battle-ground and the river, the party overtook 
Capt. Patterson, on foot, exhausted by the rapidity of the flight, and in consequence 
of former wounds received from the Indians, so infirm as to be unable to keep up 
with the main body of the men on foot. The Indians were close behind him, and 
his fate seemed inevitable. Reynolds, upon coming up with this brave officer, in- 
stantly sprung from his horse, aided Patterson to mount into the saddle, and con- 
tinued his own flight on foot. Being remarkably active and vigorous, he contrived 
to elude his pursuers, and turning off from the main road, plunged into the river 
near the spot where Boone had crossed, and swam in safety to the opposite side. 
Unfortunately he wore a pair of buckskin breeches, which had become so heavy 
and full of water as to prevent his exerting himself with his usual activity, and 
while sitting down for the purpose of pulling them off, he was overtaken by a party 
of Indians, and made prisoner. 



80 



KENTUCKY. 



A prisoner is rarely put to death by the Indians, unless wounded or infirm, until 
ihey return to their own country; and then his late is decided in solemn council. 
Young Reynolds, therefore, was treated kindly, and compelled to accompany his 
captors in the pursuit. A small party of Kentuckians soon attracted their atten- 
tion; and he was left in charge of three Indians, who, eager in pursuit, in turn 
committed him to the charge of one of their number, while they foUowcd their 
companions. Reynolds and his guard jogged along very leisurely; the former to- 
tally unarmed; the latter, with a tomahawk and ritle in his hands. At length the 
Indian stopped to tie his moccasin, when Reynolds instantly sprung upon him, 
knocked him down with his fist, and quickly disappeared in the thicket which sur- 
rounded them. For his act of generosity, Capt. Patterson afterward made him a 
present of two hundred acres of first rate land. 

The melancholy intelligence rapidly spread throughout the country, and the 
whole land was covered with mourning, for it was the severest loss that Kentucky 
had ever experienced in Indian warfare. Sixty Kentuckians were slain and a 
number taken prisoners. The loss of the Indians, while the battle lasted, was also 
considerable, though far inferior to that of the whites. 

On the very day of the battle, Col. Logan arrived at Bryant's Station with four 
hundred and fifty men. Fearful of some disaster, he marched on with the utmost 
diligence, and soon met the foremost of the fugitives. Learning from them the sad 
tidings, he continued on, hoping to come up with the enemy at the field of battle 
which he reached on the second day. The enemy were gone, but the bodies of the 
Kentuckians still lay unburied on the spot where they had fallen. Immense flocks 
of buzzards were soaring over the battle ground, and the bodies of the dead had 
become so much swollen and disfigured that it was impossible to recognize the 
features of the most particular friends. Many corpses were floating near the shore 
of the northern bank, already putrid from the ;;ction of the sun, and partially eaten 
by fishes. The whole were carefully collected by Col. Logan, and interred as de- 
sently as the nature of the soil would permit." 




South-io ester n view of Lexington Court House. 
Lexington, the county seat of Fayette county, is a remarkably neat and 
beautiful city, situated on a branch of Elkhorn River, 25 miles S.E. from 
Frankfort, 85 from Cincinnati, 77 S.E. from Louisville, and 517 from Wash- 
ington City. The streets of Lexington are laid out at right angles, well 
paved, and bordered with ornamental trees. Many of the private residences 
and several of the public edifices are fine specimens of architectural taste, 
while the surrounding country, rich and highly cultivated, is adorned with 
elegant mansions. The city contains a court house, a Masonic Hall, the 
Sta'te Lunatic Asylum, 12 churches, the Transylvania University, several 
academies and an orphan asylum. It is celebrated throughout the Union for 



KENTUCKY. 



31 



its intelligent and polished society, and as an elegant place of residence. 
Population about 12,000. 

Lexington was founded in 1776. About the first of April in this year, a 
block house was built here, and the settlement commenced under the influ- 
ence of Col. Robert Patterson, joined by the Messrs. McConnels, Lindseys, 
and James Masterson. Maj. John Morrison removed his family soon after 
from Harrodsburg, and his wife was the first white woman in the infant set- 
tlement. It appears that a party of hunters in 1775, while encamped on 
the spot where Lexington is now built, heard of the first conflict between ihe 
British and Provincial forces, at Lexington, Mass. In commemoration of 
this event, they called the place of their encampment Lexington. 

Transylvania University, the oldest college in the state, was established in 
1798, and has departments of law and medicine. The medical school has 
eight professors. Connected with the institution is a fine museum and a very 
valuable library, with chemical apparatus, etc. The State Lunatic Asylum lo- 
cated here is a noble institution. Lexington was incorporated by Virginia in 
1782, and was for several years the seat of government of the state. The 
^'■Kentucky Gazette''' was established here in 1787, by the brothers John and 
Fielding Bradford, and, excepting the Pittsburg Gazette, is the oldest paper 
west of the Alleghany Mountains. 

Ashland, the home of Henry Clay, is about one and a half miles from 
Lexington. Mr. Clay lived at Ashland between forty and fifty years. His 

house was a modest, spacious, 
agreeable mansion, two sto- 
ries high. Since the death 
of Mr. Clay, this building 
having become somewhat 
dilapidated and insecure, his 
son, James B. Clay, Esq., 
had it taken down and a 
more elegant edifice erected 
upon the same spot, and with 
but slight modifications of 
the original plan. Mr. Clay 
has many interesting relics 
of his father, which are care- 
fully preserved in the new 
building. The estate, consisting of about 600 acres, bore the name of Ash- 
land before it came into the possession of Mr. Clay, probably on account of 
the ash timber, with which it abounds. By Mr. C.'s management, it became 
one of the most delightful retreats in the west; the whole tract, except about 
200 acres of park, was under the highest state of cultivation. When its 
illustrious occupant was living, it was the abode of elegant hospitality, and 
thousands then annually thronged thither to pay their respects to the states- 
man, who had such a hold upon the aff'ections of his countrymen that, when 
he was defeated for the presidency, an intensity of sorrow* was every where 

*A friend tells us that he recollects atteadiiig, in a distant New England city, an im- 
promptu political meeting which had gathered in a public hall at this time. Various 
speeches of condolence had been made by those, who, in their ardor, had regarded the suc- 
cess of their candidate as identified with the salvation of their country, when an aged man, 
with silvered hair, arose to offer comfort in the general sorrow. He had but three words : 
but, Christian-like, he started for those three straightway to the Bible. He raised his tall 
slender form to its full hi'ght, with palms uplifted, and then bowing submissively, uttered 
in prayerful tones — " The Lord reignaj " 




ASULA.ND, Residence of Henby Clay. 



82 KENTUCKY. 

exhibited that never was equalled by any similar occurrence in the history 
ol' the country. A stranger in the place not long subsequent, thus describes 
Lis impressions of the town and visit to Ashland: 

No where is there a more delightful rural tract in all our broad land, than that 
part of this state in the vicinity of Lexington — the celebrated " blue grass" region 
of Kentucky. For miles and miles, in every direction, it is bedecked with grace- 
ful curving lawns, wood embowered cottages, and tall open forests, where not a 
shrub rises to mar the velvety sward that every where carpets the earth in living 
green. Enter the dwellings, and you will find them the abodes of elegance and 
taste. Your reception will be frank and hospitable. The town, Lexington, is well 
worthy of the country. It has a highly cultivated population, institutions of liter- 
ature, elegant mansions, partly concealed in groves of locusts, whose tiny fragile 
leaves gently dance in the sunlight to the softest zephyr, and is, moreover, the home 
of one whose very name holds a dear place in our memories. 

In a minor street of this beautiful town, is a plain two story brick edifice, over 
the doors of which is the sign, H. & J. B. CLAY. One morning, a few weeks 
since, I entered its plainly furnished office, and, in the absence of its occupants, 
helped myself to a chair and a newspaper, that industrious whig sheet, the New 
York Tribune. In a few minutes in walked a tall, elderly gentleman, attired in 
black coat and white pantaloons. My eyes had never before rested upon him, but 
it needed not a second glance to know Hexry Clay. I presented a letter of intro- 
duction, upon which, after some little conversation, he invited me out to tea at his 
seat, Ashland, some twenty minutes walk from the central part of the town. At 
the appointed hour, I was on my way thither, and from a gate on the roadside ap- 
proached the mansion by a winding path of maybe thirty rods in length. It stands 
on a smooth, undulating lawn of the purest green, fringed by a variety of trees. 
The open door disclosed to my view two elderly ladies, seated in one of the three 
rooms into which a common entry led. One of them, Mrs. Clay, called to me to 
walk in, and directed me to the flower garden in the rear of the house, where stood 
Judge R, of Ohio, and her husband. The former, as I was introduced by Mr. 
Clay, received me with the stiffness of the north — the latter met me in the cordial, 
ofi" hand manner of an old acquaintance. He then showed us some rare plants, 
joked with his little grandchild, and we entered the house. Passing through the 
room where sat his lady and the wife of the judge, he pleasantly said — " these 
ladies have some conspiracy together, let us walk into the parlor." On the hearth 
was an elegant rug, Avith the words worked in it, " Protection to Americ.vn Indus- 
try;" around were busts and paintings. The furniture was old fashioned, but 
rich, and an air of comfort pervaded the apartment. Among the curiosities shown 
us 1)y Mr. Clay, was the identical wine glass used by Washington through the Kev- 
olution. 

The conversation of Mr. Clay is frequently anecdotical, and his knowledge of 
all parts of our country, their condition, prospects and people, renders it easy foi 
him to adapt himself in familiar topics to the great variety of characters that 
assemlde at his residence. His manner is one of entire ease. Taking out a golden 
snuff box, he drew in a pinch of its exhilarating powder with an air of solid satis- 
faction ; then spreading his handkerchief in his lap, he leaned forward his whole 
body, with his forearms folded and resting on his knees, and talked with us in the 
most genial, social way, like a fine, fatherly, old country gentleman — as, indeed, 
he is. 

Now that I have seen Henry Clay, I do not wonder at the hold he has upon the 
affections of our people. Benevolence is the strongest expression in his counte- 
nance, and the humblest individual can not but feel, in his presence, as much at 
ease as if by his own fireside. His manner is irresistible: such as would enable 
him, if need there was, to say disagreeable things in a way that would occasion 
you to thank him for it. Literally, his is the power to give "hard facts with soft 
words." 

When Henry Clay walks the streets of Lexington, the citizens gaze upon him 
with pride, and greet him with pleasure. A kind word and a smile he has for 
fevory body, no matter what their age, sex, or condition ; and little children run up 



KENTUCKY. 



83 



to take him by the hand, with a "how do you do, Mr. Clay?" My landlord, an 
Irishman by birth, said to me, "I have known Mr, Clay for many years, and am 
opposed to him in politics ; but I can not help liking the man." 

The corner stone of the ]Mon- 
ument erected to Henry Clay, in 
the Lexington Cemetery, was 
hiid July4, 1857, with imposing 
ceremonies, and the structure 
completed in 1858. It is con- 
structed of magnesian lime- 
stone, obtained from Boone's 
Creek, about 14 miles distant. 
The remains of Henry Clay, his 
mother, and some other rela- 
tives, are to be deposited in the 
vaulted chamber in the base of 
the monument. At the top of 
the column, the flutings are 13 
spiked spears, representing the 
original states of the Union. 
The statue of Clay, surmount- 
ing the whole, is 11 feet in liight. 
The hight of the monument 
from the ground to the top of 
the statue is 119 feet. The fol- 
lowing inscription appears on 
one of the blocks of stone : 

"I would rather be right, than be 

President." 
National Guard, St. Louis, July 4th, 
1857. 




Henry Olav Monument. 

Situaterl about a mile from the central part of Ijcxinfrton, 
near the Railroad from Covington, in the Lexington Ceme- 
tery. 



The following inscription is copied from the monument of Maj. Barry, in 
the public square, or court house yard: 

To the memory of William Taylor Barry, this monument is erected by his friends in 
Kentucky (the site being granted by the County Court of Fayette), as a testimony of their 
respect and admiration of his virtues and talents. He was born 5th Feb., 1784, in Lunch- 
burg City, Va., and came to Kentucky in his 12th year. Was successively a member of 
both Houses of the General Assembly, a Judge, a Senator and Representative in Congress, 
Lieut. Gov. of Ky., and an Aidecamp to Gov. Shelby at the battle of the Thames. On An- 
drew Jackson's accession to the Presidency, he was called to his Cabinet as Post Master 
General, which office he held until 1st of May, 1835, when he was appointed Env. Ex. <fe 
Min. Plen. to Spain. He was elected Hon'y Member of the French Univ. Stat. Soc, in 
June, 1833. He died at Liverpool, on his way to Madrid, on 30th Aug., 1835. His body 
lies on Albion's white shores ; his Fame in the History of his Country, and is as immortal 
as America's Liberty and Glory. 



About twenty miles south-east of Lexington, on the south bank of the Ken- 
tucky River, is the small, dilapidated village of Boonesborough, a point noted 
in the history of the state. It was here that Daniel Boone, the great pioneer, 
built the first fort ever erected in Kentucky, and made the commencement of 
a permanent settlement. Here, too, was convened more than eighty years 
ago the first legislative assembly that ever sat west of the mountains, the leg- 
islature of Transylvania, the history of which is as follows : 

"Col. Richard Henderson, a man of ardent temperament aoid great talents, formed 
the most extensive speculation ever recorded in the history of this country. Hav- 



84 



KENTUCKY. 



inji formed a company for that purpose, he succeeded in ne2;otiating, with the head 
chiefs of the Cherokee nation, a treaty (known as tlie treaty of VVataujia), by which 
all that tract of country lying between the Cumberland Kiver, the mountains of the 
same name, and the Kentucky Kiver, and situated south of the Ohio, was transferred, 
for a reasonable consideration, to the 
company. By this treaty Henderson 
and his associates became the proprie- 
tors of all that country which now com- 
prises more than one half of the state 
of Kentucky. This was in 1775. They 
immediately proceeded to establish a 
proprietory government, of which Hen- 
derson became the president, and which 
had its seat at Boonesborough. The 
new country received the name of Tran- 
sylvania. The first legislature assem- 
bled at Boonesborough, and held its sit- 
tings under the shade of a large elm 
tree, near the walls of the fort. It was 
composed of Squire Boone, Daniel Boone, 
William Coke, Samuel Henderson, Rich- 
ard Moore, Richard Calloway, Thomas 
Slaughter, John Lythe, Valentine Har- 
mond, .James Douglass, James Harrod, 
Nathan Hammond, Isaac Hite, Azariah 
Davis, John Todd, Alexander S. Dan- 
dridge, John Floyd and Sapiuel Wood. 
These members formed themselves into 
a legislative body, by electing Thomas 
Slaughter chairman and Matthew Jew- 
ett clerk. 'J'his cismontane legislature, 
the enrliest popular body that assembled 

on this side of the Apalachian mountains, was addressed by Colonel Hendersoni 
on behalf of himself and his associates, in a speech of sufficient dignity and of ex- 
cellent sense. A compact was entered into between the proprietors and the colo- 
nists, by which a free, manly, liberal government was established over the terri 
tory. The most important parts of this Kentucky Magna Charta were: 1st. That 
the election of delegates should be annual. 2d. Perfect freedom of opinion in mat- 
ters of religion. 3d. That judges should be appointed by the proprietors, but an- 
swerable for mal-conduct to the people; and that the convention have the sole 
power of raising and appropriating all moneys and electing their treasurer. This 
epitome of substantial freedom and manly, rational government, was solemnly ex- 
ecuted under the hands and seals of the three proprietors acting for the company, 
and Thomas Slaughter acting for the colonists. The purchase of Henderson from 
the Cherokees was afterward annulled by act of the Virginia legislature, as being 
contrary to the chartered rights of that state. But, as some compensation for the 
services rendered in opening the wilderness, and preparing the way for civiliza- 
tion, the legislature granted to the proprietors a tract of land twelve miles square, 
on the Ohio, below the mouth of Green River." * 

The fort at Boonesborough was built in 1775. The engraving is from a 
drawing by Col. Henderson. The structure must have been about 2G0 feet 




Old Fort at Boonesborough, 1775. 



*Mr. Henderson was born in Hanover county, Virginia, in 1735. When a boy his father 
removed to North Carolina and became county sheriff, and the son obtained much of his 
education in his father's office. He studied law, showed talents of the highest order, and 
was elevated to the bench of the superior court. In 1779, Judge Henderson was appointed 
eomini.^sioner to extend the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina into Pow- 
ell's Vallej'. In the same year he opened an office at French Lick, afterward Nashville, 
for the sale of his lands. He died in 1785, aged 50 years. His four sons studied law and 
attained distinction. 



KENTUCKY. 85. 

long and 150 feet broad. It was several times attacked by the Indians, but 
always unsuccessfully. The last time was in September of 1778, when the 
enemy appeai'ed in great force. 

"There were nearly five hundred Indian warriors, armed and painted in the usual 
manner, and what was still more formidable, they were conducted by Canadian 
officers, well skilled in the usages of modern warfare. As soon as they were ar- 
rayed in front of the fort, the British colors were displayed, and an officer, with a 
flag, was sent to demand the surrender of tlie fort, with a promise of quarter and 
good treatment in case of compliance, and threatening the ^hatchet' in case of a 
stoi-m. Boone requested two days for consideration, which, in defiance of all ex- 
perience and common sense, was granted. This interval, as usual, was employed 
in preparation for an obstinate resistance. The cattle were brought into the fort, 
the horses secured, and all things made ready against the commencement of hos- 
tilities. 

Boone then appeared at the gate of the fortress, and communicated to Capt. Du- 
quesne, their leader, the resolution of his men to defend the fort to the last extremity. 
Disappointment and chagrin were strongly painted upon the face of the Canadian 
at this answer, but endeavoring to disguise his feelings, he declared that Gov. Ham- 
ilton had ordered him not to injure the men if it could be avoided, and that if nine 
of the principal inhabitants of the fort would come out and treat with them they 
would instantly depart without further hostility. 

The word "^treat" sounded so pleasantly in the ears of the besieged that they 
agreed at once to the proposal, and Boone himself, attended by eight of his men, 
went out and mingled with the snvages, who crowded around thoin in great niuu- 
bers, and with countenances of deep anxiety. The treaty then commenced and 
was soon concluded, upon which Duquesne informed Boone that it was a custom 
with the Indians, upon the conclusion of a treaty with the whites, for two warriors 
to take hold of the hand of each white man. 

Boone thought this rather a singular custom, but there was no time to dispute 
about etiquette, particularly, as he could not be more in their power than he al- 
ready was, so he signified his willingness to conform to the Indian mode of ce- 
menting friendship. Instantly, two warriors approached eacli white man, with the 
word 'brother' upon their lips, but a very different expression in their eyes, and 
grappling him with violence, attempted to bear him oflP. They probably (unless 
totally infatuated) expected such a consummation, and all at the same moment 
sprung from their enemies and ran to the fort, under a lieavy fire, which fortunately 
only wounded one man. 

The attack instantly commenced by a heavy fire against the picketin;;, and waa 
returned with fiital accuracy by the garrison. The Indians quickly sheltered them- 
selves, and the action became more cautious and deliberate. Finding but little 
effect from the fire of his men, Duquesne next resorted to a more formidable mode 
of attack. The fort stood on the south bank of the river, within sixty yards of the 
water. Commencing under the bank, where their operations were concealed from 
the garrison, they attempted to push a mine into the fort. Their object, however, 
was fortunately discovered by the quantity of fresh earth which they were com- 
pelled to throw into the river, and by which the water became muddy for some 
distance below. Boone, who had regained his usual sagacity, instantly cut a trench 
within the fort in such a manner as to intersect the line of their approach, and 
thus frustrated their design. 

The enemy exhausted all the ordinary artifices of Indian warfare, but were 
steadily repulsed in every effort. Finding their numbei-s daily thinned by the de- 
liberate but fatal fire of the garrison, and seeing no prospect of final success, they 
broke up on the ninth day of the siege, and returned home. The loss of the gar- 
rison was two men killed and four wounded. On the part of the savages, thirty- 
seven were killed and many wounded, who, as usual, were all carried oflV 

Danville^ county seat of Boyle county, is situated in a fertile district of 
country, on a small branch of the Kentucky River, 40 miles south from Frank- 
fort and 35 from Lexington. It contains 9 churches, 2 banks, the Kentucky 



86 



KENTUCKY. 



Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb (an eligant building), several mills and fae- 
tories, and about 2,500 inhabitants. Center College, chartered in 1819, is lo- 
cated here; the Rev. Dr. Chamberlain became its first president in 1823. 
There are also here 2 female academies and a theological institute. The 
town was laid out by Walker Daniel, who gave it its name; it was established 
by the legislature in 1787, and was for many years the seat of government 
for Kentucky. The first court house and jail in the limits of Kentucky were 
erected here, and here the first constitution of state government was formed. 
I^aris, Shelbi/viUe, C^nthiana, Versailles, CarroUon, Georgetown and Bards- 
town are all important towns in this part of the state, the largest of which 
has a population of 2,500. That well known Catholic institution, St. Jo- 
seph's College, is at Bardstown, and Georgetown College is at Georgetown. 
Paducah, the seat of justice for McCracken county, situated at the mouth 
of Tennessee River, is an important shipping port, 347 miles below Louis- 
ville. It is a place of active business, and a great amount of agricultural 
products are brought down the Tennessee River to this place, consisting of 
tobacco, pork, live stock, etc., it being the depot for the product of the valley 

of that stream. It 
has large ware- 
houses, 2 banks, 
10 churches, a 
large number of 
stores, and about 
5,000 inhabitants. 
It was laid out in 
1827 by General 
William Clark, of 
St. Louis, brother 
of Gen. George 
Rogers Clark, 
and named after 
the Indian chief 
The town is substantially built, 
the largest and most important 




Landing at Pabucah. 



Paducah, who once resided in this region, 
and has a very thriving appearance, being 

place in Kentucky west of Louisville. Hon. Linn Boyd resided in this vi 
cinity, where he died in 1859. He was speaker of the house of representa- 
tives from 1851 to 1855, and in 1852 was prominent as a candidate of the 
democratic party for the nomination for the presidency. 

Henderson, capital of Henderson county, 12 miles below Evansville and 
210 below Louisville, is the principal shipping point on the Ohio for the to- 
bacco, corn and other rich products of the fertile valley of Green River, It 
is a thriving business town, and has about 3,000 inhabitants. JSmithla)id, 
on the Ohio, just below the mouth of the Cumberland, is a point for the re- 
shipment of goods up that river. Owensboro, capital of Daviess county, 155 
miles below Louisville, on the Ohio; Hickman, capital of Fulton county, on 
the jMississippi, 35 miles below the mouth of the Ohio, in the extreme south- 
western corner of the state, are both busy towns, each having about 2,500 in- 
habitants. Bowling Green, Hopkinsville and RasselviUe are county seats and 
important interior towns in Lower Kentucky, with each from 2,000 to 3,000 
inliabitants. Columbus, a village of about 1,200 inhabitants, on the Missis- 
si})pi, 25 miles below Cairo, is the terminus of the Mobile and Ohio Rail- 
road. 



KENTUCKY. 



87 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, MISCELLANIES, ETC. 

Kentucky, next to Virginia, is the greatest tobacco producing state in the 
Union. The statistics of 1850 gave her total product at 55^ millions of 
pounds, while that of Virginia exceeded it but a little over a million. The 
plant is most extensively cultivated in western Kentucky, in the Green 
River country and vicinity; and the greatest tobacco raising county is Chris- 
tian, the annual yield of 
which is six millions of 
pounds. This part of 
the state was much set- 
tled by Virginians, who 
followed out the general 
law of emigrants, of es- 
pecially cultivating 
those crops to which 
they had been accus- 
tomed on the soil of 
their birth. 

"It is a curious fact in 
the history of tobacco that 
the exports from this 
country have varied but 
very little in the last fifty 
years; in 1790, our coun- 
try, in round numbers, 
sent abroad one hundred 
and eighteen thousand 
hogsheads; in 1840, one 
hundred and nineteen 
thousand. This is one of 
the most curious facts de- 
veloped in statistics, and 
may probably be directly 
traced to the feet that the 
population and Avealth of 
European countries have 
not increased, and that 
the duties levied upon its 
introduction are as high 
as can possibly be borne. 
No article of commerce 
pays a duty so enormou.s, 
compared with its Jiome 
price, as American tobacco. From it is derived an important part of the revenue of 
almost every European government. In Great Britain, the import duty is three 
shillings sterling (seventy-five cents) per pound — about twelve hundred per cent. 
upon the original cost — and two dollars per pound on manufactured tobacco ; thus for 
what her people give us less than two millions of dolhirs they pay to their own govern- 
ment, for the privilege of using it, twenty-two millions of dollars, which is twice the 
sum realized by the American producer for all the tobacco exported to every part 




A Tobacco Plantation. 



88 KENTUCKY. 

of the world! As might be supposed, the most stringent laws govern its introduc- 
tion into that country, and a large fleet of ships and a heavy marine are supported 
to detect smugglers who alone traffic in this article. It is therefore not surprising 
that among all the wonders of London, and all the creations of that great Babylon 
dedicated to commerce, few are so remarkable as the government warehouses used 
for bonding or storing tobacco. Their interiors present such vast areas of ground 
that they become bewildering to the eye, and they never had any rivals in size until 
the erection of the Crystal Palace. Almost as far as the eye can reach are alleys 
of hogsheads, whose number is immense. In all convenient places are large scales 
for weighing, too;ether with other apparatus connected with the operation of exam- 
ining the staple. ' 

The amount of the present production of tobacco is about two hundred millions 
of pounds. The home consumption is increasing faster than the population. Its 
use is most detrimental to our people by increasing their mental activity at the ex- 
pense of their bodies, through its continual strain upon the nervous system and 
weakening of the appetite and digestive organs. It is at the seasons of greatest ex- 
citement that he who uses the plant is certain to do so in unwonted quantities. A 
young volunteer, relating his experience at the battle of Buena Vista, truthfully 
remarked, though in coarse phrase, "Our boys chawed lots of tobacco that day!" 
So fascinating the habit, that few can break from it; and he who succeeds should 
be more honored than he who storms a battery. Multitudes essay the trial; gener- 
ally, they only make the good resolution at the precise moment when under the 
exhilerating influence of a quid of extra size revolving against the inner wall of 
their cheek. The corresponding depression that succeeds the disuse is continu- 
ally pressing for the stimulus, with a power akin to that of a raging thirst, day in 
and day out, week in and week out, month in and month out, until finally a weak 
moment arrives, when the will gives way and the victim flies for relief to his chains 
again — only to repeat in the future a similar futile attempt to escape his enslave- 
ment. A gentleman who had ceased using it for five years stated that the desire 
was even then continually upon him. and he '"would give anything" for the indul- 
gence, were it not for the accompanying suffering that he knew would accrue. 
Probably few persons use tobacco to excess but acknowledge to themselves that, in 
their individual experience, the sum of misery from it a thousand fold outweighs 
the sum of gratifit^ation. 

It is oft<>n amusing to witness the resolution with which those who use tobacco 
part even temporarily from the indulgence. ''Fanny Kemble used to relate, with 
great gusto, a cigar adventure she met with while traveling in Georgia. It appears 
that the day was hot, the roads rough, and she an invalid — the passengers in the 
stage, herself and a gentleman. As the heavy vehicle rumbled along, there mingled, 
with the dust that constantly penetrated its interior, the fumes of a most execrable 
cigar. Every blast of the 'Stygian fume' sent a tremor of deadly sickness through 
Fanny's heart. The gentleman, her traveling companion, remonstrated with the 
driver, explained the mischief he w.as doing, and promised the independent Jehu, 
at the end of the journey, the reward of twenty-five choice Havanas if he would 
throw away his vile weed. The driver's reply was, 'Yes, yes, in a minute,' but the 
evil complained of continued until finally it became insufferable. Then it was that 
Fanny leaned out of the coach window and said, 'Sir, 1 appeal to your generosity 
to throw away that cigar, and I know, from the proverbial politeness of the Ameri- 
cans, that my request will be granted.' 'Yes, yes,' said the driver, with some trep- 
idation. 'I intended to do it, but 1 wanted first to smoke it short enough to put in 
my hat!' " 



EARLY TIMES AMONG THE PIONEERS OP KENTUCKY. 

That eccentric and talented Methodist preacher, Peter Cartwright, has 
given in his autobiography some valuable reminiscences of life among the 
pioneers of Kentucky, from which we extract this article as a valuable con- 
tribution to the history of the times: 

1 was born September 1, 1785, in Amherst county, on James River, in the^tate 



EENTUCKT. 89 

of Virf!;inla. My parents were poor. My father was a soldier in the great strug- 
gle for liberty, in the Revolutionary war with Great Britain, lie served over two 
years. My mother was an orphan. Shortly after the united colonies gained their 
independence, my parents moved to Kentucky, which was a new country. It was 
an almost unbroken wilderness from Virginia to Kentucky at that early day, smd 
this wilderness was filled with thousands of hostile Indians, and many thou.sands 
of the emigrants to Kentucky lost their lives by these savages. There were no 
roads for carriages at that time, and although the emigrants moved by thou.sands, 
they had to move on pack horses. M.any adventurous young men went to this new 
country. The fall my father moved, there were a great many families who joined 
together for mutual safety, and started for Kentucky. Besides the two hundred 
families thus united, there were one hundred young men, well armed, who agreed 
to guard these families through, and, as a compensation, they were to be supported 
for their services. After we struck the wilderness we rarely traveled a day but we 
passed some white persons, murdered and scalped by the Indians while going to 
or returning from Kentucky. We traveled on till Sunday, and, instead of resting 
that day, the voice of the company was to move on. 

It was a dark, cloudy day, misty with rain. Many Indians were seen through 
the day skulking round by our guards. Late in the evening we came to what waa 
called " Camp Defeat," where a number of emigrant families had been all mur- 
dered by the savages a short time before. Here the company called a halt to camp 
for the night. It was a solemn, gloomy time ; every heart quaked with fear. 

Soon the captain of our young men's company placed his men as sentinels all 
round the encampment. The stock and the women and children were placed in 
the center of the encampment. Most of the men that were heads of families, were 
placed aniund outside of the women and children. Those who were not placed in 
this position, were ordered to take their stand outside still, in the edge of the brush. 
It was a dark, dismal night, and all expected an attack from the Indians. 

That night my father was placed as a sentinel, with a good rifle, in the edge of 
the brush. Shortly after he took his stand, and all was quiet in the camp, he 
thought he heard something moving toward him, and grunting like a swine. He 
knew that there was no swine with the moving company, but it was so dark he 
could not see what it was. Presently he perceived a dark object in the distance, 
but nearer him than at first, and believing it to be an Indian, aiming to spring upon 
him and murder him in the dark, he leveled his rifle, and aimed at the dark lump 
as well as he could, and fired. He soon found he had hit the object, for it flounced 
about at a terrible rate, and my father gathered himself up and ran into camp. 

When his gun fired, there was an awful screaming throughout the encampment 
by the women and children. My father was soon inquired of as to what was the 
matter. He told them the circumstances of the case, but some said he was scared 
and wanted an excuse to come in; but he affirmed that there was no mistake, that 
there was something, and he had shot it; and if they would get a light and gn with 
him, if he did not show them something, then they might call him a coward for- 
ever. They got a light and went to the place, and there found an Indian, with a 
rifle in one hand and a tomahawk in the other, dead. My father's rifle-ball had 
struck the Indian nearly central in the head. 

When we came within seven miles of the Crab Orchard, where there was a fort 
and the first white settlement, it was nearly night. We halted, and a vote Avas 
taken whether we should go on to the fort, or camp there for the night. Indiana 
had been seen in our rear through the day. All wanted to go through except seven 
families, who refused to go any further that night. The main body went on, but 
they, the seven families, carelessly stripped off" their clothes, laid down without any 
guards, and went to sleep. Some time in the night, about twenty-five Indians 
rushed on them, and every one, men, women, and children, was slain, except *me 
man, who sprang from his bed and ran into the fort, barefooted and in his night 
clothes. He brought the melancholy news of the slaughter. These murderous 
bands of savages lived north of the Ohio River, and would cross over into Ken- 
tucky, kill and steal, and then recross the Ohio into their own country. 

Kentucky was claimed by no particular tribe of Indians, but was regarded aa a 
commou hunting-ground by the various tribes, east, west, north, and south. It 



90 KENTUCKY. 

abounded in various valuable game, sucli as buffalo, elk, bear, deer, turkeys, and 
many other smaller game, and hence the Indians struggled hard to keep the white 
people from taking possession of it. It was chiefly settled by Virginians, as noble 
and brave a race of men and women as ever drew the breath of life. 

In the I'all of 1793, my father determined to move to what was then called the 
Green River country, in the southern part of the state of Kentucky. He did so, 
and settled in Logan county, nine miles south of Eussellville, the county seat, and 
V'ifhin one mile of the state line of Tennessee. 

Logan county, when my father moved to it, was called " Rogues' Harbor." Here 
many refugees, from almost all parts of the Union, fled to escape justice or punish- 
ment; for although there was law, yet it could not be executed, and it was a des- 
perate state of society. Murderers, horse thieves, highway robbers, and counter- 
feiters fled here until they combined and actually formed a majority. The honest 
and civil jiart of the citizens would prosecute these wretched banditti, but they 
would swear each ether clear; and they really put all law at defiance, and carried 
on such desperate violence and outrage that the honest part of the citizens seemed 
to be driven to the necessity of uniting and combining together, and taking the 
law into their own hands, under the name of Regulators. This was a very des- 
perate state of things. 

Shortly after the Regulators had formed themselves into a society, and estab- 
lished their code of by-laws, on a court day at Russellville, the two bands met in 
town. Soon a quarrel commenced, and a general battle ensued between the rogues 
and Regulators, and they fought with guna, pistols, dirks, knives, and clubs. Some 
were actually killed, many wounded, the rogues proved victors, kept the ground, 
and drove the Regulators out of town. The Regulators rallied again, hunted, killed, 
and lynched many of the rogues, until several of them fled, and left for parts un- 
known. Many lives Avere lost on both sides, to the great scandal of civilized peo- 
ple. This is but a partial view of frontier life.* 

When my father settled in Logan county, there was not a newspaper printed 
south of Green River, no mill short of forty miles, and no schools worth the name. 

* The most notorious of the desperadoes who infested the settlements were two brother*, 
named Harpe, of whom Jtidge Hall, in his jyesteru Sketches, has given this iiairative : 

In the fall of 1801 or 1802, a company consisting of two men and three women arrived 
in Lincoln county, Ky., and encamped about a mile from the present town of Stanford. 
The appearance of the individuals composing this party was wild and rude in the extreme. 
The one who seemed to be the leader of the band, was above the ordinary stature of men. 
His frame was bony and muscular, his breast broad, his limbs gigantic. His clothing was 
uncouth and shabby, his e.xterior, weatherbeaten and dirty, indicating continual e.xposiire 
to the elements, and designating him as one who dwelt far from the habitations of men, 
aud mingled not in the courtesies of civilized life. His countenance was bold and ferocious 
and exceedingly impulsive, from its strongly marked expression of villainy. His face, 
which w;t,s larger than ordinary, exhibited the lines of ungovernable passion, and the com- 
plexion announced that the ordinary feelings of the human breast were in him extinguinihed. 
Instead of the healthy hue which indicates the social emotions, there was a livid unnatu- 
ral redness, re.-!emblin<^ that of a dried and lifeless skin. His eye was fearless and steady, 
but it was also artful and audacious, glaring upon the beholder with an unpleasant fixed- 
ness and brilliancy, like that of a ravenous animal floating on its prey. He wore no cov- 
ering on his head, and the natural protection of thick coarse hair, of a fiery redness, un- 
combed and matted, gave evidence of long exposure to the rudest visitations of the sun- 
beam and the tempest. He was armed with a rifle, and a broad leathern belt, drawn closely 
ar(umd his waist, supported a knife and a tomahawk. He seemed, in short, an ouilaw, 
destitute of all the nobler sympathies of human nature, aud prepared at all points for as- 
sault or defense. The other man was smaller in size than him who led the party, but sim- 
ilarlv armed, having the same suspicious exterior, and a countenance equally fierce and 
sinister. The females were coarse, aud wretchedly attired. 

The men stated m .answer to the inquiry of the inhabitants, that their names were Hirpe, 
and that they were emigrants from North Carolina. They remained at their encampment 
the greater part of two days aud a night, spending the time in rioting, drunlcenness and 
debauchery. When they left, they took the road leading to Green River. The day siic- 
ceediu"- tlieir departure, a report reached the neighborhood that a young geutlem m of 
wealth from Virgiuia, named Lankford, had been robbed and murdered on what wa3 



KENTUCKY. 



91 



Sunday was a day set apart for hiintins, fishing, horse racing, card playing, balls, 
dances, and all kinds of jollity and mirth. We killed our meat out of the woods, 
wild; and beat our meal and hominy with a pestle and mortar. We stretched a 
deer skin over a hoop, burned holes in it with the prongs of a fork, sifted our meal, 
baked our bread, eat it, and it was first-rate eating too. We raised, or gathered 
out of the woods, our own tea. We had sage, bohea, cross-vine, spice, and sassa- 
fras teas, in abundance. As for coffee, I am not sure that I ever smelled it for ten 
years. We made our sugar out of the water of the maple-tree, and our molasses 
too. These were great luxuries in those days. 

We raised our own cotton and flax. We water-rotted our flax, broke it by hand, 
scutched it; picked the seed out of the cotton with our fingers; our mothers and 
sisters carded, spun, and wove it into cloth, and they cut and made our garments 
and 1)ed-clothes, etc. And when we got on a new suit thus manufactured, and 
sallied out into company, we thought ourselves "so biy as anybody." 

Time rolled on, population increased fast around us, the country improved, horse- 
thieves and murderers were driven away, and civilization advanced considerably. 
Ministers of different denominations came in, and preached through the country; 

then called, and is still known as the " Wilderness Road," which runs through the Rock- 
castle hills. Suspicion immediately fixed upon the Harpes as the perpetrators, and Cap- 
tain Ballenger, at the head of a few bold and resolute men, started in pursuit. They ex- 
perienced great difficulty in following their trail, owing to a heavy fall of snow, which had, 
obliterated most of their tracks, but finally came upon them while encamped in a bottom 
on Green River, near the spot where the town of Liberty now stands. At first they made 
a show of resistance, but upon being informed that if they did not immediately surrender, 
they would be shot down, they yielded themselves prisoners. They were brought back 
to Stanford, and there examined. Among their effects were found some fine linen shirts, 
marked with the initials of Lankford. One had been pierced by a bullet and was stained 
with blood. They had also a considerable sum of money, in gold. It was afterward as- 
certained that this was the kind of money Lankford had with him. The evidence against 
them being thus conclusive, they were confined in the Stanford jail, but were afterward 
sent fur trial to Danville, where the district court was in session. Here they broke jail, 
and succeeded in making their escape. 

They were next heard of in Adair county, near Columbia. In passing through that 
coimty, they met a small boy, the son of Colonel Trabue, with a pillow-case of meal or 
flour, an article they probably needed. This boy, it is supposed, they robbed and then 
mui'dered, as he was never afterward heard of. Many years afterward, human bones, an- 
swering the size of Colonel Trabue's son at the time of his disappearance, were found in 
a sink hole near the place where he was said to have been murdered. The Harpes still 
• shaped their course toward the mouth of Green River, marking their path by muulers and 
robberies of the most horrible and brutal character. The district of coimtry through which 
they passed was at that time very thinly settled, and from this reason their outrages went 
unpunished. They seemed inspired with the deadliest hatred against the whule human 
race, and such was their implacable misanthropy, that they were known to kill wheie there 
was n© temptation to rob. One of their victims was a little girl, found at some distance 
from her home, whose tender age and helplessness would have been protection against any 
but incarnate fiends. The last dreadful act of barbarity, which led to their punishment 
and expulsion from the country, exceeded in atrocity all the others. 

Assuming the guise of Methodist preachers, they obtained lodgings one night at a soli- 
tary hoase on the road. Mr. Stagall, the master of the house, was absent, but they found 
his wife and children, and a stranger, who, like themselves, had stopped for the night. 
Here they conversed and made inquiries about the two noted Harpes, who were re')re.;eated 
as prowling about the country. When they retired to rest, they contrived to secure an ix, 
which they carried with them to their chamber. In the dead of night, they crept softly 
down stairs, and assassinated the whole f imily, together with the stranger, in their sleep, 
and then setting fire to the house, made their escape. When Stagall returned, he found 
no wife to welcome him; no home to receive him. Distracted with grief and ra.i;e, lie 
turned his horse's head Irom the smoldering ruins, and repaired to the house of Captain 
John Leeper. Leeper was one of the most powerful men of his day, and fearless as pow- 
erful. Collecting four or five other men well armed, they mounted and started in pur-uit 
of vengeance. It was agreed that Leeper .should attack " Big Harpe," leaving " Little 
Harpe" to be disposed of by Stagall. The others were to hold themselves in readiness 
to assist Leeper and Stagall, as circumstances mi^ht require. 

This party found the women belonging to the Harpes attending to their little camp b.y 



92 KENTUCKY. 

but tho Motliodist preachers wore the pioneermessengers of salvation in these ends 
of the earfh. Even in Rogues' Harbor there was a Baptist church a few miles west 
of my Cafher's, and a Presbyterian congregation a few miles north, and the Meth- 
odist Ebenezer a few miles south. 

iSomt'where between 1800 and 1801. in the upper part of Kentucky, at a memor- 
able place called "Cane Ridge," there was appointed a sacramental meeting by 
some of the Presbyterian ministers, at which meeting, seemingly unexpected by 
ministers or people, the mighty power of God was displayed in a very extraordin- 
ary man nor; many were moved to tears, and Ijitter and loud crying for mercy. 
The meeting was protracted for weeks. Ministers of almost all denominations 
flocked in from far and near. The meeting was kept up by night and day. Thou- 
sands heard of the mighty work, and came on foot, on horseback, in carriages and 
wagons. It was supposed that there were in attendance at times during the meet- 
ing from twelve to twenty-five thousand people. Hundreds fell prostrate under the 
mighty power of God, as men slain in battle. Stands were erected in the woods, 
from which preachers of different churches proclaimed repentance toward (Jod 
and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and it was supposed, by eye and ear witnesses, 
that between one and two thousand souls were happily and powerfully converted 
to God during the meeting. It was not unusual for one, two, three, and four to 
seven preachers to be addressing the listening thousands at the same time from the 
different stands ei'ected for the purpose. The heavenly fire spread in almost every 
direction, it was said, by truthful witnesses, that at times more than one thousand 
persons broke out into loud shouting all at once, and that the shouts could be heard 
for miles around. 

From til is camp-meeting, for so it ought to be called, the news spread through all 
the Churches, and through all the land, and it excited great wonder and surprise; 
but it kindied a religious flame that spread all over Kentucky, and through many 
other states. And I may here be permitted to say, that this was the first camp- 
meeting ever held in the Untied States, and here our camp-meetings took their 
rise. 

To show the ignorance the early Methodist preachers had to contend with in 
the western wilds, I will relate an incident that occurred to Wilson Lee, in Ken- 
tucky : 

There was in the congregation a very wicked Dutchman and his wife, both-iof 

the road side; the men having gone aside into the woods to shoot an unfortunate traveler, 
of the name of Smith, who had fallen into their hands, and whom the women had bejijged 
might not be (Hspatched before their eyes. It was tiiis halt that enabled the pursuers to 
overtake them. The women immediately gave the alarm, and the miscreants, mounting 
their horses, which were large, fleet and powerful, fled in separate directions. Leeper 
singled out the Big Harpe, and being better mounted than his companions, soon left them 
far behind. Little Harpe succeeded in escaping from Stagall, and he, with the rest of his 
companions, turned aiid followed the track of Leeper and Big Harpe. After a chase of 
about nine miles, Leeper came within gun shot of the latter and fired. The ball entering 
his thi^h, passed thront,^h it and penetrated his horse, and both fell. Harpe's gun escaped 
from liis hand and rolled some eij>;ht or ten feet down the bank. Reloadini^ his rifle Lee- 
per ran to where the wounded outlaw lay weltering in his blood, and found him with one 
thigh broken and the other crushed beneath his horse. Leeper rolled the horse away, and 
Bet Harne in an eisiei position. The robber begued that he might not be killed. Leeper 
told him that he had nothing to fear from him, but that Stagall was cominj? up, and could 
not probably be restrained. Harpe appeired very much frightened at hearing this, and im- 
plored Leeper to protect him. In a few moments Stagall appeared, and without uttering a 
word, raised his rifle and shot Harpe through the head. They then severed the head from 
the Oiidy, and stuck it upon a pole where the road crosses the creek, from which the place 
w;is then mmed and is yet called H'lrpe's Head. Thus perished one of the boldest and 
most n'lteil freebooters that has ever appeared in America. Save courage, he was without 
one re<leeming quality, and his death freed the country from a terror which had long para- 
lyzed it'^ botile-t spirits. 

The Little Harpe afterward joined the band of Mason, and became one of his most val 
unble assistants in the dreadful trade of robbery and murder. He was one of the two 
band'ts that, tempted by the reward for their le ider's head, murdered him, and eventually 
themselves suffered the penalty of the law as previously related. 



KENTUCKY. 



93 



whom were profoundly ignorant of the Scriptures and the plan of salvation. TTis 
wife was a notorious scold, and so mui^h was she given to this practice, that sho 
made her husband unhappy, and kept him almost always in a perfect fret, so that 
he led a most miserable and uncomfortable life. It pleased God that day to cause 
th f preaching of Mr. Lee to reach their guilty souls, and break up the great deep 
jf their hearts. They wept aloud, seeing their lost condition, and they, then and 
there, resolved to do better, and from that time forward to take up the cross and 
bear it, be it what it might 




A Religions Encampment in the Wilderness. 

The congregation were generally deeply affected. Mr. Lee exhorted them an(J 
prayed for them as long as he consistently could, and, having .another appointment 
some distance off that evening, he dismissed the congregation, got a little refresh- 
ment, saddled his horse, mounted, and started for his evening appointment. After 
riding some distance, he saw, a little ahead of him. a man trudging along, carry- 
ing a woman on his back. This greatly surprised Mr. Lee. He very naturally 
Bupposed that the woman was a cripple, or had hurt herself in some way, so that 
she could not walk. The traveler was a small man, and the woman large and 
heavy. 

Before he overtook them Mr. Lee began to cast about in his mind how he could 
render them assistance. When he came up to them, lo and behold, who should it 
be but the Dutchman and his wife that had been so affected under his sermon at 
meeting. Mr. Lee rode up and spoke to them, and inquired of the man what had 
happened, or what was the matter, that he was carrying his wife. 

The Dutchman turned to Mr. Lee and said, "Besure you did tell us in your sar- 
mon dat we must take vp de cross and follow de Saviour, or dat we could not be 
sa^ed or go to heaven, and I does desire to go to heaven so much as any pody; and 
dish vife is so pad, she scold and scold all de time, and dish woman is de Greatest 
,'rnss I have in de whole worlds and I does take her up and pare her, for I must 
save mij soul.'' 

From 1801, for years, a blessed revival of religion spread through almost the 
entire inhabited parts of the west, Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and many 
other parts, especially through the Cumberland country, which was so called from 
the Cumberland River, which headed and mouthed in Kentucky, but in its great 



94 ' KENTUCKY. 

hend circled south through Tennessee, near Nashville. The Presbyterians and 
Methodists in a great measure united in this work, met together, prayed together-, 
and preached together. 

In this revival originated our camp-meetings, and in both these denominations 
they were held every year, and, indeed, have been ever since, more or less. They 
would ei'ect their camps with logs, or frame them, and cover them with clapboards 
or shingles. They would also erect a shed, sufficiently large to protect five thou- 
sand people from wind and rain, and cover it with boards or shingles ; build a 
large stand, seat the shed, and here they would collect together from forty to fifty 
miles around, sometimes further than that. Ten, twenty, and sometimes thirty 
ministers, of different denominations, would come together and preach night and 
day, four or five days together; and, indeed, I have known these camp-meetings to 
last three or four weeks, and great good resulted from them. I have seen more 
than a hundred sinners fall like dead men under one powerful sermon, and I have 
seen and heard more than five hundred Christians all shouting aloud the high 
praises of God at once; and I will venture to assert that many happy thousands 
were awakened and converted to God at these camp-meetings. Some sinners 
mocked, some of the old dry professors opposed, some of the old starched Presby- 
terian preachers preached against these exercises, but still the work went on and 
Bpread almost in every direction, gathering additional force, until our country 
seemed all coming home to God. 

In this great revival the Methodists kept moderately balanced ; for we had ex- 
cellent preachers to steer the ship or guide the flock. But some of our members 
ran wild, and indulged in some extravagancies that were hard to control. The 
Presbyterian preachers and members, not being accustomed to much noise or 
shouting, when they yielded to it went into great extremes and downright wild- 
ness, to the great injury of the cause of God. 




Col. Daniel Boone, the celebrated 
pioneer of Kentucky, was born of 
jmy»-'^0^ • >> English parentage, in Pennsylvania, 
^ff^-<^ in 1734. When a small boy, his pa- 
rents emigrated to the banks of the 
Yadkin, in North Carolina. "At 
that time the region beyond the Blue Ridge was an unknown wilderness to the 
white people, for none had ventured thither, as far as is known, until about the 
year 1750. It was almost twenty years later than this, when Boone was approach- 
ing the prime of life, that he first penetrated the great Valley of the Mississippi, in 
company with others. He had already, as a bold hunter, been within the eastern 
verge of the present Kentucky, but now he took a long 'hunt' of about three years. 
He had made himself familiar with the wilderness, and in 1773, in company with 
other families, he started with his own to make a settlement on the Kain-tuck-ee 
River. The hostile Indians compelled them to fall back, and Boone resided on the 
Clinch River until 1775, when he went forward and planted the settlement of 
Boonesborough, in the present Madison county, Kentucky. There he built a log 
fort, and in the course of three or four years several other settler's joined him. His 
wife and daughters were the first white women ever seen upon the fjanks of the 
Kentucky River. He became a great annoyance to the Indians, and while at the 
Blue Licks, on the Licking River, in February, 1778, engaged with others in 
making salt, he was captured by some Shawnee warriors from the Ohio country, 
and taken to Chillicothe. The Indians became attached to him, and he was adopted 
into a family as a son. A ransom of five hundred dollars was offered for him, but 
the Indians refused it. He at length escaped (in July following his capture), when 
he ascertained that a large body of Indians were preparing to march against 13oones- 
borough. They attacked that station three times before the middle of September, 
but were repulsed. During Boone's captivity, his wife and children had returned 
to the house of her father, on the Yadkin, where the pioneer visited them in 1779, 
and remained with them for many months. He returned to Kentucky in 1780, 
with his family, and assisted Colonel Clark in his operations against the Indians in 
the Illinois country." 



KENTUCKY. 95 

At the close of the war, Boone settled down quietly upon his farm. But he wag 
not long permitted to remain unmolested. His title, owing to the imperfect nature 
of the land laws of Kentucky, was legally decided to be defective, and Boone was 
deprived of all claim to the soil which he had explored, settled, and so bravely de- 
fended. In 1795, disgusted with civilized society, he sought a new home in the 
wilds of the far west, on the banks of the Missouri, then within the dominion of 
Spain. He was treated there with kindness and attention by the public authorities, 
and he found the simple manners of that frontier people exactly suited to his pe- 
culiar habits and temper. With them he spent the residue of his days, and was 
gathered to his fathers, Sept. 26th, 1820, in the 86th year of his age. He was bur- 
ied in a coffin which he had had made for years, and placed under his bed, ready 
to receive him whenever he should be called from these earthly scene.s. In the 
summer of 1845, his remains were removed to Frankfort. In person, Boone was 
five feet ten inches in hight, and of robust and powerful proportions. He was or- 
dinarily attired as a hunter, wearing a hunting shirt and moccasins. His biogra- 
pher, who saw him at his residence, on the Missouri River, but a short time before 
his death, says that on his introduction to Col. Boone, the impressions were those 
of surprise, admiration and delight. In boAdiood, he had read of Daniel Boone, the 
pioneer of Kentucky, the celebrated hunter and Indian fighter, and imagination 
had portrayed a rough, fierce-looking, uncouth specimen of humanity, and of 
course, at this period of life, a fretful and unattractive old man. But in every re- 
spect the reverse appeared. His high, bold forehead was slightly bald, and his silver 
locks were combed smooth ; his countenance was ruddy and fair, and exhibited the 
simplicity of a child. His voice was soft and melodious; a smile frequently played 
over his features in conversation; his clothing was the coarse, plain manufacture 
of the family, but everything about him denoted that kind of comfort which was 
congenial to his habits and feelings, and evinced a happy old age. His room was 
part of a range of log cabins, kept in order by his affectionate daughter and grand- 
daughter, and every member of the household appeared to delight in administerino- 
to the comforts of "grandfather Boone," as he was familiarly called. 

When age had enfeebled his once athletic frame, he made an excursion, twice a 
year, to some remote hunting ground, employing a companion, whom he bound by 
a written contract to take care of him, and should he die in the wilderness to brin"- 
his body to the cemetery which he had selected as a final resting-place. 

George Rogers Clark was 
born in Albemarle county, Vir- 
ginia, in 1752. He possessed 
a most extraordinary military 
genius, and became conspicu- 
ously prominent in the con- 
quest and settlement of the 
whole west. "He first appeared 
in history as an adventurer be- 
yond the Alleghanies, in 1772. 
He had been engaged in the business of land-surveyor for some time, and that year 
he went down the Ohio in a canoe as far as the mouth of the Great Kanawha, in 
company with Rev. David Jones, then on his way to preach the gospel to the west- 
ern tribes. He was captain of a company in Dunmore's army, which marched 
against the Indians on the Ohio and its tributaries, in 1774. Ever since his trip 
in 1772, he ardently desired an opportunity to explore those deep wildernesses in the 
great valleys, and in 1775 he accompanied some armed settlers to Kentucky, as 
their commander. During that and the following year, he traversed a great ex- 
tent of country south of the Ohio, studied the character of the Indians, and made 
himself master of many secrets which aided in his future success. He beheld a 
beautiful country, inviting immigration, but the pathway to it was made dangerous 
by the enemies of the colonists, who sallied forth from the British posts at Detroit, 
Kaskaskia and Vincennes, with Indian allies. Convinced of the necessity of pos- 
sessing these posts, Clark submitted the plan of an expedition against them to the 
Virginia legislature, and early in the spring of 1778 he was at the frills of the Ohio 
(now Louisville) Avith four companies of soldiers. There he was joined by Siraoa 




9J KENTUCKY. 

Kenton, another bold pioneer. He marched through the wilderness toward those 
important posts, and at the close of summer all but Detroit were in his possession. 
Clark was now promoted to colonel, and was instructed to pacify the western 
tribes, if possible, and bring them into friendly relations with the Americana. 
While thus engaged, he was informed of the recapture of Vincennes. With hia 
usual energv, and followed by less than two hundred men, he traversed the drowned 
lands of Illinois, through deep morasses and snow floods, in February, 1779, and on 
the I'.Hh of that month appeared before Vincennes. To the astonished garrison, it 
seemed as if these rough Kentuckians had dropped from the clouds, for the whole 
country was inundated. The fort was speedily surrendered, and commander Ham- 
ilton (governor of Detroit), and several others, were sent to Virginia as prisoners. 
Colonel Clark also captured a quantity of goods, under convoy from Detroit, valued 
at $50,000; and having sufficiently garrisoned Vincennes and the other posts, he 
proceeded to build Fort JefiFerson, on the western bank of the Mississippi, below the 
Ohio. When Arnold invaded Virginia, in 1781, Colonel Clark joined the forces 
under the Baron Steuben, and performed signal service until the traitor had de- 
parted. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier the same year, and went beyond 
the mountains again, hoping to organize an expedition against Detroit. His scheme 
failed, and for awhile Clark was in command of a post at the Falls of the Ohio. 
In the autumn of 1782, he penetrated the Indian country between the Ohio and the 
lakes, with a thousand men, and chastised the tribes severely for their marauding 
excursions into Kentucky, and awed them into comparatively peaceful relations. 
For these deeds, John Randolph afterward called Clark the 'American Hannibal, 
who, by the reduction of those military posts in the wilderness, obtained the lakes 
for the northern boundary of our Union at the peace of 1783.' Clark made Ken- 
tucky his future home, and during Washington s administration, when Genet, the 
French minister, attempted to organize a force in the west against the Spaniards, 
Clark accepted from him the commission of maior-ceneral in the armies of France. 
The project was abandoned, and the hero of the northwest never appeared in 
public life afterward." General Clark was never married, and he was long in in- 
firm health. He died in February, 1818, and was buried at Locust Grove, near 
Louisville. 

"(re«. Charles Scott was a native of Cumberland county, Virginia. He raised 
the first company of volunteers in that state, south of the James River, that actually 
entered into the continental service. So much was he appreciated that in 1777 the 
shire-town of Fowhattan county was named in honor of him. Congress appointed 
him a brigadier in the continental army on the 1st of April, 1777. He served with 
distinction during the war, and at its termination he went to Kentucky. He settled 
in Woodford county, in that state, in 1785. He was with St. Clair at his defeat in 
1791, and in 1794 he commanded a portion of Wayne's army at the battle of the 
Fallen Timber. He was governor of Kentucky from 1808 to 1812. He died on 
the 22d of October, 1820, aged seventy-four years." 

Scott was a man of strong natural powers, but somewhat illiterate and rough in 
his manners. He was eccentric, and many amusing anecdotes are related of him. 
When a candidate for governor, he was opposed by Col. Allen, a native of Ken- 
tucky, who, in an address to the people when Scott was present, made an eloquent ap- 
peal. The friends of the latter, knowing he was no orator, felt distressed for him, 
but Scott, nothing daunted, mounted the stump, and addressed the company nearly 
as follows : 

"Well, boy.s, I am sure you must all be well pleased with the speech you have just heard. 
It does my heart good to think we have so smart a man raised up among us here. He is a 
native Kentuckian. I see a good many of you here that I brought out to this country when 
a wilderness. At that time we hardly e.xpected we should live to see such a smart man 
raised up among ourselves. You who were with me in those early times know we had no 
time for education, no means of improving from books. We dared not then go about our 
most common affairs without arms in our hands, to defend ourselves against the Indians. 
But we guarded and protected the country, and now every one can go where he pleases, and 
you now see what smart fellows are growing up to do their country honor. Jiut I think it 
would be a pity to make this man governor; I think it would be better to send him to Con- 
k'ress. I don't think it requires a very smart man to make a governor, if he has sense 
•.nough to gather smart men about who can help him on with the business of state, it 



KENTUCKY. 



97 



would suit a worn-out old wife of a man like myself. But as to this young man, I am very 
proud of him, as much so as any of his kin, if any of them have been here to-day listening 
to his speech." Scott then descended from the stump, and the huzzas for the old soldier 
made the welkin ring. 

Gen. Benjamin. Logan., one of the most distinguished pioneers, was born in Vir 
ginia, of Irish parentaii;e, about the year 1742. He was a sergeant in Boquet'sex- 

fiedition, and was in Dunniore's campaign. In 1775, he came to Kentucky with 
>oone, Henderson, and otliers. The next year he brought out his family, and 
established a fort, called "Logan's Fort," which stood at St. Asaph's, about a mile 
west of the present town of Stanford, in Lincoln county. That period is memora- 
ble in the history of Kentucky, as one of peculiar peril. The woods literally 
swarmed with Indians. Having been reinforced by several white men, Logan de- 
termined to maintain himself at all hazards. 

" On the 20th of May, 1777, this fort was invested by a force of a hundred Indians; and 
on the morning of tiiat day, as some of the females belonging to it were engaged, outside 
of the gate, in milking the cows, the men who .acted as the guard for the occasion, were 
fired upon by a party of the Indians, who had concealed themselves in a thick canebrake. 
One man was shot dead, another mortally wounded, and a third so badly, as to be disabled 
I'rom making his escape; the remainder made good their retreat into the fort, and closed 
the gate. Harrison, one of the wounded men, by a violent exerticjn, ran a few paces and 
fell. His struggles and exclamations attracted the notice, and awakened the sympathies, 
of the inmates of the station. The frantic grief of his wife gave additional interest to 
the scene. The enemy forbore to fire upon hirn, doubtless from the supposition that some 
of the garrison would attemiit to save liim, in which event they were prepared to fire upon 
them from the canebrake. The case was a trying one; and there was a strong conflict be- 
tween sympathy and duty, on the part ot the garrison. The number of effective men had 
been reduced from fifteen to twelve, and it was exceedingly hazar.ious to put the lives of 
any of this small number in jeopardy; yet the lamentations of his family were so distress- 
ing, and the scene altogether so moving, as to call forth a resolute determination to save 
him if possible. Logan, always alive to the impulses of humanity, and insensible to fear, 
volunteered his services, and appealed to some of bis men to accompany him. But so ap- 
palling was the danger, that all, at first, refused. At length, John Martin consented, and 
rushed, with Logan, from the fort; but he had not gone far, before he shrunk from the 
imminence of the danger, and sprung back within the gate Logan paused for a moment, 
then dashed on, alone and undaunted — reached, unhurt, the spot where Harrison lay — 
threw him on his shoulders, and, amidst a tremendous shower of rifle balls, made a safe 
and triumphant letreat into the fort. 

Tlie tort was now vigorously assailed by the Indian force, and as vigorously defended 
by the garrison. The men were constantly at their posts, whilst the women were actively 
engaged in molding bullets. But the weakness of the garrison was not their only griev- 
ance. The scarcity of powder and ball, one of the greatest inconveniences to which the 
."settlers were not unfrequently exposed, began now to be seriously felt. There were no in- 
dications that the siege would be speedily abandoned; and a protracted resistance seemed 
impracticable, without an additional supply of the munitions of war. The settlements on 
Holston could furnish a supply — but how was it to be obtained? And, even it men could 
be found rash and desperate enough to undertake the journey, how improbable was it that 
the trip could be accomplished in time for the relief to be available. Logan stepi'ed for- 
ward, in this extremity, determined to take the dangerous office upon himself. Encour- 
aging his men with the prospect of a safe and speedy return, he left the tort under cover 
of the night, and, attended by two faithful companions of his own selection, crept cau- 
tiously through the Indian lines without discovery. Shunning the ordinary route through 
Cumberland Gap, he moved, with incredible rapidity, over mnuiitain and valley — an-ived 
at the settlement on the Holston — procured the necessary sup,)ly of powder and load — im- 
mediately retraced his stej)-!, and wis again in the fort in ten days from the time ot his 
dei)arture. He returned alone. The necessary delay in the tr.msportation of tiie stores, 
induced him to intrust them to the charge of his companions; and his presence at 8t. 
As:iph's was all-important to the safety of its inhabitants. His return inspired them with 
fresh courage; and, in a few days, the appearance of Col. Bowmin's party comjielied the 
Indians to retire." 

In the year 177'.*, Lojian was first in command nnl(>r Howman, in his e.KjM'dition 
against the Imlia-n town of Chillicothe. It failed through tiie imbecility til tiic com- 
mander; but Logan gained great creilit for iiis bravery and generalship on tbe occa- 
sion. In the summer of 17S.S, he conducted a succcsslul expedition a.ainsi the 
Indians in the Miami country. From this period until his death, Gen. Logan de- 
7 





98 KENTUCKY. 

voted himself to the cnltivation of his farm. He Avas a member of the convention 
of IT'.i-', which framed the first constitution of Kentucky, lie died full of years 
and oF honors. 

Gov. Isaac Shelby, the first governor of Kentucky, and the "hero of two wars." 

Wi.3 of Welsh 
descent, and 
was burn near 
Hagars town, 
r ><^>9 (/ u/'^/ ^ ^y^^ -'^^'^i^i^ Maryland, i n 
■ •^^^^^^^^ 3*^ y^ 175U. At the 

age of 21 years 
he emigrated 
t o Virginia, 
And engaged as a surveyor there, and in 1775, in Kentucky. Early in the Revo- 
lution he was, for a time, in the commissary department; but later, in 1780, lie was 
commissioned as a colonel by Virginia, and raised 300 riflemen. He gained grt<».T; 
distinction in several actions, especially in the important battle of King's Moun- 
tain, the turning point of the Revolution in the south. He was the most promi- 
nent officer in this celebrated victory, and originated the expedition which led to 
it. After this he served under Gen. Marion. 

In 1782, he was elected a member of the Legislature of North Carolina, but 
soon after returned to Kentucky, and settled down upon a farm for life. '' He was 
elected the first governor of the new state, and after an interval of comparative 
repose, he was again the incumbent of that important ortice in 1812. Another war 
with (ireat Britain was then impending The fire of 1776 still warmed his bosom, 
and he called his countrymen to arms, ,vhen the proclamation of war went forth. 
Henry Clay presented him with a sword, voted by the legislature of North Caro- 
lina for his gallantry at King's Mountain, thirty-two years before, and with that 
weapon he marched at the head of four thousand Kentucky volunteers, toward the 
Canada frontier, in 1S13, though the snows of three score and three winters were 
upon his head. He fought gallantly upo i the Thames, in Canada; and for his 
valor there, congress honored him with a gold medal. President Monroe appointed 
him secretary of war in 1817, but he declined the honor, for he coveted the repose 
which old age demands. His last public act was the holding of a treaty with the 
Chickasaw Indians, in 1818, with General Jackson for his colleague. His sands 
of life were now nearly exhausted. In February, 1820, he was prostrated by par- 
alysis, yet he lived, s(miewhat disabled, until the 18th of July, 1826, when apo- 
plexy terminated his life. He was then almost seventy-six yeai-s of age, and died 
as he had lived, with the hope of a Christian." 

Col. Richard M. Johnson, vice president of the United States, was born at Bry- 
at's Station, five miles northeast of Lexington, in Oct., 1781. The outline of the 
history of this one of the most distinguished natives of Kentucky, is given in the 
monumental inscription, copied on page 908 of this work. 

" Henry Clay was 
born in Hanover county, 
Virginia, April 12, 1777. 
Having received a com- 
mon school education, 
he became at an early 
age, a copyist in the 
office of the clerk of the 
^ ^ ^ _^ y court of chancery, at 







0c C^."^^^ -''Ci/t/*' \ — — ' "" *^ Richmond. At nine- 

^ teen he commenced the 
study of law, and short- 
ly afterward removed to Lexington, Kentucky, where he was admitted to the bar 
in 17U9, and soon obtained extensive practice. He began his political career, by 
taking an active part in the election of delegates to frame a new constitution for 
the state of Kentucky. In 1803, he was elected to the legislature by the citizens- 



KENTUCKY. ^ 99 

of Fayette county; and in 1806, he was appointed to the United States senate for 
the remainder of the term of General Adair, who had resigned. In 1807, he was 
again elected a member of the general assembly of Kentucky, and was chosen 
speaker, in the following year occurred his duel with Humphrey Marshall. In 
1809, he was again elected to the United States senate for the unexpired term of 
Mr. Thurston, resigned. In 181 1, he was elected a member of the house of repre- 
sentatives, and was chosen speaker on the first day of his appearance in that body, 
and was five times re-elected to this office. During this session, his eloquence 
aroused the country to resist the aggressions of Great Britain, and awakened a na- 
tional spirit. In 1814, he was appointed one of the commissioners to negotiate a 
treaty of peace at Ghent. Returning from this mission, he was re-elected to con- 
gress, and in 1818, he spoke in favor of recognizing the independence of the South 
American Republics. In the same year, he put forth his strength in behalf of a 
national system of internal improvements. A monument of stone, inscribed with 
his name, was erected on the Cumberland road, to commemorate his services in 
behalf of that improvement. 

In the session of 1819-20, he exerted himself for the establishment of protec- 
tion to American industry, and this was followed by services in adjusting the Mis- 
souri Compromise. After the settlement of these questions, he withdrew from 
congress, in order to attend to his private affiiirs. In 1823 he returned to congress 
and was re-elected speaker; and at this session he exerted himself in support of 
the independence of Greece. Under John Quincy Adams, he filled the office of 
secretary of state; the attack upon Mr. Adams' administration, and especially upon 
the seci'etary of state, by John Randolph, led to a hostile meeting between him and 
Mr. Clay, which terminated without bloodshed. In 1829 he returned to Kentucky; 
and in 1831 was elected to the United States senate, where he commenced his la- 
bors in favor of the Tariff; in the same month of his reappearance in the senate, 
he was unanimously nominated for president of the United States. In 1836, he 
was re-elected to the senate, where he remained until 1842, when he resigned, and 
took his final leave, as he supposed, of that body. In 1839, he was again nomi- 
nated for the presidency, but General Harrison -was selected as the candidate. He 
also received the nomination in 1844, for president, and was defeated in this elec- 
tion by Mr. Polk. 

He remained in retirement in Kentucky until 1849, when he was re-elected to 
the senate of the United States. Here he devoted all his energies to the measures 
known as the Compromise Acts. His efforts during this session weakened his 
strength, and he went for his health to Havana and New Orleans, but with no per- 
manent advantage ; he returned to Washington, but was unable to participate in 
the active duties of the senate, and resigned his seat, to take effect upon the 6th 
of September, 1852. He died in Washington City, June 29, 1852. He was inter- 
ested in the success of the Colonization Society, and was for a long time one of 
its most efficient officers, and also its president." 

Gen, Zachary Taylor was a Virginian born, and a Kentuckian bred. In 1785, 
while he was an infant a year old, his parents moved to the vicinity of Louis- 
ville. At the age of 24 years, he entered the army as lieutenant of infantry, and 
continued in the service of his country until his death, while holding the position 
of President of the United States, July 9, 1850, at the age of 65 years. His bio- 
graphy is written in honorable lines in the history of his country, and his memory 
is warmly cherished in the hearts of her people. 



THE TIMES 

OF 

THE REBELLION 

KENTUCKY. 



"Kentucky was the first state to enter the union, and will be the 
last to leave it," has long been a popular expression in that common- 
wealth to indicate the loyalty of her people. In this attachment to the 
union we perceive some of the influences of a master mind. Had 
Henry Clay never lived, it is extremely doubtful whether Kentucky 
would have remained loyal to our common country. His influence there 
for the right may be compared to that of John C. Calhoun in South Car- 
olina for the wrong — both were idolized by their respective peoples : the 
name of Henry Clay stands with the nation as one whose affections 
were filled with the idea of the glory and welfiire of the American 
republic : that of John C. Calhoun, as one believing in a government 
founded upon an oligarchy, the most terrible of all despotisms — yet 
a man of purer personal character has rarely been known. 

The impression made by Clay was strengthened by the lamented 
Crittenden, who, by words and deeds until his latest breath, proved 
himself to be a true patriot, for when Buckner, Marshall, Breckin- 
ridge and man}^ others threw their influence on the side of the rebel- 
lion, he remained "faithful among the faithless." 

Kentucky socially sympathized with the south, in consequence of 
the common bond, slavery: and extensive fiimily ties, the results of 
a large southern emigration. The young men of the state who had 
come on the stage since the decease of Mr. Clay, were more generally 
southern in their sympathies than their fathers. The governor of the 
state, the late vice president and many leading politicians were of the 
same school. When the rebellion broke out the position of Kentucky 
was extremely precarious. For months it seemed uncertain on which 
side of the balance she would finally throw her weight. When hostil- 
ities were first inaugurated thousands of her brightest young men left 
to volunteer in the secession army; very few joined that of the union. 
With her northern frontier l3'ing for hundreds of miles alongside the 
powerful free states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, containing nearly 
five times her own population, Kentucky might well pause before she 
decided to bring upon her soil the horrors of civil war. That she suf- 
fered to any considerable degree was mainly owing to the disloyalty 
of a part of her population. 

(101) 



102 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

When upon the fall of Sumter, a cull for 75000 troops was made 
from the loyal states to defend the flag of the countr}', she refused to 
furnish her quota. Her governor, Beriah Magoffin, replied to Secretary 
Cameron — "Kentucky will furnish no trooj^s for the wicked purpose 
of subduing her sister southern states." On the 20th of May he issued 
a proclamation of neutrality to the people of Kentucky, forbidding 
alike the passage of troops of the United States or of the Confederate 
States, over the soil of the state, or the occupation of any point within 
it, and declaring the position of Kentucky to be one of self defense 
alone. The state senate also passed resolutions to the same effect and 
tendered the services of Kentucky as a mediator between the govern- 
ment and her intended destroyers. 

On the 9th of June the convention of the border slave states, holden 
at Frankfort, of which Hon. J. J. Crittenden was president, and con- 
sisting of one member from Tennessee, four from Missouri and twelve 
from Kentucky, issued an address to the nation, in which they declare 
that something ought to done to quiet apprehension within the slave 
states that already adhere to the Union. The people of Kentucky are 
advised to adopt a neutral course and to mediate between the contend- 
ing parties. 

On the 8th of June, Gen. S. B. Buckner, commanding the state 
guard of Kentucky, entered into an arrangement with G-en. Geo. B. 
McClellan, commander of the U. S. troops north of the Ohio, by which 
the neutrality of Kentucky was guaranteed ; that if the soil of the 
state was invaded by the confederate forces, it was only in the event 
of the failure of Kentucky to remove them, that the forces of the U. S. 
were to enter. 

On the 15th of June, Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner wrote to Gov. 
Magoffin, that as the Tennessee troops under Gen. Pillow were about 
to occupy Columbus, on the Mississippi, he had called out a small mil- 
itary force to be stationed at that place and vicinity. These consisted 
of six companies of the state guard under Col. Lloyd Tilghman, osten- 
sibly summoned into service "to carry out the obligation of neutrality 
which the state had assumed." Two months later Gov. Magoffin opened 
a correspondence with President Lincoln on this subject of "Kentucky 
neutrality ;" the former complaining of the formation of union militaiy 
camps in the state. The president replied that these were composed 
entirely of Kentuckians (home guards), having their camj^s in the im- 
mediate vicinity of their own homes, which had been formed at the 
earnest solicitation of many Kentuckians. "I most cordially," said 
Mr. Lincoln, "sympathize with your excellency in the wish to pre- 
serve the peace of my native state Kentucky. It is with regret I 
search and can not find in your not very short letter, any declaration 
or intimation that you entertain any desire for the preservation of the 
federal union." 

At the election held early in August, the vote showed that Kentucky 
was largely for the union. In the western portion, in which the 
slaveholding interest was the strongest, the majority of the people 
were secessionists : the county of Trigg alone supplied 400 men to the 
rebel army. 

Notwithstanding the drain of hot-blooded young men to the rebel 
side, Kentucky had furnished to the union cause to the beginning of 



IN KENTUCKY. 



103 



1865, 76,335 troops, of which 61,317 were whites, and 14,918 cohered. 
Beside this, thousands of her citizens in various parts of the state were 
during the rebellion, actively employed as home guards, state guards, 
state forces, etc., in battling against a common foe, which the successive 
invasions of the state by the enemy, and the distressive guerrilla raids 
made necessary. And her union officers. Nelson, Wood, Eousseau, 
Canby, Wolford, Jacobs, Fry, Burbridge, Crittenden, Garrard and 
others performed most efficient service on the fields of blood. 

On the 2d of September, the state legislature met at Frankfort, three 
fourths of the membei's being unionists. On the 5th, the confederate 
forces under Gen. Polk took possession of Columbus. About the same 
time Gen. Grant from Cairo, acting under the orders of Gen. Fremont, 
landed a body of union troops at Paducah. Prior to this the neutrality 
of Kentucky had been respected by both parties. No ti'oops for the 
defense of the union had been encamped upon her soil, other than 
home guards; and many of these were secretly secessionists. The 
fii'st and second Kentucky regiments, composed mostly of citizens of 
Ohio had rendezvoused at Camp Clay, near Cincinnati ; and a body 
of Kentucky volunteers under General Lovell S. Rousseau, an eloquent 
orator of the state, had formed a camp on the Indiana shore opposite 
Louisville. On the 12th, the legislature, by a vote of three to one, 
demonstrated their loyalty by directing the governor to order out the 
military power of the state, to drive out and expel "the so-called 
southern confederate forces." At the same time, General Robert An- 
dei-son, who had been ordered to the command of the troops of this 
department, was requested to immediately enter upon the active dis- 
charge of his duties. 

Gen. Buckner, in command of the state guard, being in sympathy 
with the rebellion, had seduced to their cause a large number of the 
young men of Kentucky, and, at this time, came out openly for seces- 
sion, taking with him thousands who had been armed under the guise 
of protecting the state from the invasion of either union or rebel 
troops. In an address, issued at Russellville on the 12th, he said — 
" Freemen of Kentucky, let us stand by our own lovely land. Join 
with me in expelling from our firesides, the armies which an insane 
despotism sends among us to subjugate us to the iron rule of puri- 
tanical New England." 

This man Buckner, and his fellow-conspirator, Breckinridge, can 
never be forgiven by the union loving people of Kentuck}', ibr the 
manner in which the youth of the state were ensnared into the ranks 
of ti-eason through their wicked ambition. What mother or sister can 
read the fate of this one poor boy, as related by Gen. Rousseau, with- 
out a tear to his memory; and a burning anathema upon his mur- 
derers? 

Two days after the battle of Shiloh, I walked into the hospital tent on the 
ground where the fiercest contest had taken place, and where many of our men 
and those of the enemy had fallen. The hospital was exclusively for the wounded 
rebels, and they were laid thickly around. Many of them were Kentuckians, of 
Breckinridge's command. As I stepped into the tent and spoke to some one, I 
was addressed by a voice, the childish tones of which arrested my attention : 
" That's General Rousseau ! General, I knew your son Dickey. Where is Dick ? 
I knew him very well?" 

Turning to him, I saw stretched on the ground a handsome boy about sixteen 



104 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

years of age. His face was a bright one, but the hectic glow and flush on the 
cheeks, his restless manner, and his grasping and catching his breath, as he 
spoke, alarmed me. I knelt by his side and pressed his fevered brow with my 
hand, and would have taken the child into my arms if I could. "And wlio are 
you, my son?" said I. " Why, I am Eddy McFadden, from Louisville," was the 
reply. " I know you, general, and I know your son Dick. I have played with 
him. Where is Dick?" 

1 thought of my own dear boy, of what might have befallen him ; that he, too, 
deluded by villains, might, like this poor boy, have been mortally wounded, among 
strangers, and left to die. My heart bled for the poor child, for he was a child; 
my manhood gave way, and burning tears attested, in spite of me, my intense 
suffering. 

1 asked him of his father? He had no father. Your mother? He had no 
motlrer. Brothers and sisters ? "I have a brother," said he. " I never knew 
what soldiering was ; 1 was but a boy, and they got me off down here " He was 
shot through the shoulder and lungs. I asked him what he needed. He said he 
was cold, and the ground was hard. I had no tents, no blankets; our baggage 
was all in the rear at Savannah. But I sent the poor boy my saddle blanket and 
returned the next morning with lemons for him and the rest; but his brother, in 
the second Kentucky regiment, had taken him over to his regiment to nurse him. 

1 never saw the child again. He died in a day or two. Peace to his ashes. 
I never think of this incident that 1 do not fill up as if he were my own child. 

Kentucky was, at this time, comparatively defenseless. Great fears 
Avere entertained tliat Buckner would advance from Eussellville by the 
Nashville railroad, and sieze upon Louisville. If we may believe the 
reports of the time, he had his plans laid to appear suddenly in that 
city with a powerful foi"ce. They had provided, it was said, for trans- 
portation, no less than four hundred cars, fifteen locomotives, and had 
eight thousand men, with artillery and camp equipage. At a station 
just beyond Green river, a loyal young man in the service of the 
road, frustrated their plans by wrenching, with a crow-bar, four rails 
from the track. This threw the train off, and caused a detention of 
twenty-four hours, and thus saved the city. On the 21st, Buckner de- 
stroyed several locks and dams on Green river, as a niilitar}^ measure. 
These had been constructed at an immense expense, and opened a 
river market for the whole of the large population of that section. 
In one night they were remorselessly annihilated by this "renegade 
Kentuckian." Later, he destroyed the elegant and costly iron rail- 
road-bridge over the same river. 

In the latter part of September, the brigade of Rousseau advanced 
down on the line of the Nashville railroad to protect Louisville from 
invasion, and large bodies of volunteers from the free states of the 
west were pushed forward, during the autumn and early winter, into 
the state — located at different camps and subjected to a severe disci- 
pline. The most prominent of these was camp Dick Robinson, in 
Garrard county, south of Lexington; at Paducah, on the lower Ohio; 
and Munfbrdsville, on the Lexington and Nashville railroad. 

The rebels held positions in the southern part of the state ; at Co- 
lumbus, on the Mississippi ; at Bowlinggreen, on the Nashville rail- 
road ; at and near Cumberland Gap, at the southeastern angle of the 
state; and on the head waters of the Big Sandy, on the Virginia line. 

Earl}^ in October, Gen. Anderson was succeeded in command of this 
department by Gen. W. T. Sherman. The months of anxiety and 
care incident upon the defense of Fort Sumter had so shattered his 



IN KENTUCKY. IO5 

health and nervous sj^stem as to render Gen. Anderson incapahle 
of attending to the arduous duties of this position. 

On the 16th, Gen. Sherman was visited by Secretary Cameron, and in the re- 
port of tlie interview between them, made by A dju tan t- "general Thomas, GeiM-ral 
Sherman gave " a gloomy picture of affairs in Kentucky." He represented that 
"the young men were generally secessionists and had joined the confederates, 
while the union men, the aged and conservatives would not enrol themselves to 
engage in conflict with their relations on the other side. Hut few regiments could 
be raised. He said that Buckner was in advance of Green river with a heavy 
force on the road to Louisville, and an attack might be daily expected, whicli, 
with the force he had, he would not be able to resist; but, nevertheless, he would 
fight them." He was then "of the opinion, that an army of 200,000 men would 
be necessary to cope with the enemy in the west." 

Such was the feeble estimate of the strength of the rebels, alike by the govern- 
ment and the people, that this apparently exaggerated view met with unmeasured 
ridicule. Some of the public prints, in a spirit of malevolence, stated he was in- 
sane; and, for a time, it passed into popular belief. Sherman, who knew — as 
but few men know — the power, and the intense burning hate of the rebels, could 
but feel to the inmost depths of his strong nature the force of the couplet: 

"Truths would ye teach to save a sinking land, 
Most shun 3'ou, few listen, and none understand." 

Stung by neglect and obloquy, this proud, earnest-hearted man resigned, and 
to give place to Gen. Don Carlos Buell. 

Three years later, away in the far south, an union army was marching in the 
mud and rain over miles of dreary road, when some soldiers observing an offiL^er 
laying by the path with his face hidden among the rising weeds, exclaimed, "there 
lies one of our generals dead drunk! " which overhearing, the latter raised upon 
his elbow and with a kindly voice, and in low, depressed tones, replied: " i\^<>< 
drunk, boys! but weak and weary in working /"or our country and Jar you!" 
Great events then passing, demonstrated the wisdom, and greater fields than the 
department of Kentucky, the transcendent genius of Sherman in war. 

The secessionists of the state, in December, formed a provisional 
government, with Geo. W. Johnson, subsequently killed at Shiloh, as 
governor. They sent delegates to the rebel congress, at Richmond; 
and that body recognized Kentucky as a member of the southern con- 
federacy. 

Skirmishes. — During the autumn, various skirmishes occurred at 
different points in Kentucky, between the rebels and unionists. The 
most prominent of these occurred to , the union forces under General 
Schoepf, at camp Wild Cat, in Laurel county, on the 21st of October. 
This was a position in south-eastern Kentucky, on the route to Cum- 
berland Gap, selected to give protection to the union men of tiiat 
mountain region. A hill, half a mile east of the camp, was occupied 
by detachments of the 33d Indiana, 17th and l-lth Ohio, and Wol- 
ford's Kentucky cavalry. They were attacked by several regiments 
of Gen. Zollicoffer's command, who made two separate, resolute, and 
unsuccessful attempts to carry the position. The i^nion loss was -4 
killed and 21 wounded ; that of the enemy was much greater, as 1S> 
corpses were found on the field. Two days later Len. Harris' 2d Ohio, 
supported by two 6-pounders and a company of cavalry, surprised a 
body of 700 rebels, at West Liberty, in Morgan county, killing 10 of 
them, and scattering the remainder. On the 8th of November, Col. 
John S. Williams, who had gathered about 2,000 rebels at Ivy creek. 
"01 Pike county, near the Virginia line, was attacked and routed by a 



106 TIxMES OF THE REBELLION 

part of JSTelson's brigade, consisting of the 2d and 21st Ohio and Met 
ealfe's Iventuckians. The enemy's loss was about 60. 

Disastrous Retreat . — Gen. Schoepf 's brigade, called " the Wild-cat 
brigade," at this period, were stationed at London, in Laurel county, 
the object being to ultimately make an attack on Cumberland Gap, 
and enter East Tennessee to give relief to the unionists of that region. 
For this purpose, several hundred loyal Tennesseans had joined them. 

On the 13th, Gen. Schoepf received orders to retreat with all possihle expedition 
to Crab Orchard, and to bring; on his sick, of whom ho had a large number. The 
retreat was disastrous, over the mountain roads and in the rain, bearinj; in its as- 
pects the appearance of a routed and pursued army. Jt continued through three 
days. The sick were jostled in open v/agons over horrible roads, and through 
swollen mountain torrents. The officers, without tents or shelter, were exposed 
day and night to the cold wintry rains of that elevated region. The sufferings of 
the men were so severe that several died from pure exhaustion; while others re- 
vived with shattered health and ruined constitutions. The Tennesseans, who had 
been brought up with the hope of soon returning to their homes, were especially 
indignant at this retrograde movement. 

Whole platoons and companies of them at first refused to march. "Some lay 
upon the ground weeping like school-children, many madly cursed, as they broke 
from the ranks, and a few stood with folded arms, leaning upon their muskets, 
while the contending passions of a soldier's fidelity and a love of home were fight- 
ing for mastery in their breasts." 

The order for this retreat was given in consequence of a report that the enemy 
were about to advance from Bowlinggreen in force, on Louisville. The sufferings 
and losses by it were equal to a defeat. The moral effect ^vus disastrous, for the 
rebel mountaineers who had been overawed, soon again arose in swarms, ready 
for mischief. 

Fight at Munfordsville. — The first earnest fight in Central Kentucky 
took place, on the 17th of December, on Green river, near Munfords- 
ville, at Avhich point was stationed the division of Gen. McCook. The 
enemy attacked the pickets, consisting of four coumpanies of the 32d 
Indiana, Willich's German regiment, under Lieut. -Col. Von Treba. 
Col. Terry's regiment of Texas rangers made several desperate 
charges; but were received with cool courage by the Germans. One 
of the companies, Capt. VVelshbillig's, consisting of about^O men, were 
drawn up in a solid square, received three successive charges of some 
200 of the rangers, led on b}^ Col. Terry, who, seeming frantic with 
rage, rode up to the points of the bayonets, under the impression, 
doubtless, that they could trample down the squad before them. At 
the third attack, their colonel was killed, upon which the whole col- 
umn broke and fled in dismay. The Germans lost the brave Lieut. 
Sachs, of Cincinnati, 8 killed and 10 wounded. The killed, alone, of 
the enemy was 33. 

MarshalVs Defeat. — Early in the year (1862) Col. Humphrey Mar- 
shall, an ex-member of congress fi'om central Kentucky, had collected 
a force of 3,500 rebels in northeastern Kentucky, in the valley of the 
Big Sandy, near Prestonburg. On the 10th of January, he occupied 
a position, defended by three cannon, on the summit of a hill at the 
forks of Middle creek. He was attacked in the morning b}^ Col. J. A. 
Garfield with 900 men, consisting of parts of the 40th and 42d Ohio, 
and 14th and 22d Kentucky. The fight lasted from eight o'clock in 
the morning, until half past four in the afternoon, when the enemy 
retreated — driven from every point in great disorder, burning his 



IN KENTUCKY. 



107 



stores, and leaving 85 of his number dead on the field. He acknowl- 
edged to a loss of 125 killed, and a greater number wounded ; 25 
prisoners were taken. The union loss was only 1 killed, and 20 
wounded. 

This victory was owing to the admirable dispositions of Garfield, the inefficient 
fire-arms of the enemy, and the miserable firincj of their artillery. Aside from 
this, they were attacked from a lower position, the smoke slowly ascending, first 
disclosing the lower part of their bodies to the union soldiers beneath them, while 
the latter were concealed from view. 

This Col. Garfield was born near Cleveland, Ohio, in 1831. 

At the beginning of the war he was a clergyman and president of a collegiate 
institution, at Hiram, in northern Oiiio. Physically, he is one of the most power- 
ful of men. He remained with his brigade on the Big Sandy for several months, 
winning laurels by his daring and energy against the enemy, whose camps he sur- 
prised and broke up, finally producing quiet in that mountiiin region. He rose 
rapidly in the service, became chief of atuS to Rosecrans; and was made major- 
general for distingui^ihed services at Chickaraaugua. Later, he represented the 
northeastern district of Ohio in congress, and by a greater majority than any other 
member in the house. He at once won there a national reputation for eloquence 
and force of character. 

VICTORy AT MILL SPRINGS OR LOGAN's CROSS ROADS. 

In the beginning of the winter, Gen. Felix K. ZoUicoffer, of Ten- 
nessee, crossed to the north side of Cumberland river, and built a for- 
tified camp at Beech Grove. From this point, ZoUicoffer had issued a 
proclamation to the people of southeastern Kentucky, calling upon 
them to strike with the south for independence. He said they had 
come to repel the northern hordes who were attempting their subjuga- 
tion, with an ultimate design of freeing and arming their slaves and 
giving them political and social equality with the whites. 

Beech Grove is some 12 miles south of Somerset, in Pulaski, co., 
and 80 miles due south of Lexington. The position was a very strong 
one b}' nature, being across a bond of the Cumberland, and it was 
greatly strengthened by earthworks. Three days before the battle, 
one of his officers wrote: "Our forces are, 10,000 infantry, 1,800 cav- 
alry, and 16 pieces of artillery. We are waiting for an attack. If 
they do not attack us, we shall advance iipon them : we can whip 
50,000." 

At this time Gen. Schoepf had a few regiments at Somerset. It was 
arranged that Gen. Thomas, who Avith his brigade was stationed at 
Columbia, 35 miles west of this point, should join his command with 
that at Somerset, and the combined forces unite in an attack on the 
camp of the enemy. On Saturday, January 18th, part of the troops 
of both these officers, in all amounting to about 7000 men, had formed 
a junction at Logan Cross Eoads, seven miles north of Zollicoff'er's 
camp, and under Gen. Thomas. That night, an old lady of secession 
fancies, who had seen only one or two regiments of the union troops. 
as they forded the stream by her cabin, mounted her pony and rode 
into the rebel camp with the pleasing tidings of an opportunity to sur- 
prise and "bag" the invaders. This confirmed, in their view, the in- 
telligence received that aflernoon from their own scouts, as to the 
small body of their enemy in front. Major Gen. George B. Crittenden 
(son of Hon. J. J. Crittenden), who had arrived and taken the chief 



108 . TIMES OP THE REBELLION 

command, called a council. It was resolved to march out and make 
the attack at daybreak. In perfect silence, at midnight, the march 
of the force began, consisting of 8 infantry regiments, viz: 6 Ten- 
nessee, 1 Alabama, and 1 Mississippi, and 2 batteries of artillery, a large 
force of cavalry, and several independent companies of infantry. 

About half past 5 o'clock, the next (Sunday) morning, the pickets 
from Wolford's Kentucky cavalry being driven in, gave intelligence 
of the approach of the rebels. Fry's 4th Kentucky, Manson's 10th In- 
diana, and Wolford's cavalry, then engaged the enemy at the jjoint 
where the road, from the camp of the latter to Somerset, forked. The 
enemy were advancing through a cornfield, and evidently endeavoring 
to gain the left of the 4th Kentucky, which was with spirit maintain- 
ing its position. McCook's 9th Ohio, under the immediate command 
of Major Kaemmerling and Van Cleve's 2d Minnesota came to the 
support of the others, while a section of Kinney's battery took a po- 
sition on the edge of the field to the left of the 4th Kentucky, and 
opened an efficient fire on the advancing Alabama regiment. As the 
4th Kentucky and 10th Indiana were by this time nearly out of am- 
munition, the 2d Minnesota took their position, while the 9th Ohio, at 
the same time, occupied the right of the road, both regiments being 
under the command of Col. Robt. L. McCook, of the 9th Ohio, acting 
brigadier. At this time, Iloskins' 12th Kentucky, and some of the 
men of the Tennessee brigade reached the field, to the left of the Min- 
nesota regiment, and opened fire on the right of the enemy, who then 
began to fall back. The key to the enemy's position was in front of 
the 9th Ohio and 2d Minnesota, and the contest there was maintained 
bravely on both sides. Says McCook in his report : 

"On the right of the ^linnesota regiment the contest, at first, was almost hand 
to hand ; the enemy and the 2d Minnesota were poking their guns through the 
same fence at each other. However, before the fight continued long in this way, 
that portion of the enemy contending with the 2d Minnesota regiment, retired in 
goo 1 order to some rail piles, hastily thrown t 'gether, the point from which they hnd 
advanced upon the 4th Kentucky. This portion of the enemy obstinately main- 
taining its position, and the balance, as before described, a desperate fight Avas con- 
tinued for about 30 minutes with seemingly doubtful result. The importance of pos- 
eessing the log house, stable and corncrib being apparent, companies A, B, C and 1) 
■of the 9th Ohio, were ordered to flank the enemy upon the extreme left, and obtain 
possession of the house. This done : still the enemy stood firm to his position and 
cover. During this time, the artillery of the enemy constantly overshot my brigade. 
Seeing the superior number of the enemy, and their bravery, I concluded the best 
mode of settling the contest was to order the 9th Ohio regiment to charge the ene- 
my's position with the bayonet, and turn his left flank. The order was given the reg- 
iment to empty their guns and fix bayonets. This done, it was ordered to charge. 
Every man sprang to it, with alacrity and vociferous cheering. The enemy seem- 
ingly prepared to resist it, but before the regiment reached him, the lines com- 
menced to give way; but few of them stood, possibly ten or twelve. This broke 
the enemy's flank, and the whole line gave way in great confusion, and the whole 
turned into a perfect rout." This is remarkable for having been the^rs^ bayonet 
charge of the war. 

The entire division soon advanced under Gen. Thomas, and the en- 
emy, with scarcely the show of resistance, were driven into their in- 
trenchments, where they were cannonaded until dark. That night 
they secretly withdrew across the Cumberland, and fled into the interior. 
The Union forces, next morning, marched into their camp and took 



IN KENTUCKY. 109 

possession. The total union loss was 246, of whom 39, less than one 
sixth, were killed; the small proportion oi"the latter, was owinij; to the 
inefficient arms of the enemy, many of whom bore only shot guns. 
Among our severely wounded were Col. McCook and his aid, Lieut. 
A. S. Burt. The enemy's loss in killed alone, as far as known, was 190; 
which, with the wounded and prisonei'S that fell into our hands, made 
a total of 349. The number of the enemy actually engaged was esti- 
mated at 7000, and the union forces at half that number. Sj^oils to 
the value of half a million of dollars fell into our hands — horses, mules, 
wagons, tents, cannon, arms, etc. This was the battle in which the 
distinguished Gen. Geo. II. Thomas won his first laurels. 

Incidents. — Early in the action, while attemj^ting to make a flank 
movement, Gen. Zollicoffer was killed, which greatly disheartened the 
enemy. 

His body fell into our hands, and was found with several wounds. The fatal 
shot was from a pistol in the hands of Col. S. S. Fry, of the 4th Kentucky. His 
body was subsequently returned, under a flag of truce, in an elegant cofiBn to his 
friends. He was about 48 years of age, and had been a member of congress from 
Tennessee. He was a man of elegant form, and a general favorite in his state. 
Parson Brownlow said of him : " Now that he is dead and gone, I take occasion to 
say, that I have known him for twenty-five years, and a more noble, high-toned, 
honorable man, was never killed in any battle-field. He was a man who never 
wronged an individual out of a cent in his life — never told a lie in his life ; as 
brave a man personally as Andrew Jackson ever was, and the only mean thing I 
ever knew him to do was to join the youthern Confederacy and fight under such a 
cause as he was engaged in when he fell." 

Bailie Peyton, jr., another of the rebel dead, was shot while bravely urging ou 
his men: "He was the son of a venerable Virginian, well known to the nation. 
Young Peyton, like his father, long strugifled iigainst disunion. He was his.^ed 
and insulted in the streets of Kiclunond, alter the fall o(" Sumter, for telling his 
love of the old union." Col. Allan Battle, who commanded a Tennessee regment, 
was another unwilling convert. He was educated at an Ohio college, and married 
into one of the best known and respected Ohio families. In the summer previous 
he took his young wife to Nashville, intending soon to return north; ..at his father 
and brothers were in the secession army, and he succumbed to the pressure, al- 
though he said he " hated the war, and felt unwilling to tight the best friends he 
had in the world, outside of his own family." 

A gentleman who was on the field, just after the battle, gives these 
interesting particulars : 

My own brave boy was either among the slain or pursuing the flying foe. In 
"which of these positions I might find him, I knew not. With all the anxieties com- 
mon to parents, I searched for his well-known countenance among the slain. So 
close was the resemblance in many cases, that mv pulse quickened, and my brain 
began to reel. 1 remembered that he wore a pair of boots of peculiar make, and 
before 1 looked in the face of a corpse I looked at the boots, till at last I felt con- 
fident I had found what I sought. I looked again and again before 1 dared to let 
my eyes rest upon the face. There was a mark — not on his. 

I passed on in haste, but suddenly felt compelled to stop once more; against 
a tree, leaned back in the most classic composure, was the fairest and most beau- 
tiful countenance I ever saw in death. No female complexion could be more 
spotless. The silky locks of wavy auburn hair fell in rich profusion upon lair 
temples, and a faultless forehead. Some friendly hand had parted his garments, 
baring his breast, from which the red current of life flowed out, and had bathed 
his temples, which were still warm, but had ceased to throb forever. O, ye winds, 
bear these tidings softly to the loved ones at home." 

In the "old fields" among the rebels, some of the scenes were horrid and re- 



110 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

volting in the extreme. Several of the dead were old and gray-headed men. A 
dark coraplexioned man, with a heavy black beard, who said he was from Missis- 
sippi, was lying on the ground with a broken thigh. He was stern and sullen — 
he had only one favor to ask — that was that some one of us would kill him. I 
said to him, we will soon take you to the surgeon, and do all we can to relieve you, 
for we are satisfied you have been deceived by wicked men, and do not iwiow 
what you have been doing. To which he meekly replied — "that is possible." A 
young man, quite a boy, begged me not to let the Lincolnites kill him. A lad of 
fourteen, with a mashed ankle, protested his innocence, and begged to be taken 
care of. He said he was pressed into the service, and had never fired a gun at a 
union man, and never would. Numbers of rebels made in efiect the same declar- 
ation. 

The Enemy's Camp. — On entering the enemy s entrenchments, we 
found the camp surrounded by a breastwork over a mile in circumfer- 
ence, with a deep ditch in front. 

"Within it seemed a city: houses, streets, lanea, stores, stables, everything complete, 
except the inhabitants. Chicken,*, pigs and turkeys were as numerous as are to be seen 
about a thrifty farmer's barn-yard. Over five hundred neat and well built log houses 
were to be seen, with all the conveniences of house-keeping to be found about them — beds 
and bedding, clothing and furniture, trunks and boxes, provisions and groceries, were left 
untouched." 

"Everything bore the appearance of the proprietors having just stepped out, for a mo- 
ment, to soon again return. Horses were left hitched in the stables, and wiigons left 
standing ready for necessary use. Every tent wns left standing as when the master 
was at home. On going to the river bank, the number of three hundred wagons was there 
found standing, all loaded with camp equipage, etc. Here, also, were found fourteen pieces 
of artillery, in perfect order for use ; they not even taking time to spike them, while on 
their flight." 

The Panic. — The enemy fled across the country, and scattered into 
the interior in a terrible panic and state of demoralization. The im- 
passable condition of the roads, prevented a successful pursuit. 

A very graphic account of the retreat is thus given by a lady living 
on the road, a short distance above Monticello : 

Early on Monday morning, they commenced passing along the road, and through the 
fields, some riding, some on foot. Some wagons had passed during the night. All who 
could seemed inclined to run. 

During the forepart of the day, men passing on foot had taken every horse, often with- 
out bridle or saddle ; at times a string was used in place of bridles. Not a horse was left 
along the road. One of their wagons would be passing alone a high road. Any one who 
would come along, cut a horse loose, mount and a way. Another would follow suit, until 
the wagoner was left with his saddle horse, and he would follow. She often saw as many 
as three men on one horse. About 11 o'clock in the morning they commenced calling on 
her for food — said they had not tasted food since early Sunday morning. Strange looking 
men would lean against the yard fence, and call for a morsel of bread. " Oh," said they, " we 
have lost everything, we are ruined," and cried like children. One old man from Alabama, 
with two sons, stopped to rest a few moments. He could scarcely totter to a seat. He 
had been sick for months. When he started to go on she invited him to stay. " No," he 
said, " the Yunlcees are close ofier me, and will cotch and kill me." Many others, sick and 
wounded, would stop a few moments, but none would remain. The dread Yankees would 
cotch and kill them. 

She told them Yankees never killed a captured foe; but, it had all no effect to check 
their mortal fear. One man passed with his brother on his back. Two would be leading 
and supporting one. Three or four would be packing one. A great many wounded passed. 
One had an arm shot off, tied up with a rag, some of their wounds appeared to have been 
dressed by a surgeon. 

About 3 o'clock in the afternoon, some 400 had halted in a field near by. Some guns were 
fired off up the road, they rushed around, and into her house and kitchen, holding up their 
hands in terror, saying, they would be all killed for they could run no further, and their 
guns were thrown away. The firing was found to be a few of their own men shooting off 
their guns to re-load ; it was a wet day, and they were constantly expecting an attack. 

" Well," said I, " Mrs. H., how did it affect you ?" 

,She said she would have helped to hang the lust one, as they went up, with a good will. 



IN KENTUCKY. m 

but their terrible fear and distressed condition made her forget, for the time, tbeir being 
enemies, and she and her negroes cooked and fed, and occasionally dressed their wounds, 
till long into the night. 

Had the enemy been victorious, they would have had but little dif- 
ficulty in marching upon Lexington, for the time crushing the union 
strength in the heart of Kentuck}-. The moral effect of this victory 
can scarcely be overestimated. It was the first of that chain of tri- 
umphs in the West, which opened the new year, and continued on 
without interruption until after the fall of New Orleans. 

CAPTURE OF FORTS HENRY AND DONELSON. 

These forts, though both in Tennessee, just south of the state line, 
are so intimately connected with the history of the war in Kentucky, 
as to necessarily belong to it. 

Fort Henry was taken by the gun -boat fleet, under Com. Foote, on 
the 6th of February, 1862, after a brisk engagement of one hour. The 
tei'ms of the surrender were unconditional, and the victory, though al- 
most a bloodless one, jiroved to be of vast importance. When the at- 
tack was made, seven or eight thousand rebel soldiers were in the rifle 
pits, and behind the breastworks; but they became terror stricken — 
officers and men alike lost all self-control — they ran to escape the fear- 
ful storm of shot and shell, leaving arms, ammunition, tents, blankets, 
trunks, clothes, books, letters, papers, pictures, everything. All fled, 
excepting a brave little band in the fort. 

Com. Foote, who in this and subsequent engagements gained so much 
eclat, was born in Connecticut, the son of one of its govei-nors, and had 
been in the service about forty years. 

At the beginning of the war he was transferred from the command of the navy 
yard, at Brooklyn, to that of the western flotilla. I'lie religious characteristics 
of this veteran were remarkalile. The Sunday after tnking the fort, he attended 
the Presbyterian cliurch, at Cairo, and in the unexpected absence of the pastor, 
he officiated, seeming to be as much at home in preaching as in fighting. He ex- 
temporized an excellent discourse from the text, " Let not your hearts be troubled; 
ye believe in God, believe also in me. " He raised his voice in humble acknow- 
ledgment to heaven for the victory, asked for future protection, and showed that 
happiness depends upon purity of life, and a conscientious performance of duty. 

The capture of Fort Donelson was an affair of much more magnifi- 
cent proportions, and, beyond question, one of the grandest operations 
of this, or any other war. 

In the early summer of 1861, the rebels began the erection of a fort 
on the west bank of the Cumberland, 107 miles from its mouth ; 12 
miles east from Fort Henry, and a few miles south of the Kentucky 
line, which they named from the Andrew Jackson Donelson family of 
Tennessee. It was made the best military work on the southern riv- 
ers. Its object was to control the river navigation, and defend Nash- 
ville and central Tennessee. 

The ivater batteries, the most important, as commanding the river, 
were two, an upper and lower, excavated in the hill sides. They were 
very formidable, the lower especiall}^ in which were eight 32-pound- 
ers, and one 10-inch columbiad, throwing a 120-pound ball. It was 
protected against an enfilading fire by strong traverses left between 
the guns. Elevated thirty feet above the water, it gave a fine com- 



112 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

mund of the river, and rendered an attack in front extremely arduous. 
The main fort, occupying many acres, was in the rear of these bat- 
teries, on a high hill cloven by a deep gorge toward the south. The 
outworks were rifle-pits, extending in a semicircular Ibrm from the 
river bank about a mile below, to the bank about a mile above the 
fort, embracing within its upper limits the town of Dover — in all, an 



FORT DONELSON. 
The view was taken on the day after its occupation by the union troops. The interior of the fort is 
like a town with its multitude of log houses; in tlie foreground are officers' quarters, and ou the extreme 
right Cumberland river. 

immense area. "It took me," writes one, "three hours to go around, 
my horse walking fast." Along the front of this extensive line, the 
trees had been felled, and the brush cut and bent over breast high, 
making a wide abatis very difficult to pass through. The line of rifle- 
pits ran along an abrupt ridge of seventy -five or eighty feet, which 
was, in places, cut through by ravines making for the river. Hund- 
reds of large, comfortable log-cabins, about 30 feet square, were within 
the area, with plenty of windows, chinked and daubed, presenting the 
appearance of a populous frontier village. They were built with im- 
mense labor, without any expectation of a forcible ejectment by their 
sanguine architects. The nature of the ground was broken and irreg- 
ular, inside and outside of the rifle-pits, made up of steep and lofty 
hills and ravines, with scarcely a level spot large as a parlor-floor in 
the whole of it. Within the works, the woods had been generally 
cleared, and for a small space outside of it. Its topography was 
unknown to the union commanders. 

The Battle.— On Wednesday, the 12th of February, Gen. Grant left 
Fort Henry with about 15,000 men, in two divisions, under Gens. Mc- 
Clernand and Smith, for the vicinity of Fort Donelson, where they ar- 
rived at noon ; the distance across between the two rivers being twelve 
miles. He had sent six regiments under the convoy of one of the gun- 
boats around by water. As these last had not arrived, the remainder 
of the day and all of the next was passed in skirmishing, in which the 
gun -boat Carondolet, under the direction of Gen. Grant, .took part, 
and was repulsed after two hours' cannonading. 

The investment, when completed, was made by Gen. McClernand's 
division, forming the upper part of the extended line, his right rest- 
ing on Dover; that of Gen. Smith formed the lower pai't with a sub- 



IN KENTUCKY. 



113 



division under Gen. Lew. Wallace in the center. By Friday morning 
the reinforcements and fleet of gun-boats had arrived with the trans- 
ports, from both Cairo and Fort Henry, adding about 10,000 fresli 
troops. That afternoon — the 14tli — the gun-boats under Foote gal- 
lantly attacked the water batteries, and after a spirited battle of an 
hour and a half were repulsed. Upon this, Gen. Grant determined to 
strengthen his position and await the repair of the gun-boats; but the 
enemy did not allow this procrastination, for on the next (Saturday) 
morning, the 16th, soon after daybreak, they advanced under cover of 
d deadly fire of artillerj^, and hurled themselves in an immense body 
against the extreme right, on McClernand's forces, striking first against 
the 8th and 41st Illinois, who received the shock with coolness, but 
eventually had to give way before superior numbers, who then suc- 
ceeded in capturing two batteries. The 18th, 29th, 30th, and 31st Ill- 
inois coming to their aid, with desperate valor retook all but three 
of the captured guns. Getting out of ammunition, they, too, were, 
like their comrades, compelled to fall back ; when the enemy, with 
loud cheers, pressing on outflanked their right. Col. Cruft with the 
17th and 25th Kentucky, and 31st and 44th Indiana came to their aid; 
when the 25th Kentucky, by a sad mistake, poured a slaughtering vol- 
ley into the 31st Illinois, causing a terrible loss, and increasing the 
confusion, and inspiriting the enemy to press on with redoubled vigor. 

Gen. W. H. L. Wallace, a little later, came up with the 11th, 2bth, 
45th, and 48th Illinois, but was compelled to fall back, so completely 
had the eneni}'- massed their forces. The enemy had accomplished all 
this, not by superior fighting qualities in the men, but by concentrat- 
ing a superior force upon a single point and overwhelming McCler- 
nand's brave lUinoisans in detail ; no troops could have long with- 
stood the shock. 

These operations had occupied all the earlier part of the day. 
Things looked gloomy here, the union troops had been driven from 
their position with the loss of 6 pieces of artillery; 4 colonels had 
been severely wounded ; 3 lieut.-colonels killed and several more 
wounded; a great number of company officers killed and wounded, 
and several regiments almost annihilated. 

At this juncture. Gen. Lewis Wallace thrust his 3d brigade in front ot 
some retiring regiments, retreating in excellent order, and only retreat- 
ing from exhaustion of their ammunition. These formed in his rear and 
replenished their cartridge-boxes. The new front thus formed, con- 
sisted ot a Chicago artillery company under Lieut. P. P. Wood, the 1st 
Nebraska, 58th Illinois, 58th Ohio, and Davidson's company of the 32d 
Illinois. In their rear, within supporting distance, were the 76th 
Ohio, 46th, and 57th Illinois. "Scarcely had this foi-mation been 
made," reports General Lewis Wallace, when some regiments of the 
enemy, "attacked, coming up the road and through the shrubs and 
trees, on both sides of it, and making the battery and the 1st Nebraska 
the principal points of attack. They met this storm, no man flinch- 
ing, and their fire was terrible. To say they did well is not enough ; 
their conduct was splendid. They, alone, repelled the charge." The 
body of the enemy then fled pell-mell and in confusion. 

The enemy still held their gained position on our right whence 
they had driven McClernand's main body. Gen. Grant hastened to 
8 



114 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

meet the emergency by ordering Gen. Smith to assault the enemy's 
works on our left, and carry them at all hazards, while preparations 
were made on the right to gain the ground lost in the morning 
Cooke's brigade, comprising the 7th, 50th, and 52d Illinois, the 12th 
Iowa, and 13th Missouri, were ordered against one portion of the ene- 
my's lines and Lauman's brigade, comprising the 2d, 7th, and 14th 
Iowa, and 25th Indiana were led by Gen. C. F. Smith in person against 
another part of the works. 

The 2d Iowa, followed by the other regiments of the brigade, led 
the advance of the column of attack, without firing a gun — the skir- 
mishers only doing that ; and charged into the works, carrying tho 
position, at an immense loss, at the point of the bayonet. The colors 
of the 2d Iowa occupied the post of honor, the result of the desperate 
struggle, inspiring the wildest enthusiasm. 

Against the extreme right. Col. Smith shortly after moved the 8th 
Missouri, and 11th Indiana, supi)orted by the 31st and 44th Indiana, 
under Col. Cruft. Skirmishers led in the advance : the enemy ob- 
stinately contested the ground ; assailant and assailed, in several in- 
stances, sought cover behind the same tree. Up a lofty hill with out- 
cropping rock and dense underbrush, they drove them step b}!- step. 
The woods cracked with musketry. The 8th and 11th finally cleared 
the hill, driving the rebel regiments before them for nearly a mile, into 
their intrenchments. It was now nearly sunset. The battle of Fort 
Donelson had been fought. The next morning the enemy surrendered, 
to the number of about 10,000, with Gen. Buckner at their head. In 
the preceding night. Generals Pillow and Floyd, with some 2,000 men, 
had escaped across the river in steamboats. 

The rebel garrison consisted of 30 complete regiments of infantry ; 
of which 13 were from Tennessee ; 9 ft-om Mississippi, 4 from Virginia, 
2 from Kentucky, 1 from Arkansas, and 1 from Texas. Besides, there 
were 2 or 3 battalions from Alabama and elsewhere ; 2 battalions of 
cavalry, and 8 batteries of light artillery: in all, as reported by Gen. 
Pillow, about 12,000 men. They were commanded by Gen. Floyd, 
with Generals Pillow, Buckner and Johnson, under him. The union 
loss was 1,517; viz., killed, 321; wounded, 1,046, and missing, 150. 
The rebel killed and wounded was unknown. 

Details and Incidents. — In the gun-boat attack on Thursday, the 
same order was observed as in that ujion Fort Henry — the boats 
forming two lines. The plunging shot of the enemy were too much 
for them. The contest was maintained for an hour and a half with 
great sj)irit, when the St. Louis became unmanagable, and others so 
much shattered that the commodoi'e ordered the squadron to drop 
away. He was in the pilot-house during the action giving his orders. 
One ball entered it, killed the pilot, and badly wounded the Commo- 
dore. When he saw that he was compelled to retreat, it is said, the 
old veteran wept. 

A big bush-fight has been applied as describing this battle. It was 
fought like most of the battles in this war, for the most part in the for- 
est, with a thick undergrowth beneath, and regiments acted, gener- 
ally, on the principle of hitting a head wherever they could see it. 

The nights were passed without tents in the open air, and their near- 
ness to the enemy rendered the building of fires dangerous. The sol- 



IN KENTUCKY. ^1? 

diers suffered greatly from the cold; on Friday night, a sleety rain 
turned to snow, and their wet clothing grew stiff with ice. By uu.rn- 
ing, two inches of snow covered the ground. 

The icoxinded^ in many instances, were not found under seveju' 
days, forthe line of battle extended several miles, over rough, uneven 
ground, rugged cliffs, high hills, deep valleys, thick underbrush, and 
some swamps, which made the labor of hunting up and bringing tlit.ni 
in exceedingly tedious. Many died from want of prompt assistance 
The wounded became stiff with cold, and covered with sleet and sncnv 
Part of the time the thermometer had been only ten degrees above 
zero. It is doubtful if suffering was greater, although it was longer, 
in the retreat of the French from Moscow. 

Ej^e witnesses give us many details. 

One says: "The snow was so thoroughly saturated with blood, that it seemed 
like red mud as you walked around in it. Men writhing in agony, with their feet, 
anus, or legs torn ofi", many begging to he killed, and one poor fellow I saw deh'ri- 
ous, who laughed hideously as he pointed to a mutilated stump, which had, an 
hour ago, been his arm. One old man, dressed in homespun, with hair white as 
snow, was sitting, moaning feebly, against a wall. A fragment of shell had struck 
him upon the head, bursting off his scalp, as if detached from the skull by a knife, 
and causing it to hang suspended, from the forehead, over his face." And 
another writes: — A dark-haired young man, of apparendy twenty-two or three, 
1 found leaning against a ti*ee, his breast pierced by a bayonet. He said he 
lived in Alabama; that he had Joined the rebels in opposition to his parents' 
wishes; that his mother, when she had found he would go into the army, had 
given him her blessing, a Bible, and a lock of her hair. 

The bible lay half opened upon the ground, and the hair, a dark lock tinged 
with gray, that had been between the leaves, was in his hand. 

Tears were in his eyes, as he thought of the anxious mother, pausing, perhaps, 
amid her prayers, to listen for the long-expected footsteps of her son, who would 
never more return. 

In the lock of hair, even more than in the sacred volume, religion was re- 
vealed to the dying young man; and 1 saw him lift the tress, again and again, to 
his lips, as his eyes looked dimly across the misty sea that bounds the shores of 
life and death; as if he saw his mother reaching out to him with the arms that 
had nursed him in his infancy, to die, alas! tigliting against his country and her 
counsels whose memory lived latest in his departing soul. 

The letters found on their dead soldiers turn our ideas into another channel. They are 
from fathers, sisters, and wives — mo.'^tly fro:n ihe latter. The wife writes about home; 
she sends cakes, pies, and clothing; iilmost every one so many twists of tobacco; one 
sends apples — the largest one is from the wife, tlie next in size from the oldest child, and 
80 on to the youngest one. Some tell how the work goes on ; that Jo and Tom (slaves) 
are drawing rails, or grubbing, but it has rained so much they could do little. They have 
got so many pounds of sugar from Memphis, or they are using rye instead of coffee, and 
they like it just as well. One wants shoes for Andy, and she sends the measure. I have 
it before me now. Alas, for Andy's shoes ; and the pair he sent her fit her, and she thank.s 
him for them. One wants her husband to take care of his health, and to keep himself 
well-supplied with good, warm socks. They relate the news of neighborhoods, and there 
are some scandalous stories. Such writers, I dare say, lead laughing lives. They seldom 
speak of the war or its cause; they seem wholly taken up with domestic cares. Several 
mention danger in connection with Cumberland Gap, and that troops are hurried thither. 
A father writing to his son speaks of the union men as "cowardly scamps." Every wife 
shows that she loves her husband ; she prays for him ; but all fear, all are in distress, and 
lie awake nights thinking of them. A fear of something dreadful, as likely to happen 
runs through all their letters, whether written by men or women. They are plainly writ 
ten ; the spelling is not often good, but there is no mistaking the fact that they are 
warm with affection — that they have human feelings. 

" Show that you have human feelings 
' Ere you proudly question ours," 

exclaims the African captive. They have shown it. 



IIQ . TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

These letters are addressed to those now dead. Ten thousand other men, to whom simi- 
lar letters have been addressed, are cnrried away captive. It may be long before their 
families will learn whether those they love so well are jtrisoners in a cold, northern clime, 
or whether they lie in the cold, undistinguished grave. Many will die before peace re- 
turns. What agonizing hearts, what hopes long-delayed, will be found through the length 
and breadth of Middle Tennessee I Heavens! these are they who have separated fami- 
lies without a sigh — who have sold children, some of them of their own blood, to go to the 
plains of Texas, fathers to the rice swamps of the Carolinas, and mothers to the cotton 
fields of Mississippi and Alabama. 

The surrender was unexpected to oui' army, who were prepared, on 
Sunday morning, to storm the works along the whole line, and carry 
them at the point of the bayonet, though with the prospect of a heavy 
loss. 

A Cincinnati colonel, a room-mate of Jefferson Davis, at "West Point, 
gives some items. 

Sunday morning, we were ordered to advance in the trenches of the enemy. I 
well understood the danger of the position. The men fell into ranks with cheer- 
fulness. We marched to the top of the hill, and took position behind the embank- 
ments of the enemy. The rebels had retreated a short distance, along the ridge, 
to another position. While thus standing, a messenger came with a request not 
to fire, as they were about to surrender. To test their truth, I sent the color ci)m- 
pany, Capt. B. Wright, with the stars and the eagle (our two standards,) forward. 
They were allowed to proceed, and then our banners announced to all in sight 
that the contest was over. The enemy had surrendered, and I thanked God with 
deep emotion that we had thus been spared. Soon the regiments began to pour 
up the hill from every ravine, and, when we entered, we found large bodies of 
dimply clad and ununiformed men, with stacked arms, in surrender. From the 
entire line, to the portion overlooked by the river, is about a mile and a half, and 
as the regiments were in Bight of the river, with the gun-boats and the many 
steamers, cheer after ch'^er rose from the men in ranks who stood around. 

While standing there a new cry was heard — a carrier came along cryinti, 
•' Cincinnati Commercial, Gazette, and Times," and, as I sat upon my horse, I 
bought them and read the news from home, and this, too, within an hour after the 
fort had surrendered. 

The enemy soon vacated their quarters, and our weary troops, after four days' 
hard work, were allowed the shelter of the huts our enemies occupied, and had 
shelter, fire, and food. Many of the prisoners, as I rode among them, appeared 
glad to have the matter ended ; but seemed to think they ought to be allowed to 
go home forthwith. Officers seemed to think they should be allowed side arms, 
horses, servants ; at any rate, we ought to allow servants to go home. 

Many of our oflScers — another writes — have discovered in the secession 
captives old friends and school companions in years gone by. A federal lieuten- 
ant has found his brother in the captain of a Tennessee company, who has re- 
sided in Nashville for many years, and married a Mississippi widow. Truly is 
this, in more than one sense, a fraternal strife. 

Gen. Ulysses 8. Grant, the commander of the union forces, was forty years old 
at this time. He was born in Clermont county, Ohio, educated at West Point, 
served in the Mexican war, and was three times breveted there for gallant conduct. 
In 1854 he entered civil life. He went into the voluuteer service from Illinois. 
When Buckner opened a correspondence, prior to the surrender of Donelson, he 
proposed an armistice of six hours, to give time to agree upon terms for capitula- 
tion. Grant refused any other " than an unconditional and immediate surrender; " 
ending his laconic note with the words — " I propose to move im,mediately vpon 
your works." This terse sentence, so crisp, sharp and resolute, was telegraphed 
through the land with unbounded approval, and at once took its place in history, 
as one of those few immortal lines that will never die. 

Gen. Charles F. Smith gained great eclat by the splendid manner in which he 
led the storming party into the works of the enemy. Apparently indifferent to the 
storm of bullets which rained about him, he went ahead of his troops on horse- 



IN KENTUCYY. 



117 



back, and bareheaded, with his hat raised above him on the point of his sword. 
Such a fearless example, inspired his men with an irresistible energy, before 
which the enemy fled appalled. Gen. Smith was an old army officer who had 
seen much service. He was the son of an eminent physician of Pennsylvania, 
and graduated at West Point in 1825. While in command of the union troops 
at Paducah, like most prominent officers of the time, he fell under the ban of 
anonymous newspaper correspondents, who even accused him of sympathizing 
with the rebellion. He died shortly after the fall of Donelson. 

The rejoicings over the fall of Donelson were unprecedented. It 
seemed, to use the then coined phrase, as if "the back bone of the re- 
bellion " had been broken. A Cincinnati paper but expresses herein 
the prevailing sentiment of the country at that time. 

The news which we publish to-day will cause every loyal heart in the nation to thrill 
with joy. That the rebellion has been broken, and that it must now rapidly run out. is 
not to be doubted for a moment. The loss of Bowling Green, Fort Donelson and Fort 
Henry, destroys the Inst vestige of strength that the rebels had in guarding the seceded 
states against a powerful invading army that will be sufficient to sweep to the Gulf, carry- 
ing before it, as a roaring hurricane, every obstacle that may impede its path. At fort 
Donehon teas fought the decisive battle of the war. The blood shed there, and the victory, 
so nobly and so gloriously won, sealed the fate of the rebellion, and virtually re-cemented 
the apparently parted fragments of the union. 

Hurras resounded through the streets of the cities, as the tidings of 
the great victory were flashed over the wires. 

People collected in joyous knots, half strangers, shook hands, and a general 
ebullition of good feeling went all around. Among the funny incidents that oc- 
curred, was one in the rear of a store where an old merchant was reading to a 
friend beside him, an extra, with the glad tidings: 

"■Fort Donelson surrendered — Generals Floyd, Pillow, Buckner and Johnson, 
and \ 0,000 prisoners taken ! !" — In bounded an excited individual, with hat in 
hand, which he at first sight shied at the head of his friend. The hat missed 
the head and broke the window-. ''Oh, excuse me," he cried, "I'll get an- 
other p;ine put in right off" 'J'he old merchant jumped from his chair, yelled — 
"never mind, never mind ! Break another — break 'email!" And then they all 
shook hands around, and crowed over the great news. 

The rebel lamentations upon this event were bitter. Thej' consoled 
themselves with the statement, that they fought with desperate valor 
against tremendous odds. 

Day after day — said the Richmond Dispatch — the multitudinous hosts of invaders, 
were driven back past their own camps, until our glorious Spartan band, from sheer ex- 
haustion, became crushed by a new avalanche of reinforcements, and suffer one of those 
misfortunes which are common to war. 

If the.<e bloody barbarians, whose hands are now soaked to the elbows in the life blood 
of men defending their own homes and firesides, dream that they are now one inch nearer 
the subjugation of the South than when they started on their infernal mission, they prove 
themselves to be fools and madmen, as well as savages and murderers. 

They have pbiced between them and us a gulf that can never be crossed by their arts 
or arms, and a universal determination to die, if die we must, for our country, but never 
permit her to be subjugated by the most malignant, the most murderous, the meanest of 
mankind, whose name is, at this very moment, such a by-word of scorn and reproach 
throughout Europe, for their combined cruelty and cowardice, that their own ambassadors 
can not stand the scorn of the world's contempt, and are all anxious to fly back to the 
United States 

EVACUATION OF BOWLING GREEN AND COLUMBUS. 

Bowling Green and Columbus, like many points in this war, for 
awhile were prominent centers of attraction, under the expectation 
of their becoming the scenes of decisive events. They will be barely 



118 



TIMES OF THE REBELLION 



noticed in history, while many others, then unknown, have become 
invested with a permanent interest. 

On the 17th of September, 1861, Gen. Buckner seized Bowlinggreen 
with his rebel forces, and threatened to be in Louisville within a week, 
and to make his winter quarters in Cincinnati. The rebels remained 
five months, having at times a large force. Gen. Algernon Sidney 
Johnson was placed in supreme command. It was regarded as the 
Western Manassas, having been strongly fortified. Alter the fall of 
Fort Henry, they saw it was in immediate danger of becoming unten- 
able, and they prepared to evacuate. Gen. Buell, with his army on 
the north of Green River, at the same time made ready to march upon 




PUBLIC SQUARE BOWLING OREEN, 

Showing the portion of the town burnt by the rebels. 

it. On the 14th of February, the last train of cars were just getting 
under way, when Gen. Mitchell, escorted by Kennett's cavalry, head- 
ing the advance division of Buell's army, arrived on the banks of the 
Big Barren, opposite the town, and hurried their departure by a few 
rounds from Loomis' battery. They had made a narrow escape, 
through the unexpected early arrival of the dashing Mitchell. They 
set tire to the railroad depot, and to other buildings, containing a large 
amount of army stores, and moved off by these huge bonfires of their 
own kindling. When our forces reached the town it was a scene of 
desolation. "Nearly all the inhabitants had disappeared ; the seces- 
sionists from fear of the union army, the union people from the un- 
pleasant exhibition of energy Capt. Loomis had given in throwing his 
shells among them. Many marks remained of rebel occupation : among 
these were the graves of nearly 1500 of these deluded people. From 
nere, Mitchell immediately moved on to Nashville — the rebels still in 
flight. The evacuation of Columbus, on the Mississippi, which took 
place about two weeks later, cleared Kentucky of rebel troops, until 
the period of the guerrilla raids, under Morgan, in the ensuing summer 

The last of summer and early autumn of 1862 were exciting times 
in Kentucky. Morgan, the guerrilla, was active and dashing. He re- 
ported that, in 24 days he had traveled 1,000 miles, captured 17 towns, 
destroyed large amounts of government stores, dispersed 1,500 home 
guards, and paroled nearly 1,000 regular troops, and lost but 90 men. 

The great event of the season was the invasion of the state by Gen- 
erals Bragg and Kirby Smith. After the battle of Shiloh, the main 
rebel army under Bragg occupied the region about Chattanooga, and 
heavy rebel forces under Kirby Smith the country further north, in the 



IN KENTUCKY. 2^9 

vicinity of Knoxville. Gen. Buell with the union army was in camp fur- 
ther west, on, and near the north line of, Alabama. About midsummer, 
rumors of a rebel invasion of the state were rife; boasts of the cap- 
ture of Louisville and Cincinnati were common among- the rebel sym- 
pathizers. Suddenly Bragg and Smith started on tlicir march north- 
ward. Buell also broke up camp, and the two armies entered on their 
long race across two states for the Ohio. 

Battle of Richmond. — Toward the last of Aiigust, Kirb}^ Smith first 
entered the state, and on the southeast, and with about 15,000 
men — veteran soldiers. General Manson, ignorant of the sujjeri- 
ority of the enemy, with only about 7,000 troops, undertook to 
give them battle. His men were new levies and undisciplined. Early 
on Friday, August 29, news canie to Eichmond tliat Colonel Metcalfe's 
Kentucky cavalry had fallen back from Big Hill, before a superior 
force. In the afternoon. General Manson advanced and skirmished. 
The rebels showed only a small part of their force ; and, as a ruse, 
allowed the union troops to capture a piece of artillery. 

Saturday's sun rose clear and bright: as the day wore on, the heat 
became intense, the thermometer, at noon, standing at 95 degrees in 
the shade. At 6 o'clock. General Manson ibrmed liis troops, mostly 
from Indiana, in line of battle half a mile beyond Eogersville. This 
is a hamlet on the Lexington turnpike, four miles south of Eichmond. 

The rebels formed theirs in an arc of a circle with a flanking regi- 
ment at each end, so as to bring our men between a cross fire, which 
no troops could stand. The details are given by an eye witness : 

General Manson, unable to resist, sent to General Cruft for reinforcenienta. 
The 66th Indiana, 18th Kentucky, and 95th Ohio were ordered out, together with 
six field pieces beIon;z;ing to Andrews' Michigan battery. The men were all ea- 
ger for battle, and only grumbled for not being called out sooner. 

It was now eight o'clock. The cannon roared with terrific fierceness and ra- 
pidity, on both sides, and the contest seemed hard to determine. We had two 
guns — the enemy eleven. Neither line wavered a particle, or evinced any signs 
either of victory or defeat. The most experienced of military men could not tell 
how the battle was going up to nine o'clock. It was not until a few deadly vol- 
leys of musketry were exchanged, that the experience and discipline of the rebel 
troops began to turn the fortunes of the day in their favor. The 69th Indiana, 
on the extreme right of our lines, replied with effect to a sharp fire from the con- 
federate infantry; the 16th, on the left, did the same, while the artillery still 
roared on the center of both lines. The 95th Ohio, on its arrival, was sent to the 
support of the extreme right, which seemed to waver a little under the leaden 
hail. Col. McMillan and his men went fearlessly forward, and made a noble 
Btand. Shortly after this, the 95th Ohio was ordered to the left to charge a bat- 
tery. And here, let me ask, when, in the history of warfare, was a regiment 
called upon to perform such a feat two weeks after its equipment? But the un- 
disciplined Ohioans stood up to the work, and bravely rushed where veterans 
might hesitate to go. But their courage and determination were more than 
matched by the skill and experience of their opponents, and, amid one of the 
most terrible fires, the ranks of the 95th were broken. 

At ten o'clock, a. m., our right and left flanks, which had been very poorly pro- 
tected, began to give way. The rebels were gradually encroaching upon us on 
both sides, and we must either fall back or be surrounded. Six thousand raw 
troops, after two hours' fighting, and with the consciousness of approaching defeat 
before them, to fall back in order! The thing is impossible. 

The order to fall back was followed by a panic and stampede, and victory 
perched itself upon the rebel banner. Our men broke in wild disorder, amid the 
loud cheers of the victors. The rebels followed our men into the fields and up the 



220 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

road, firing upon them from every possible point. I believe they killed a greatei 
number in one single cornfield than fell during the engagement of three hours in 
the line of battle. 

Durini^ all of the first engagement on Saturday, about five hundred cavalry be 
lonfint' to Ool. Metcalfe's, Col. Jacobs', and Col. Mundy's regiments, stood, drawn 
up in line, about half a mile in the rear of Roscersville, and one mile from the 
battle-ground, and rendered very efficient service in collecting the scattering 
ranks. The sight had become sorrowful. Many officers implored their men, and 
with tears in their eyes, to rally, crying out, " For God's sake, men! don't run off 
this way. Rally, men, rally." _ 

Just as the stampede was at its hight, the 12th Indiana, which had been held 
back as a reserve, came up the road, on the double-quick, with flying colors. The 
effect was admirable. The scene infused vigor into many desponding hearts, and 
caused hundreds of men to halt on their affrighted retreat. The 12th formed the 
nucleus around which the greater part of the fleeing army rallied for a second 
stand. The stars and stripes never looked more beautiful than upon the unsullied 
banner of Indiana's sons, as it waved a signal for another great effort to beat back 
the foes to liberty and union. The colors of the 12th were the only ones I could 
see upon the second battle-ground. c 

But, now for a second stand of 6,000 citizens against 18,000 soldiers. 

The ground selected by our men for this second stand, was about a mile from 
the first battle-ground. It was not the best position in the immediate neighbor- 
hood, but happening to be the point at which the scattered troops were rallied, it 
was chosen in preference to attempting another change and risking another stam- 
pede. 

Every field officer on the ground used his best exertions to encourage the troops, 
implored them to stand, and not run away, in wild disorder, to be pursued and 
shot down. The effect, for awhile, seemed excellent. The men stood unflinch- 
ingly up to the galling fire of an overwhelming force. 

The rebel artillery was reinforced for the second fight, and it seemed to be their 
determination to annihilate our army rather than to capture it. With fifteen 
pieces, they kept a continuous fire of grape, shell, and solid shot upon our reduced 
ranks. Our undrilled Indianians and Ohioans kept their lines unbroken. At the 
expiration of half an hour, the firing ceased on both sides for nearly ten min- 
utes, — from what cause I did not learn. Then commenced a musketry fire, 
which proved too much for our inexperienced men. It lasted for about five min- 
utes, and ended in a second stampede. Our troops, while they stood, loaded and 
fired with worderful rapidity, considering their late initiation into an art which 
their antagonists had been practicing for a year and a half While they fired as 
often as the rebels, 1 do not believe they did half as much execution as was done 
to them. Unused to taking steady aim at objects like those now before them, 
many of them became too much excited and too nervous for marksmanship, and 
discharged their guns at an angle of forty-five degrees — sending the bullets 
harmlessly over the heads of their opponents. The rebels took deliberate aim, 
fired low, and with telling effect. 

The second stampede was commenced and made. It was worse than the first. 
The rebels, a^rain victorious, and frantic with enthusiasm over their second tri- 
umph, separateil into squads and pursued the flying host, with terrible effect. 
Yet, Generals Cruft and Manson determined to make a third effort to repel the 
enemy. 

Consider the number of our forces in the morning, the fact that they had been 
^inuic-stricken twice, and that they had already lost upward of 800 men in killed 
lUid wounded, and it will be apparent that the remnant was not large enough to 
make a formiilable stand. 

Diit G«iv Xel-ion had arrived from Lexington, and was determined that the 
dav should not be lost so early. He directed all the movements, and the result of 
the engagement showed the master-hand. Under his management, 3,000 federal 
troops did more execution in a space of time not much greater than is frequently 
occupied in a skirmish, than 6,000 had done in two battles of several hours' du. 



IN KENTUCKY. 121 

ration. And araid all the danger and exposure, none was more exposed than he 
He rode along the lines, giving words of encouragement to his men, while the 
bullets flew thicker than at any other time during the day, and he was a conspio 
uous mark at which shots were fired. "Keep it up men — the rebels are running. 
That's it. Let them have it. Fire low. Take good aim. We'll whip them yet," 
and similar expressions he used to make a victory, already certain, as dearly 
bought as possible for the enemy. He frequently said, " Reinforcements will be 
here right away" — and, of course, it is not for me to say that they were not on 
the road, though, I must gay, they never came. The rebels had, evidently, re- 
solved on finishing the work this time. They were reinforced and fought with 
desperation. They used but little artillery, relying, principally, upon their " un- 
erring rifles.'' 

I should have mentioned before now that the ground selected for the third 
stand was a slight elevation, about three quarters of a mile from town, and in- 
cluded the Richmond cemetery, whose beautiful obelisks now bear many marks 
of the bloody struggle. In that little city of the dead no less than seventy-five 
rebels fell in half an hour. They had sought refuge behind the marble, the more 
effectually to destroy our men and insure their own safety. Gen. Nelson discov- 
ered them, and maneuvered his troops so as to bring them under a cross-fire, 
which made terrible havoc among them. 

This was a hotly-contested engagement, though of short duration, and one in 
which our men, though outnumbered, punished the enemy very severely. Had 
all the fighting of the day been proportionately favorable to our side, the sun 
would not have set upon a vanquished federal army. The union loss in this 
engagement was estimated at 3,0U0, of whom 2,000 were taken prisoners and im- 
mediately paroled. 

Two days after Lexington surrendered to Kirby Smith, and on the 
3d of September, Frankfort was taken. The archives and public prop- 
erty were removed to Louisville, where the legislature was convened. 
Gov. Eobinson called upon every loyal citizen to rally to the defense 
of the state. All the able bodied citizens of Louisville were at once 
ordered to enroll themselves for the defense of the city. Cincinnati, 
Covington and Newport became excited at the apj^roach of the enemy. 
Gen. Lewis Wallace assumed command; declared martial law in the 
three cities, and summoned the citizens for defense. The advance 
guard of the enemy, on the 7th, came within five miles of Cincinnati, 
and on the same week Maysville was entered by them. 

At this time, both the armies of Bragg and Buell were entering the 
state, the latter having passed thi'ough Nashville on the 5th. On the 
14th an advance brigade, undre Gen. Chalmers, of the rebel "Army 
of the Mississippi," as Bragg's army was then called, reached Mun- 
fordsville. 

Battle of Mtinfordsville. — At this place were some of the works erected to de- 
fend the Louisville and Nashville railroad bridge across Green River. The 
garrison consisted of 2200 men, under Col. John T. Wilder, of the 17th Indiana. 
On Sunday morning, the 14th, Chalmers, with one Alabama and four Mississippi 
regiments, attempted to carry these works by storm. Wilder reserved his fire until 
their first line came within about thirty yards, when he said in his official re- 
port: " I directed the men to tire and a very avalanche of death swept through the 
ranks, causing them first to stagger, and then run in disorder to the wood in the 
rear, having left all their field ofBcers on the ground, either killed or mortally 
wounded." The second line also came up in the same admirable manner. Says 
Col. Wilder: " They were literally murdered by our terrible fire. Major Abbot 
sprang upon the parapet, bareheaded, with his hat in one hand and his drawn 
saber in the other, urging his men to stand to the work, until he was shot dead 
under the flag he so nobly defended. A braver man never fell The flag had 



122 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

146 bullet holes throutrh it." From tliis repulse the enemy never recovered ; but, 
at the end of two hours, sent in a flag of truce, with a demand for an uncon- 
ditional surrender, to avoid further bloodshed. Wilder thank him for his com- 
pliments, and told him if he wished to avoid further bloodshed just to keep out 
of the range of his guns.. This Chalmers was careful to- do, for he had already 
lost nearly 1000 men in killed and wounded. 

On Tuesday, Bragg, with his main army, surrounded the works and sent in a 
flag of truce with a statement of the facts, and requiring a surrender. This Wilder 
consented to do if Bragg would allow him to verify his statements by personal ob- 
servation. To this singular proposition Bragg agreed, and Wilder rode around 
the enemy's line, counting 45 cannon in position, supported by 25.000 men. The 
next morning he surrendered, marching out with the honors of war. 

The enemy hastily crossed his entire army here, destroyed the railroad bridge, 
placed a strong rear guard on the bluffs, to oppose the crossing of Gen Buell, 
advancing from Bowlinggreen. The next day Buell's cavalry drove off the rear 
guard, and the army of Gen. Buell hastily crossed, in rapid but fruitless pursuit. 

While Cincinnati was put in defense, under General Wallace, Louis- 
ville was placed in command of General Nelson, who had arrived 
from the unfortunate field of Richmond. He erected new fortifica- 
tions, and gave life and energy to the army of hastily collected raw 
troops, numbering some 30000 men. He found that Gen. Bragg was 
pushing forward rapidly, and it seemed as if a desperate effort was to 
\)o made by Kirby Smith and Bragg to unite their forces and take 
Jjoiiisville, ere Buell could arrive to oppose them. In such an event 
he ]irepared to evacuate it, cross to the Indiana shore, and shell the 
city from that side. For this purpose he erected batteries at Jeffei'son- 
vilie, threw pontoon bridges across the Ohio, sent over government 
stores, and on the 22d of September issued the startling order: " The 
women and children of this city will prepare to leave the city icithout delay." 

The excitement which followed can scarcely be described. Instead 
of only prej^aring to leave, multitudes at once left ; men, women and 
children, carrying their most precious goods with them, poured in an 
unbroken stream across the pontoons; and the stampede, at one time, 
threatened to become a panic. Thousands unable to obtain a shelter 
in Jeffersonville and New Albany, were compelled to live for several 
days in the neighboring woods and fields, until the arrival of Buell's 
army. 

The causes of Gen. Bragg's failure to reach Louisville have thus 
been given : 

At Munfordsville, on the 16th of September, Bragg was immediately in front 
of Buell, and by the action of his rear guard he was enabled to hold Buell's 
cavalry in check until the rebel advance was two days nearer Louisville than 
the union forces. Arriving with his cavalry at Elizabethtown, and his infantry 
at the point of convergence of the roads to that place and Hodgenville, Bragg 
hesitated which to take. The direct road to Louisville lay through Elizabethtown, 
and crossed Salt River at its mouth. Bragg argued th.at there was danger if he 
moved by this short line, that the opposition of Nelson to his crossing at Salt 
River, would enable Buell to come upon his rear, when a battle of unfortunate 
issue Avould leave the rebel army without a proper line of retreat. He conse- 
quently chose the longest route, by way of Bardstown, and moving with great 
haste to that point, deployed upon the various approaches to Louisville, and began 
a systematic advance from Bardstown, Taylorsville and Shelbyville, September 
22d. In the meantime, Buell, reaching the turning off point of Bragg, at once 
chose the short line to Louisville, by the mouth of Salt Rivei*. The advance of 
ois weary troops, under Crittenden, reached the mouth of Salt River at dusk, Sep- 



IN KENTUCKY. 123 

tember 24th, when urgent calls came from Nelson to push on. The army was 
put in motion again, and by a forced march of twenty miles, it reached the city 
by daylicht the next morninii. The city was saved. "Bra<ri!; was foiled, compelled 
to retireon Bardstown, and his great' invasion thus proving a failure, he was 
forced to assume the defensive, and soon after began to retire. 

Buell's army remained in the city a few days, and that of Nelson 
consolidated with it. Nelson was given the command of the center 
corps, but did not live to control it in the field, for he was killed at the 
Gait House, on the 29th instant, by a pistol shot, fired by Gen. Jeff'er- 
son C. Davis, an officer under him, whom he had brutally insulted. 
To an overbearing disposition, Gen. Nelson united many excellent 
qualities. His loyalty was a passion, his bravery unsurpassed, and 
woe to any who attempted infringements upon the rights of his sol- 
diers. His person was gigantic, and the Niagara of oaths with Avhich 
he enforced his orders, were more feared than rebel bullets. His in- 
fluence was great in saving Kentucky when she was vibrating in the 
scale of loyalty. His great fault was atoned for by his sudden death ; 
but his memory will be held in honor, for his eminent services and in- 
tense patriotism. In accordance with his dying wish his remains were 
placed in Camp Dick Eobinson, of which he was the founder. 

BATTLE OF PERRYVILLE, OR CHAPLIN HILLS. 

The pursuit of Bragg by the grand army of Gen. Buell began on the 
1st of October, when in heavy "imposing columns it marched out of 
Louisville. 

At this time, the main body of Bragg's rebel army, composed of 
about 40,000 men, with some 70 pieces of artillery, was encamped in 
the vicinity of Bardstown. Ivirby Smith had 15,000 men, at Lexington, 
Frankfort, and neighborhood. At Georgetown, Humphrey Marshall 
had 4000 men, and John Morgan and ScoU had each a body of cavalry, 
roaming at will through central Kentucky. The aggregate strength 
of the enemy was hardly 60,000, inclusive of 5000 cavalry and 90 pieces 
of artillery. 

Buell moved from Louisville, with three corps, Ist, McCook's ; 2d, Crit- 
tenden's; 3d, Gilbert's. Beside the nine divisions of these three corps, he 
had a tenth — an independent division — that of Dumont. His entire force 
was nearly 80,000 strong, including about 7000 cavalry and 170 pieces of 
artillery. The probabilities of success were flattering. His forces were 
concentrated and superior; those of the enemy scattered and deficient 
in artillery. Many of Buell's regiments were, however, new levies. 

Soon after leaving Louisville, slight skirmishing began with the en- 
emy. On Tuesday^ the 7th, it was apparent the rebels were in great 
force about Perryville, a hamlet some eight miles southwest of Har- 
rodsburg. Buell designed to give them battle there the next day, with 
nearly his entire forc'e. On Wednesday morning, the 8th, Bragg had 
three of his six divisions, half of his entire army, in line of battle, but 
mostly secreted from view. Buell, not being quite ready, postponed 
his design of bringing on a general engagement, not dreaming the 
enemy would attack. The lafter, however, did attack ; and so unfor- 
tunate was the management on the part of the union general, that the 
battle was fought on our side by two divisions of McCook's corps, 
Jackson's and Rousseau's, and Gooding's brigade. These were largely 



]^24 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

new troops, never before in action. Gen. MeCook says in Lis report: 
"Eousseau had present on the field 7000 men ; Jackson, 5500. The 
brigade of Gooding amounted to about 1500. The battle was princi- 
pally fought by Eousseau's division." 

The Battle. — The battle began at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, by a 
fierce onset upon McCook's entire line. His two divisions were in five 
brigades, and stationed about as in the diagram. 

Starkweather.' Terrill. Harris. Xytle. 



Webster. 

Six batteries were distributed at suitable points along the line. 
Gilbert's entire army corps was too in line most of the day, to the right 
of McCook's, his extreme left being a short distance only from Lytle's 
brigade. Crittenden's corps was farther to the right, resting on Gil- 
bert. The outlines of the battle have thus been drawn: 

The left and left center, under Starkweather and Terrell, first experienced a 
most desperate assault by a largely superior force of the enemy, manifestly bent 
upon carrying this all-important position, and turning our line. Gen. Jackson 
was with Terrell's brigade. He fell at the first fire of the rebels, and, under the 
tremendous volleys now poured upon Terrells new regiments, they gave way in a 
few moments in the utmost confusion, and were driven pell mell from the field, 
leaving seven guns of a battery of eight in the hands of the enemy. Thus, 
in the first half-hour of the battle, one fifth of the union force engaged was vir- 
tually placed hors du combat, and a portion of its line broken. 

This misfortune, together with the vigor of the attack and great numerical su- 
periority of the enemy — the latter, so uniformly magnified by our generals, was, 
for the first time, really almost three to one — seemed to bode a speedy termination 
of the struggle disastrous to our troops. But happily, the stubborn gallantry of 
Kousseau's old troops was equal to the emergency, and eventually secured the 
dav. 

The heavy rebel line that had fallen upon and broken and scattered Terrell's 
brigade, immediately followed up its advantage by a succession of most deter- 
mined advances upon the extreme left under Starkweather. He had only three 
regiments of infantry, but two splended batteries, and with this small, though 
dauntless force, he repulsed attack after attack of the enemy, and maintained hii 
position during two hours, until after his ammunition was exhausted, when he 
iell back under orders for several hundred yards without losing any guns. After 
refilling their cartridge-boxes his men resumed the contest with the enemy that 
had followed them, and continued it without yielding another inch until dark. 

Harris' brigade, on the right center, fought with equal bravery and steadfast- 
ness. It likewise stemmed the onsets of an outnumbering enemy for several 
hours. After exhausting their supplies of cartridges, the men secured and fired 
with those of their dead and wounded comrades, and even after these were ex- 
pended they did not fall back, but held their ground for some time under a heavy 
tire, to which they could not return a single shot, until orders reached them to 
retire to a position that brought them again on a line with Starkweat4ier, whose 
withdrawal had preceded theirs. In this second position this brigade continued 
fighting until the end of the combat. 

Lytle's brigade, on the extreme right, was assailed not as early as the left, but 
with equal violence, by superior numbers. It resisted successfully several attacks, 
and maintained its ground until about 4 o'clock, " when a new column of the enemy," 
to quote from the report of Gen. KoAisseau, "moved around to its right, concealed 
by the undulations of the ground, turned its right flank and fell upon its right and 
rear, aud drove it, and forced it to retire." 



IN KENTUCKY. 125 

Gen McCook arrived on the ground at this moment, and forthvpith ordered Web 
ster's bri>i;ade to move from the rear of the center to the support of Lytle. In 
carrying out this order, Col. Webster was mortally wounded as soon as he got 
under fire. Ilis new regiment got into disorder after his fall, and proved of 
hardly any avail to the right 

Though terribly cut up, and somewhat in confusion, the brigade was reformed, 
after extricating itself from the enemy, some hundred yards from its first position. 
It was hardly once more in line, when the same body that compelled it to retire 
again moved upon its right. It was permitted to approach to close range, and 
then opened upon by the battery and infantry of the brigade. But, although fear 
ful havoc was made upon its ranks by grape, cannister and musketry, it kept 
steadily moving on. At this critical moment, the long-expected reinforcements, 
consisting of Gooding's brigade of Mitchells division, with a battery, arrived near 
Lytle's brigade, and immediately took its place. The fresh troops moved to meet 
the advancing enemy without delay, and after a short, but severe struggle, involv- 
ing a loss of one third their number, drove the rebels back. This was just before 
dark, and terminated the battle. While Gooding's brigade was driving the enemy. 
Gen. Steadman's brigade of Gen. Schoepf's division appeared on the ground, and 
was put in position by Gen. McCook. It was, however too late to be of any ser- 
vice, firing having ceased on both sides before it was fairly formed. 

Gen. McCooks's two divisions had really fought the battle of the day. The di- 
visions of Generals Mitchell and Sheridan, of Gilbert's corps, however, also bore 
a part, though a minor one, in it. 

Simultaneously with the first attack upon McCook's line, at 2 o'clock p. M., strong 
columns of the enemy appeared both on the right of Mitchell, in front of Sher- 
idan, with the apparent intention to attack. Gen. Mitchell immediately advanced 
a line of skirmishers from Carlin's brigade on his right, upon which movement 
the enemy at once fell back under cover. Gen. Sheridan thought himself so seri- 
ously threatened that he sent a message to Gen. Mitchell, stating that he needed 
re-iiiforcements. In response, Mitchell ordered Carlin's brigade to advance upon 
Sheridan's right. Sheridan then advanced upon the force in front of him, and 
after a slight contest caused it to retire. Carlin moved forward at the same 
time, and with commendable ardor charged upon the enemy, made them yield in 
confusion, and followed them nearly two miles to the very town of Perryville, 
its advance capturing an ammunition train of fifteen wagons, two caissons, and 3 
officers and 138 privates. Finding the enemy was occupying the town with a 
force of infantry and artillery superior to his own, Carlin fell back to a strong 
position, on the west side of the town, where he kept up an artillery fight until 
dark. 

Gen. Sheridan was no more seriously troubled after the mentioned brief affair 
between 2 and 3 o'clock. Later in the afternoon he fell back, in obedience to 
orders from Gen. Gilbert, some distance to the rear, and went into bivouac. 

The causes of the disastrous issue of this battle were ascribed to 
Generals Buell and Gilbert, as these facts show. At 3 o'clock, CajDt. 
Horace W. Fisher, of McCook's staff, was dispatched by that officer to 
Gen. Gilbert with pressing demands for assistance. Gilbert refused, 
but referred him to Gen. Buell. That officer was two miles in the 
rear, and an hour was consumed in finding him. It was 4 o'clock when 
Fisher reported. And how did Buell respond ? He stepped out of his 
tent, held his ear toward tlie scene of action, listened for a few mo- 
ments, and then turning sharply to Captain Fisher, said : " Captain, you 
must be mistaken ; I can not hear any sound of musketry ; there can 
not be any j)ressing engagement?" 

Captain Fisher returned without any orders for reinforcements. 
After awhile, a change of wind brought the sound of musketry to 
Buell, and he then sent orders to Gilbert, if McCook really wanted 
assistance to furnish it. Thus it happened that Gooding's brigade 



12Q TIMES OP THE REBELLION 

reached McCook at the close of the battle, two hours after he had first 
appealed for help to G-ilbert. Grievous as was this portion of the bat- 
tle, it was not the worst. The Avriter from whom we have previously 
quoted, says : 

As previously stated, Sheridan was not seriously troubled by the enemy after 
3 o'clock, p. M. Both he and Mitchell were ready and anxious for a forward 
movement upon the enemy. There was further the whole of Gen. Schoepf's 
splendid division of old, battle-tried troops, lying directly behind them all day 
without firing a shot. All the officers of the three divisions chafed under the in- 
comprehensible management that kept them bivouacking within short cannon- 
range of, and in full view of, the unequal struggle on their left. Gen. Sheridan 
Bent^word to Gen. Gilbert to "beware what he was doing; " Gen. Schoepf begged 
and entreated permission to advance, and when refused, fairly wept in the bitter- 
ness of his disappointment. But all was of no avail. The 3d corps remained 
idle spectators of the desnerate straits to which their valiant, bleeding, partially- 
broken comrades under McCook were becoming gradually reduced. And yet its 
position was such — there was not an intelligent officer in the corps that did not 
gee it — that an advance of its line for less than a mile would have brought it to 
the very rear of the enemy that had fallen upon McCook. 

The logic of all of the above-mentioned facts allows no other than these legiti- 
mate conclusions : 

1. The blame for the disastrous results of the battle is divided between Gener- 
als Buell and Gilbert. 

2. The share of the former consists in his failure to provide for the contingency 
of an attack by the enemy, through the means of instructions to Generals Gilbert 
and McCook, as to how to operate in case of its occurrence, and first discrediting 
instead of acting promptly upon the urgent appeal for relief of General McCook. 

3. That of General Gilbert is the largest, ana is made up, before all, of his re- 
fusal of prompt assistance to General McCook, and reference of the subject to 
General Buell, by which over an hour's time, full of peril, was lost. But for the 
unflinching valor of McCook's old troops, this delay would have resulted in the 
annihilation of the whole left wing. Every consideration of duty imposed it on 
General Gilbert to respond at once to the earnest request of General McCook. It 
■would be hard to find a counterpart to his course in the history of any war. The 
second shortcoming chargeable to him is his neglect to improve his open opportu- 
nity of turning the reverse of the day into victory, by lying, with 25,000 men, in wait- 
ing for an attack, instead of undertaking one himself, which would have not only re- 
lieved Gen. McCook, but resulted in the capture and destruction of his assailants. 

The question will probably occur, why General Buell did not repair, himself, 
to the battle-field, instead of sending an aid, to ascertain the situation ? He had 
met with a mishap of a peculiar character the day before, that had rendered him 
unable to mount a horse. In trying to ride down a straggler — a practice, one 
would think, rather incompatible with the dignity of a general-in-chief, but fre- 
quently indulged in by General Buell — his charger had become unmanageable 
and threw him. 

The enemy had achieved a substantial success, though at no trifling cost of life 
and limb. They had killed and wounded 3,500, including three general oflScers, 
and taken prisoners, 400 of our soldiers; captured 11 pieces of artillery, and 
held the main part of the battle-field. There had been certain chances to secure 
a union triumph, instead of a humiliation. They had been missed; but it was 
still in the power of General Buell to make up for the loss sustained by making 
prompt use of time, means, and circumstances. Alas ! this, too, was omitted, as 
the after events showed. 

The total losses of both armies by this battle were not far from 
8,000 men — the rebels losing the most. On the next morning, our 
army advanced, to find the enemy gone. Of their spoils, they had 
carried off only two guns, and their prisoners. "The astonishing au- 



IN KENTUCKY. 127 

dacity of the rebels in venturing into the very fangs of our army with 
not one half of its numbers, had not involved him in any serious det- 
riment." General Buell still acting upon the theory that the rebels 
designed to fight a battle for the permanent occupation of Kentucky, 
remained for three days in the vicinity of Perryville. "During all 
this time, his army was kept in constant line of battle, as though in 
expectation of an attack. The whole army was puzzled by this inex- 
plicable inactivity. There was not a man in it, from generals down 
to privates, outside of Buell's headquarters, that did not fret under 
it." In the meanwhile, Bragg's army had leisurely marched northerly 
through Harrodsburg, thence easterly to Br^^antsville, to enable 
Kirby Smith to join 1iim — thus describing two sides of a triangle — 
while, if Buell had simply marched across the country, easterly, on 
the third side, he would readil}' have intercepted him. It was nearly 
a week before Buell got to Danville, only half a day's march from 
Perryville by the direct route. He arrived there, ina Harrodsburg, 
on Tuesday. After reaching Danville something like a pursuit was 
attempted: it was too late. The week's delay of Buell had given 
Bragg ample leisure to move southward, out of reach, by the way of 
Crab Orchard and Mt. Yernon. He got out of the state safely, his 
trains loaded down with the riches of Central Kentucky. He took 
millions in value — cattle, mules, hogs, clothing, boots, shoes, etc. 

Buell was soon after removed from command. A more unpopular 
officer never commanded American soldiers : and '- it was not uncom- 
mon to hear him openl}" denounced as a traitor, by officers and men, 
from generals down to privates." Gilbert was also removed and heard 
of no more. 

Buell was acquitted of blame for the management of the campaign 
by a court martial: and, to this day, in the judgment of some officers 
exalted in public confidence, stands second to none in military 
ability. 

Evacuation of Cumberland Gap. — The invasion of Kentucky com- 
pelled the evacuation of Cumberland Gap, which important post was 
held by four brigades under Gen. Morgan, of Ohio. They left on the 
17th of September, and, marching north, struck the Ohio at Greenups- 
burg, a distance of about 230 miles, in 15 days. The march was re- 
markable for its privations, many of the men becoming barefooted, 
and destitute of pantaloons. One of the officers gives some interest- 
ing items. 

The division had been on half rations for some days, and left the Gap without 
subsistence. A Ions the entire route the men subsisted on fjreen corn, gathered 
in the fields by the wayside. With their bayonets they picked holes in their tia 
plates, cups, and canteens, speedily converted them into graters, on which they 
ground, or grated, their corn. While on the march, each gun could be seen with 
its string of corn, and no sooner would the column halt, than the men would come 
down to their tedious and tiresome work of grating their corn into meal. Water 
was very scarce. All they found was in ponds, pools, and swamps, green and 
stagnated. All along the route, they wei-e harassed by the enemy, who had 
blocked the road with fallen timber. At many points Capt. Patterson, of the en- 
gineer corps of sappers and miners, was compelled to construct a new road through 
the woods and over the mountains. With the aid of blocks and tackle, our boys 
removed the fallen trees nearly as fast as they were felled by the rebels. Atone 
point, Capt. Patterson informs "us, that while he was removing the timber, he could 



228 TIMES OF THE REBELLION, 

hear the rebels chopping down the trees in tlie woods ahead of him. The roads 
being badly cut up, considerable time was occupied in fitting up and repairing, in 
order to admit the passage of teams and artillery. The rebel Morgan, wlin was 
constantly harassing our men with a large force of his guerrilla cavalry, was 
frequently misled by our movements. He would block up the road at important 
crossings, while our sappers and miners would speedily make a cut off, thus avoid- 
ing the dithculty. The rebels were led to believe that we were moving on Alt. 
Sterling, and were surprised to find that our army had taken a different course. 

No event of moment occurred in Kentucky after this during the 
war until 

forest's attack on paducah. 

Paducah, on the Ohio, at the mouth of the Tennessee, has suffered 
much from the rebellion. Upon the breaking out of the war, the se- 
cession mania took strong root in the minds of its citizens. When, in 
September, 1861, the union forces occupied it for the first time, the 
streets and houses were found decorated with rebel flags, in anticipa- 
tion of the arrival of Polk's army. 

When attacked by the rebel General Forrest, on the 25th of March, 
1864, it was garrisored by the following forces, under command of 
Col. S. Gr. Hicks, viz.: 311 men of the 16th Kentucky; 124 of the 
122d Illinois, and 250 (colored) of the 1st Kentucky artillery — in all, 
685. Forrest's force consisted of about 6,000 mounted men, with eight 
pieces of artillery. The details .of the attack and gallant defense 
which was made ai-e here given by a pen familiar with them. 

Upon learning that an attack would be made, Col Hicks notified the inhabitants 
of that fact by special order, so when the first attack was made but few were re- 
maining in the city. Knowing the great numerical superiority of the enemy. 
Col. Hicks ordered his whole command to the fort, and awaited his appearance. 

The gun-hoats, Paw-paw and Peosta, which were anchored out in the river, 
weighed and moored toward the upper end of the wharf — the one to the mouth 
of the Tennessee, the other a little below. These boats have a light armament, 
and are known on the river as "tin-clada," their plating being only sufficiently 
thick to resist the missiles of small arras, and perhaps grapeshot. 

A little before one o'clock the enemy's advance came in sight, and in a moment 
afterward the main body appeared in the act of forming line — his right extend- 
ino- toward the Tennessee, and being nearest to town, while the left was partially 
concealed by timber at long cannon range. The men on either flank were 
mounted, while bodies of dismounted men, who at that distance seemed to be a 
little in advance of the others, appeared in occasional intervals in the line, which 
was little less than two miles long. 

The enemy seemed to have entered on his campaign with an accurate knowl- 
edge of what was to be done, and was evidently posted as to the strength of our 
garrison. There was no delay in the advance. He pushed his line forward, ra- 
pidly and steadily, while, at the same time, a detachment from the right flank, 
several hundred strong, dashed into the now deserted city, and down Market-street, 
and the other streets back of it, until, coming within rifle range of the fort, they 
opened a galling fire from the houses. 

It seems that Col. Hicks, prudently, did not strain his men at the commence- 
ment of the action, and although his fire was accurate, it was delivered slowly — 
the range being difi'erent at almost every discharge. The necessity he was under 
of turning some of his guns upon the town so slackened our fire that the enemy 
was enabled to make a charge upon the fort. But the movement was perceived 
and prepared for, and the first signs of an advance were greeted with a heavy and 
well-directed fire, which created some confusion. The rebels continued to ad 
vance, however, and a part of them, by veering to the right, threw themselves par 
tially under cover of the uneven ground and the suburban buildings. On they 



IN KENTUCKY. 129 

came, with loud cheers that sounded distinctly through the now increasing roar 
of battle, and which were defiantly answered by our men, who now, reeking with 
perspiration, plied their rammers with accelerated rapidity, and hurled destruc- 
tion through the advancing lines. As soon as they came within good rifle range 
a terribly destructive fire was opened upon them, and men toppled, reeled, and 
fell to the ground by scores. Although the overwhelming force continued to close 
upon the fort, it was now evident that there was mucsh disorder among them, and 
presently a portion of the line gave way, when the whole force broke in confusion 
and retreated precipitately, leaving the ground strewn with not less than 200 
killed and wounded. The discomfited rebels were then re-formed upon their ori- 
ginal line. 

The houses near the fort were again occupied by sharpshooters, and the rebels 
moved rapidly up, with increased numbers, and, apparently, a full determination 
to succeed. They dashed forward from behind buildings, and such other objects 
as served to cover their advance, while the main column rushed upon the fort, 
despite the murderous fire that opposed them. Hut their eflbrts were futile. 'J'he 
indomitable "six hundred" had no idea of being overpowered, and amid the an- 
swering thunders from fort and gun-boats, and the unljroken rattle of small arms, 
the enemy was again repulsed and fled from the field, disordered and whipped. 
Not less than 5u6 men. dead or wounded, covered the field, within rifle range of 
the fort. A more gallant defense was never made. But the fighting did not 
cease with this repulse. The rebels swarmed thicker and thicker in the build- 
ings, and an unintermitting storm of lead was poured from roofs and windows, 
notwithstanding the houses were being perforated by shot and shell from all our 
guns. 

Every gun in the fort was now turned upon the town, while the gun-boats took 
an active part in sweeping the streets and shelling the houses. The enemy, find- 
ing that our force was not strong enough to risk leaving the works, did not re- 
form his whole line again, but sent his men by detachments, several hundred 
strong, into the city, some to burn and pillage, and others to reinforce those who 
were yet firing upon the garrison. Now was the hardest trial our brave fellows 
had to bear. In spite of the shells that were sent crushing through the buildings, 
the sharpshooters, who, by this time, must have numbered nearly 1,000, held their 
positions, or else falling back for a few minutes again came forward, and deliv- 
ered their fire. 

It was now nearly night-fall. The battle had continued from ten o'clock to 
after five, and yet the fate of the day remained undecided. The heroic garrison, 
headed by their resolute commander, still stood unfalteringly to their posts, while 
the enemy, conscious of the strength of his overwhelming numbers, seemed loth, 
although signally repulsed, to yield to the fact of his undeniable defeat. 

Four hours had passed, during three of which there was an almost unbroken 
roar of artillery and small arms. In the mean time, the rebels had occupied 
every part of the town. The headquarters and quartermaster's buildings, which 
were in the most compactly built part of the city, had been sacked and fired. 
The marine ways had also been fired, and the steamer Dacotah, which was on the 
stocks for repairs, was boarded, the crew robbed of every thing, and the boat 
burned. Almost every store in the place was broken open, and its contents dam- 
aged, destroyed, or carried ofl". Clothing, and especially boots and shoes, seem 
to have been chiefly sought for, although an exceedingly large quantity of all 
styles and qualities of dry goods, groceries, and provisions was carried off. Every 
horse that could be found was taken, and, in fact, nothing that could suit taste or 
convenience was overlooked. 

As the sun began to sink, the slackened fire from the buildings told that our 
shelling had not been without efi"ect, and the rebels could be seen from the fort, 
as they left the houses by hundreds, and moved back toward the upper end of 
the town, bearing their dead and wounded. Many, however, remained behind, 
and although the firing was now light it was continuous. 

By this time, the ammunition in the fort was well-nigh exhausted, and it \» 
barely possible that if the enemy had again attempted to storm the works, the 
email garrison might have been overpowered by sheer stress of overwhelming 
9 



130 



TIMES OF THE REBELLION 



numbers. But his disastrous experience of that day deterred him, and his offen- 
sive operations were confined to sharp-shooting from the buildings. This was 
kept up until nearly midnight, when the firing ceased entirely, and the rebels left 
the town. Col. Hicks' announcement to the garrison that their ammunition had 
almost given out, but that they would defend themselves with the bayonet, was 
received with loud cheers, and showed a determination to fight to the last. That 
was an anxious night to the occupants of the fort. The knowledge that their 
means of defense would not, if attacked, last much longer, that the enemy was 
still within gun-shot of them with a force outnumbering them nearly ten to one, 
and that it was very probable that a night attack would be made, disinclined all 
to sleep, and the peremptory order of Col. Hicks that every man should remain 
broad awake and stand to his post, was scarcely necessary. So the night passed, 
every man awaiting expectantly the anticipated attack and determined to win or 
die. 

Next morning, the enemy was found to be still in our front, but some hundred 
yards in rear "of his original line of the day before. Every thing pointed to 
another attack, and another day of trial for our gallant garrison. In view of this. 
Col. Hicks sent out several detachments with orders to burn all the buildings 
which had been occupied by the enemy's sharpshooters, on the previous day, or 
that could afford them a similar protection in the event of an attack on this day. 
This order was promptly executed, and in less than fifteen minutes that part of 
the town below Broadway, and lietween jNhirket-street and the river, together with 
many other buildings outside of these limits, were in flames. Many of the finest 
business houses and dwellings were thus destroyed, and none who has formerly 
been acquainted with this once beautiful city can help regretting the sad but im- 
perative necessity that called for its partial destruction. 

The next day the enemy withdrew fairly beaten. 

The rebel Brigadier-general Thompson was shot through the head, while on his 
horse near the fort, during the fight. After falling to the ground, a shell struck 
him in the abdomen, and blew him to pieces. His spinal column was found sev- 
eral feet from his mangled body. Before the war, he was looked upon as one of 
the most accomplished gentlemen in Kentucky, and was one of the most distin- 
guished lawyers of the day. He was for a long time prosecuting attorney of his 
district, and attained eminent popularity in that capacity. 

The rebel loss was estimated at over 1,000; the union loss was less 
than 80. 

morgan's raids. 

During the progress of the war, quite a nuinber of raids were made 
into Kentucky, under the celebrated John Morgan, a native of the 
state, born and bred near Lexington ; most of these were for the sake 
of plunder, and were far from being successful. In neai'ly every en- 
gagement he was defeated, and generally failed to carry off the spoils 
he had collected. On the 18th of August, 1862, he made a dash into 
the city of Lexington, killing 6, and capturing 120 unionists. He was 
defeated by a body of union cavalry, inferior in numbers to his own, 
near Hardysville, in December of the same year. He captured the 
union garrison at Elizabethtown, consisting of *250 men, on the 28tb 
of December, his own force being nearly 3000 ; and in a few days after, 
was repulsed in an attack upon New Haven, Kentucky. On the 19th 
of March, 18G3, he captured a train on the Louisville and Nashville 
railroad, but while engaged in plundering, was dispersed by a de- 
tachment of union ti'oops. 

On the 5th of July, with 4000 cavalry, after a battle of seven hours, 
he compelled Col. Hanson, with 500 men, to surrender at Lebanon. 
On the 7th of July, he crossed the Ohio river with a large force, nearly 



IN KENTUCKY, |3| 

all of which was captured at different points in Ohio, among them 
Morgan himself; who afterward escaped from the penitentiary at Co- 
lumbus. 

Early in June, 1864, Morgan made another raid into Kentucky. One of his 
men, captured at Maysville, reported, that the force in Kentucky was inimediafely 
under the command of Gen. Morgan, Col. Alston and Col. Smith; that the nln'l 
force was about 3000, a large portion of them dismounted cavalry. 'I'hey enHM-cu 
the state at Pound Gap, preceded by a scouting party, under Everett, to pick up 
horses for their dismounted men; passed through Hazelgreen, Owingsville, and 
P''lemingsburgh, and took Maysville without resistance, robbing its citizens of 
money and other valuaVjles. The farms of union men were stripped of liorses, 
while those of rebel citizens were protected. Everett left Maysville on June Sth 
for Mount Sterling. The ordnance train from Frankfort was attacked near Hag- 
dad by a rebel force under Jenkins. Mr. Sparks, a union member of the Ken- 
tucky Legislature, was killed. Gen. Burbridge, who had been following the rebels 
since they left Pound Gap, came up with them on the 9th at Mount Sterling, and 
defeated them. A portion of Morgan's command entered Lexington at 2 o'clock, 
on the morning of the 10th, burned the Kentucky Central Railroad depot, robbed 
a number of stores, and left at 10 o'clock, in the direction of Georgetown and 
Frankfort. 

On Friday, the 10th of June, Morgan, with 3000 rebels, attacked the 168th and 
171st Ohio regiments, under Gen. Hob.son, at Cynthiana, and after a severe fight, 
compelled Hodson to surrender, on condition that his men should be immediately 
exchanged. These troops from Ohio were all recruits, without military experience. 

The early battle was 8carcel3' over before secession citizens threw open their 
doors, and invited their rebel friends in to breakfast. Many of them were old ac- 
quaintances, and scores of fond greetitigs took place in the streets, not a few 
females running out and stopping their old friends on horseback, greeting them 
with smiles and laughter, although they came with the blood of their neighbors 
warm on their hands. 

Morgan remained in Cynthiana Friday night, expecting Burbridge's forces, and 
exultant over the defeat of Hob.son. His forces were drawn up in line of battle 
Friday night, crossing the Millersburg pike, a mile east of the town. 

At 12 o'clock, Friday night, (ien Burbridge moved his columns in the direction 
of Paris, and. taking some prisoners on the road, arrived there at daylight on 
Saturday. He rested all day, and heard of the tight with Hobson at Cynthiana. 
At midnight of Sunday, he started for Cynthiana, and arrived there just before 
daylight. The 37th Kentucky, under c 'mmand of Major Tyler, were two miles 
in the advance, and discovered the rebel force one mile from town, in a line of 
battle over a mile long, 'I'hey were p<)sted behind stone walls, in houses, and 
along cross-fences. The 37th Kentucky advanced along the pike, deployed as 
skirmishers, and fought the enemy lor three quarters of an hour. (ien. Bur- 
bridge came up during the skirmish, and deliberately formed his line of bat- 
tle in the face of the enemy, about four hundred yards from their advance line, 
placing his two twelve-pounders on the pike. The infantry w-as posted on the 
right and left of the artillery, and the cavalry on the flanks, the 7th Ohio on the 
left, and the 9th Michigan on the right. The cavalry simultaneously flanked the 
rebels, and turned back their lines, the infantry in the center advancing steadily, 
and forcing back the rebel lines. The right gave way first; Col. Minor charging 
in three lines, under a heavy rebel fire, at short range, and relying on the saber. 
Col. Howard Smith quailed before their advance, and turning his horse, led his 
men in a panic to and through the town, in charging upon the rebel left, the 
9th Michigan struck too far to the right, and cut through the rebel line, driving 
them to the river, but leaving a gap through which Morgan and a few hundred of 
his men escaped, following down the river, and taking the Augusta pike. The in- 
fantry pressed back the rebel center, and repulsed handsomely a cavalry charge. 
The artillery meanwhile was moved up the pike, within half a mile of town, and 
had hardly got in position when another cavalry charge was made upon it. But a 
sweeping tire of canister swept men and horses before it, and the rout already be- 



1^2 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

gun, reached its climax. One by one at first the rebels fell back through town, 
crossed the river and followed the Williamstown pike. The whole line closed in 
on them, and they rushed tumultously through the streets. Down the railroad, 
over fences, up the steep banks and through the bottoms, the rebels plunged head- 
long in their haste to escape. Hemmed in on the east side of the river, their line 
of escape was over the bridge west of town, which was filled with routed and panic- 
stricken horsemen. A general charge, by columns down the streets, was made by 
Gen. Burbridge's forces, and Morgan's command completely routed. The rebels, 
unable to cross by the bridge, pushed into the river, great numbers of whom were 
killed or drowned while crossing. Those who remained together, struck off to the 
west, and were followed for six miles out by the pursuing force, leaving their 
killed and wounded at every point. In the engagement, Morgan himself com- 
manded at first, but soon left his men under Col. Howard Smith, and escaped. 

Gen. Burbridge's success was complete. Two hundred and fifty prisoners were 
taken, and one hundred killed or drowned. The wounded were most of them so 
severely injured as to be unfitted for service forever, and many of them were mor- 
tally wounded. Their rebel friends concealed their number, making it difScult to 
obtain a reliable estimate. The losses in Gen. Burbridge's command were sixteen 
killed and mortally wounded, twenty-nine wounded, and none missing. One 
thousand two hundred horses were captured, and a large supply of ammunition, 
and one hundred prisoners retaken. 

Sunday night. Gen. Burbridge and staff, with four companies of the 11th Michi- 
gan cavalry, rode all night and reached Georgetown by daylight. Col. Garrard's 
command, which was mounted on fresh horses, and Col. Hanson's brigade, con- 
tinued the pursuit. Col. Garrard's brigade followed Morgan closely to Clack 
Mountain, near Morehead, when further pursuit would have be fruitless. The 
total number who escaped with Morgan, according to reliable estimates, did not 
exceed 700. 

This was the last of the raids of the famous John Morgan. On 
Sunday, the 4th of the September ensuing, Gen. Gillam surprised Mor- 
gan and his band at Greenville, East Tennessee, capturing 86 prisoners 
and one gnn. Morgan was killed, the details of his death are thus 
given, as publivshed at the time. 

Morgan was at the house of Mrs. Williams, in the town, and was so 
suddenly surprised that he rushed out only partlj^ dressed. As he 
was passing through the garden, in the rear of the house, he was shot 
through the body, by Andrew G. Campbell, 13th Tennessee cavalry. 
This man had two grievances, aside from his desire to serve his coun- 
try, which made him more anxious to kill the great horse-thief. When 
our forces retired from that section, Capt. Keenan, of Gen. Gillam's 
staff, was left at the house of a widow. When Morgan came up, he 
cursed the woman for receiving him into her house, and took the sick 
man and threw him into a rough road wagon, and said, ^^Haul him off 
like a hog ;" and our men have not heard from him since. The other 
grievance was that Campbell had been conscripted, and had to serve 
in the rebel ranks some months before he could escape. After shoot- 
ing Morgan, he took the body on his horse and carried it about one 
fourth of a mile, and pitching it to the ground, he observed to his officers, 
" There he is, like a hog." 

Campbell for this service was promoted to a lieutenancy. Two of 
Morgan's staff. Captains Withers and Clay, the latter a grandson of 
Henry Clay, were captured in the garden of Mrs. Williams, concealed 
in a hole in which potatoes had been buried. 



OHIO 




The territory now comprised within the limits of Ohio was, onpnally, 
part of that vast region formerly claimed by France between the Alleghany 
^ ° and Rocky Mountains, known by the 

general name of Louisiana. It re- 
ceived its name from the river that 
forms its southern boundary. The 
word Ohio, in the Wyandot, signifies, 
"■fair''' or "■ beautiful river,'' which 
was the name given to it by the 
French, the first Europeans who ex- 
plored this part of the country. 

The disastrous expedition, under 
La Salle, who was murdered by his 
own men, did not abate the ardor of 
the French in their great plan of ob- 
taining possession of the vast region 
westward of the English colonies. 
Iberville, a French officer, having in 
charo-e an expedition, sailed from 
France to the Mississippi. He en- 
tered the mouth of this river, and proceeded upward for several hundred 
m les PeTmfnen? establishm'ents were made at diiferent points, and from 
Sds t me the French colonies west of the Allcghanies increased in numbe s 
and t^aAh Previous to the year 1725, the colony had been divided into 
Quarters each having its local governor, but all subject to the superior coun- 
S gene;rof Louisfana. One%f these quarters was established north-west 

''^Btfo?e^the year 1750, a French post had been fortified at the mouth of 
the Wabasl; a'nd a communication %ened with Canada, through that n 
«nd the Maumee About the same time, and for the purpose of checking 
^he French thr-'Ohio Company" was formed, and made some attempts to 
Aefnhlish trading houses amonsr the Indians. . 

"'S a^.s oF the different luropean monarchs to large portions of Anier^ 
ica, were founded on the first discoveries of their subje ts. I" l^^^J ^^^^ 
English monarch granted to the London Company, a t^^^et of l-nd Jwo luin 
dred mile'^ alon- the coast, "up into the land throughout from sea '«««'' «^«st 
and nortt-west.'' In 1G62, Charles II granted to certain settlers^on the Con- 



A.BMS OF Ohio. 



-,34 OHIO. 

necticut, a tract which extended its present limits north and south, due 
west to the Pacific Ocean. 

Ii: 1740, the year after the formation of the Ohio Company, it appears that 
the English built a trading house upon the Great Miami. In 1752, this was 
destroyed, after a severe battle, and the traders were carried away to Canada. 
This was the first British settlement in this section of which we have any 
record. The Moravian missionaries, prior to the American Revolution, had 
a nmnber of stations within the limits of Ohio. As early as 1762, the mis- 
sionaries, Heckewelder and Post, were on the Muskingum. 3Iary Heche- 
loelder, the daughter of the missionary, is said to have been the first white 
child born in Ohio. 

After Braddock's defeat, in 1755, the Indians pushed their excursions as 
far as the Blue llidge. In 17G4, Gen. Bradstreet, having dispersed the In- 
dian forces besieging Detroit, passed into the Wyandot country by way of 
Sandusky Bay. "A treaty of peace was signed by the chiefs and head men. 
The Shawnees, of the Scioto liiver, and the Delawares, of the Muskingum, 
however, still continued hostile. Col. Boquet, in 1764, with a body of troops, 
marched from Fort Pitt into the heart of the Ohio country, on the Mus- 
kintium River. This expedition was conducted with great prudence and 
skill, and with scarcely any loss of life. A treaty of peace was effected with 
the Indians, who restored the prisoners they had captured from the white 
settlements. The next war with the Indians was Lord Dunmore's, in 1774. 
In the fall of the year, the Indians were defeated at Point Pleasant, on the 
Virginia side of the Ohio. Shortly after, peace was made with the Indians 
at Camp Charlotte, a few miles north of the site of the city of Chillicothe. 

During the Revolutionary war, most of the western Indians were more or 
less united against the Americans. In the summer of 1780, Gen. Clark led 
a body of Kentuckians against the Shawnees. Old Chillicothe, on the Lit- 
tle Miami, was burnt on their approach, but at Piqua, on Mad River, six 
miles below the site of Springfield, they gave battle to the whites and were 
defeated. Their towns. Upper and Lower PicjUa, were destroyed. In March, 
1782, a party of Americans, in cold blood, murdered 94 of the defenseless Mo- 
ravian Indians, within the limits of Tuscarawas county. In June following, 
Col. Crawford, at the head of about 500 men, was defeated by the Indians, 
three miles north of the site of Upper Sandusky, in Wyandot county. Col. 
Crawford was taken prisoner in the retreat, and burnt at the stake with hor- 
rible tortures. 

After the close of the Revolutionary war, the states which owned western 
unappropriated lands, with a single exception, ceded their lands to the United 
States. Virginia, in 1784, ceded all her claim to lands north-west of the 
Ohio. In 1786, Connecticut also ceded her claim of soil and jurisdiction to 
all the territory within her chartered limits west of Pennsylvania. She also, 
in May, 1801, ceded her jurisdictional claims to all that territory called the 
'■Western Reserve of Connecticut." New York and Massachusetts also 
ceded all their claims. Numerous tribes of Indians, by virtue of their prior 
possession, asserted their respective claims, which, also, had to be extin- 
guished, for which purpose treaties with the several tribes were made at vari- 
ous times. 

The Indian title to a large part of the territory within the limits of Ohio 
having become extinguished, legislative action on the part of congress be- 
came necessary before commencing settlements. In 1785, they passed an 
ordinance for determining the mode of disposing of these lands. Under that 



OHIO. 135 

ordinance, the first seven ranges, bounded on the east by Pennsylvania and 
on the south by the Ohio, were surveyed. Sales of parts of these were made 
in New York in 1787, and sales of other parts of the same range were made 
at Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. No further sales wei-e made in that dis- 
trict until the land office was opened in Steubenville, July 1, 1801. 

In October, 1787, the U. S. board of treasury sold to Manassah Cutler and 
Winthrop Sargeant, the agents of the New England Ohio Company, a tract 
of land, bounded by the Ohio, from the mouth of the Scioto to the intersec- 
tion of the western boundary of the seventh range of townships then sur- 
veying: thence by said boundary to the northern boundary of the tenth 
township from the Ohio, etc. These bounds were altered in 1792. The set- 
tlement of this purchase commenced at Marietta, at the mouth of the Mus- 
kingum, in the spring of 1788, and was the first settlement formed in Ohio. 

The same year in which Marietta was first settled, congress appointed Gen. 
Arthur St. Clair governor. The territorial government was organized, laws 
were made or adopted by the governor and Judges Parsons and Varnum. 
The county of Washington, embracing about half the territory within the 
present, limits of Ohio, was established by the proclamation of the governor. 
A short time after the settlement had commenced, an association was formed 
ander the name of the " Scioto Land Company^ A contract was made for 
the purchase of part of the lands of the Ohio Company. Plans and descrip- 
tions of these lands being sent to France, they were sold to companies and 
individuals. On Feb. 19, 1791, two hundred and eighteen of these pur- 
chasers left France, and annved at Alexandria, Va., from whence they went 
to Marietta, where about fifty of them landed: the remainder of them pro- 
ceeded to Gallipolis, which was laid out about that time. Their titles to the 
lands proving defective, congress, in 1798, granted them a tract on the Ohio, 
above the mouth of the Scioto River, called the '■'■ French Grants 

In January, 1789, a treaty was made at Fort Harmar, between Gov. St. 
Clair and the "VVyandots, Chippewas, Pottawatomies, and Sacs, in which for- 
mer treaties were renewed. It did not, however, produce the favorable re- 
sults anticipated. The Indians, the same year, assumed a hostile appear- 
ance, hovered around the infant settlements at the mouth of the Muskingum, 
and between the Miamis. Nine persons were killed, the new settlers became 
alarmed, and block houses were erected. 

Negotiations with the Indians proving unavailing, Gen. Harmar was di- 
rected to attack their towns. He marched from Cincinnati, in Sept., 1790, 
with 1,300 men, and went into the Indian country near the site of Fort 
Wayne, in north-western Indiana, and, after some loss, succeeded in burning 
towns, and destroying standing corn, but the object of the expedition in 
intimidating the Indians was entirely unsuccessful. As the Indians continued 
hostile, a new army was assembled at Cincinnati, consisting of about 3,000 
men, under the command of Gov. St. Clair, who commenced his march toward 
the Indian towns on the Maumee. On the 4th of Nov., 1791, when near the 
present northern line of Darke county, the American army was surprised 
about half an hour before sunrise, as there is good reason to believe, by the 
whole disposable force of the north-west tribes. The Americans were 
totally defeated : upward of six hundred were killed, among whom was Gen. 
Butler. 

In the spring of 1794, an American army assembled at Greenville, in 
Darke county, under the command of Gen. Anthony Wayne, consisting of 
about 2,000 regular troops, and 1,500 mounted volunteers from Kentucky. 



136 OHIO- 

The Indians had collected their whole force, amounting to about 2,000 war- 
riors, near a British fort at the foot of the rapids of Maumee. On the 20th 
of Aug., 1794, Gen. Wayne encountered the enemy in a short and deadly 
conflict, when the Indians fled in the greatest confusion. After destroying 
all the houses and cornfields in the vicinity, the victorious army returned to 
the mouth of the Auglaize, where Wayne erected Fort Defiance. The In- 
dians, being convinced of their inability to resist the American arms, sued 
for peace. A grand council of eleven of the most powerful tribes assembled 
at Greenville, when they agreed to acknowledge the United States their sole 
protector, and never to sell their lands to any other power. 

At this period there was no fixed seat of government. The laws were 
passed whenever they seemed to be needed, at any place where the territorial 
legislators happened to assemble. The population of the territory continued 
to increase and extend. From Marietta, settlers spread into the adjoining 
country. The Virginia military reservation drew a considerable number of 
Revolutionary veterans and others from that state. The region between the 
Miamis, from the Ohio far upward toward the sources of Mad River, became 
chequered with farms. The neighborhood of Detroit became populous, and 
Connecticut, by grants of land within the tract reserved in her deed of ces- 
sion, induced many of her citizens to seek a home on the borders of Lake 
Erie. 

The territorial legislature first met in 1799. An act was passed confirming 
the laws enacted by the judges and governor, the validity of which had been 
doubted. This act, as well as every other which originated in the council, 
was prepared and brought forward by Jacob Burnet, afterward a distinguished 
judge and senator, to whose labors, at this session, the territory was indebted 
for some of its most beneficial laws. William H. Harrison, then secretary of 
the territory, was elected delegate to congress. In 1802, congress having ap- 
proved the measure, a convention assembled in Chillicothe and formed a state 
constitution, which became the fundamental law of the state by the act of the 
convention alone, and by this act Ohio became one of the states of the federal 
tinion. 

The first general assembly under the state constitution met at Chillicothe, 
March 1, 1803. Eight new counties were made at this session, viz: Gallia, 
Scioto, Franklin, Columbiana, Butler, Warren, Greene and Montgomery. 
In 1805, the United States, by a treaty with the Indians, acquired for tho 
use of the grantees of Connecticut all that part of the Western Reserve which 
lies west of the Cuyahoga. By subsequent treaties, all the country watered 
by the Maumee and Sandusky was acquired, and the Indian title to lands 
in Ohio is now extinct. 

About the year 1810, the Indians, who, since the treaty at Greenville, had 
been at peace, began to commit depredations upon the western settlers. The 
celebrated Tecumseh was active in his eff"orts to unite the native tribes against 
the Americans, and to arrest the further extension of the settlements. In 
1811, Gen. Harrison, then governor of Indiana territory, marched against 
the Indians on the Wabash. The battle of Tippecanoe ensued, in which the 
Indians were totally defeated. In the war of 1812, with Great Britain, Ohio 
bore her full share in the contest. Her sons volunteered with alacrity their 
services in the field, and hardly a battle was fought in the north-west in 
which some of these citizen soldiers did not seal their devotion to their coun- 
try in their blood. 

In 1816, the seat of government was removed to Columbus. In 1817, tha 



OHIO. 



137 



first resolution relating to a canal connecting the Ohio River with Lake Erie 
was introduced into the legislature. In 1825, an act was passed "to provide 
for the internal improvement of the state by navigable canals." The con- 
struction of these and other works of improvement has been of immense ad- 
vantage in developing the resources of Ohio, which in little more than half a 
century has changed from a wilderness to one of the most powerful states of 
the union. 

Ohio is bounded N. by Michigan and Lake Erie, E. by Pennsylvania and 
Virginia, W. by Indiana, and southerly by Kentucky and Virginia, being 
separated from these last named two states by the Ohio River, which washes 
the borders of the state, through its numerous meanderings, for a distance of 
more than 430 miles. It is about 220 miles long from E. to W., and 200 
from N. to S., situated between 38° 32' and 42° N. Lat., and between 80° 35' 
and 84° 40' W. Long. The surface of the state covers an area of about 
39,964 square miles, or 25,576, 960 acres, of which about one half are im- 
proved. 

The land in the interior of the state and bordering on Lake Erie is gen- 
erally level, and in some places marshy. From one quarter to one third of 
the territory of the state, comprising the eastern and southern parts bordering 
on the Ohio River, is hilly and broken. On the margin of the Ohio, and 
several of its tributaries, are alluvial lands of great fertility. The valleys of 
the Scioto and the Great and Little Miami are the most extensive sections of 
level, rich and fertile lands in the state. In the north-west section of the 
state is an extensive tract of great fertility, called the "Black Swamp," much 
of which, since the year 1855, has been opened into farms with un- 
precedented rapidity. Though Ohio has no elevations which may be 
termed mountains, the center of the state is about 1,000 feet above the level 
of the sea. The summit of the abrupt hills bordering on the Ohio, several 
hundred feet high, are nearly on a level with the surrounding country through 
which the rivers have excavated their channels in the lapse of ages. 

Ohio possesses in abundance the important minerals of coal and iron. The 
bituminous coal region commences at the Ohio River, and extends in a belt, 
between the Scioto and Muskingum Rivers, nearly to Lake Erie. Great quan- 
tities of iron ore are found in the same section in a bed about 100 miles long 
by 12 wide, said to be superior to any other in the United States for the finer 
castings. Salt springs are frequent and very valuable. Marble and free- 
stone, well adapted for building purposes, abound. Almost all parts are suit- 
able for agricultural purposes, and the state ranks among the first in the pro- 
ducts of the soil. Indian corn is the staple production. Large crops of 
wheat, great quantities of pork, butter, cheese and wool are annually pro- 
duced. The grain crops of Ohio are very large ; the estimate for 1860, a 
favorable year, was: Indian corn, 80 millions of bushels; wheat, 30 millions ; 
and oats, 20 millions. It is estimated that the whole state has the natural 
capacity to feed 18 millions of people. Population in 1800 was 45,365; in 
1820, 581,434; in 1850, 1,980,408, and in 1860, 2,377,917. 



Marietta, the capital of Washington county, and oldest town in the state, 
is beautifully situated on the left or east bank of the Muskingum, at its con- 
fluence with the Ohio, 104 miles south-east of Columbus, 62 below Wheeling, 
Va., and 300, by the river, above Cincinnati. It is built principally on level 
ground, surrounded by beautiful scenery. Many of the houses are con- 
structed with great neatness, having fine gardens, and ornamental trees and 



138 



OHIO. 




shrubbery, which mark the New England origin of its population. The 
founders of the town comprised an unusual number of persons of refinement 
and taste. Very many of them had served as officers in the armies of the 
revolution, and becoming ruined in their fortunes in the service of their coun- 
try, were thus prompted to seek a new home in the wilds of the west. Ma- 
rietta College, in this place, was chartered in 1835, and is one of the most re- 
spectable institutions of the kind in the state. Population about 5,000. 

In the autumn of 1785, a 
detachment of U. S. troops, 
under the command of Maj. 
Doughty, commenced the 
erection of Fort Harmar, on 
the west bank of the Musk- 
ingum. It was named in 
honor of Col. Harmar, to 
whose regiment Maj or 
Doughty was attached. In 
the autumn of 1787, the di- 
rectors of the Ohio Company 
organized in New England, 
preparatory to a settlement. 
In the course of the winter 
following, a party of about 
40 men, under the superin- 
tendence of Col. Rufus Put- 
nam, proceeded over the Al- 
leghanies by the old Indian 
path which had been opened 
into Braddock's road, and 
boats being constructed, they proceeded down the river, and on the 7th of 
April, 1788, landed at the mouth of the Muskingum, and laid the foundation 
of the state of Ohio. 

"As St. Clair, who had been appointed governor the preceding October, had not 
yet arrived, it became necessary to erect a temporary government for their internal 
eecuritj-, for which purpose a set of laws was passed and published, by being nailed 
to a tree in the village, and Return Jonathan Meigs was appointed to administer 
them. It is a strong evidence of the good habits of the people of the colony, that 
during three months but one difference occurred, and that was compromised. In- 
deed, a better set of men altogether could scarce have been selected for the pur- 
pose than Putnam's little band. Washington might well say, 'no colony in America 
was ever settled under such favorable auspices as tliat which was first commenced 
at the Muskingum. Information, property and strength will be its characteristics. 
I know many of the settlers pei'sonally, and there never were men better calculated 
to promote the welfare of such a community.' 

On the 2d of July, a meeting of the directors and agents was held on the banks 
of the Muskingum, for the purpose of naming the new-born city and its public 
squares. As the settlement had been merely 'The Muskingum,' the name Marietta 
was now formally given to it, in honor of Marie Antoinette. 

On the 4th of July, an oration was delivered by James M. Varnum, who, with 
S. H. Parsons and John Armstrong, had been appointed to the judicial bench of 
the territory, on the 16th of October, 1787. Five days later, the governor arrived, 
and the colony began to assume form. The ordinance of 1787 provided two dis- 
trict grades of government for the north-west territory, under the first of Avhich the 
whole power was in the hands of the governor and three judges, and this form was 
at once organized upon the governor's arrival The first law, which was 'for regu- 



SOUTIIEUN VIEW OF THE ANCIENT MOUND, MARIETTA. 

The ongraving shows the appearance of the Mound as seen 
from the dwelling of Mr. Roeseter, in Marietta, opposite the 
grave-yard. Its base is a regular circle, 115 feet in diameter ; 
its perpendicular altitude is 30 feet. It is surrounded by a ditch 
4 feet deep and 15 wide, defended by a parapet 4 feet high, 
through which is a gate-way. 



OHIO. 



139 



.ating and establishing the militia,' was published upon the 25th of July, and the 
iext day appeared the governor's proclamation, erecting all the country that had 
been ceded by the Indians cast of the iScioto River into the county of Wash- 
ington. 

From that time forvrard, notwithstanding the doubt yet existing as to the In- 
dians, all at Marietta went on prosperously and pleasantly. On the 2d of Septem- 
ber, the first court was held, with becoming ceremonies, which was the first civil 
court ever convened in the territory north-west of the Ohio. 

•The procession was formed at the Point (where most of the settlers resided), in 
the following order: 1st, the high sheriff, with his drawn sword; 2d, the citizens; 
3d, the officers of the garrison at Fort Harmar; 4th, the members of the bar; 5th, 
the supreme judges; 6tli, the governor and clergyman; 7th, the newly appointed 
judges of the court of common pleas, genenUs Rufus Putnam and Benj. Tupper. 

They marched up a path that had been cut and cleared through the forest to 
Campus Martins Hill (stockade), where the whole counter-marched, and the judges 
(Putnam and Tupper) took tlieir seats. The clergyman, Rev. Dr. Cutler, then in- 
voked the divine blessing. The sheriff, Col. Ebenezer Sproat (one of nature's no- 
bles), pi-oclaimcd with his solemn 'Oh yes' that a court is opened for the adminis- 
tration of even-handed justice to the poor and the rich, to the guilty and the inno- 
cent, without respect of persons ; none to be punished without a trial by their 
peers, and then in pursuance of the laws and evidence in the case.' Although this 
Bcene was exhibited thus early in the settlement of the state, few ever equaled it 
in the dignity and exalted character of its principal participators. Many of them 
belong to the history of our country, in the darkest as well as most splendid pe- 
riods of the revolutionary war. To witness this spectacle, a large body of Indians 
was collected from the most powerful tribes then occupying the almost entire west. 
They had assembled for the purpose of making a treaty. Whether any of them 
entered the hall of justice, or what were their impressions, we are not told.' " 




Campvs Marihis, at Marietta^ in 1791. 

Soon after landing, Campus Martius, a stockaded fort, was begun on tte 
verge of that beautiful plain, overlooking the Muskingum, on which are 
seated those celebrated remains of antiquity, but it was not completed with 
palisades and bastions until the winter of 1790-1. It was a square of 180 
feet on a side. At each corner was a strong block -house, surmounted by a 
tower and sentry-box : 

These houses were 20 feet square below, and 24 feet above, and projected 6 feet 
beyond the curtains, or main walls of the fort. The intermediate curtains were 
built up with dwelling houses, made of wood, whipsawed into timbers four inches 
thick, and of the requisite widtli and length. These were laid up similar to the 



140 OHIO. 

structure of log houses, with the ends nicely dove-tailed or fitted together so as to 
make a neat finish. The whole were two stories high, and covered with good shin- 
gle roof's. Convenient chimneys were erected of bricks, for cooking and warming 
the room-s. A number of the dwelling houses were built and owned by private in- 
dividuals, who had families. In the west and south fronts were strong gateways; 
and over that in the center of the front looking to the Muskingum Kiver, was a 
belfry. The chamber underneath was occupied by the Hon. Winthrop Sargeant, 
as an ofiice, he being secretary to the governor of the N. W. Territory, Gen. St. 
Clair, and performing the duties of governor in his absence. The dwelling houses 
occupied a space from 15 to 30 feet each, and were sufficient for the accommoda- 
tion of forty or fifty families, and did actually contain from 200 to 300 persons, 
men, women and children, during the Indian war. 

Before the Indians commenced hostilities, the block-houses were occupied as fol- 
lows: — the south-west one by the family of Gov. St. Clair; the north-west one for 
public worship and holding of courts. The south-east block-house was occupied 
by private families; and the north-east as an office for the accommodation of the 
directors of the company. The area within the walls was 144 feet square, and af- 
forded a fine parade gixjund. In the center was a well, 80 feet in depth, for the 
supply of water to the inhabitants in case of a siege. A large sun-dial stood for 
many years in the square, placed on a handsome post, and gave note of the march 
of time. It is still preserved as a relic of the old garrison. After the war com- 
menced, a regular military corps was organized, and a guard constantly kept night 
and day. The whole establishment formed a very strong work, and reflected great 
credit on the head that planned it 

Ship building, at Marietta, was carried on quite extensively at an early day. 
From the year 1800 to 1807, the business was very thriving. Com. Abm. 
Whipple, a veteran of the Revolution, conducted the one first built, the St. 
Clair, to the ocean. 

At that time Marietta was made "a port of clearance," from which vessels could 
receive regular papers for a foreign country. "This circumstance was the cause 
of a curious incident, which took place in the year 1806 or 1807. A ship, liuilt at 
Marietta, cleared from that port with a cargo of pork, flour, etc., for New Orleans. 
From thence she sailed to England with a load of cotton, and being chartered to 
take a cargo to St. Petersburg, the Americans being at that time carriers for half 
the world, reached that port in safety. Her papers being examined by a naval 
officer, and dating from the port of Marietta, Ohio, she was seized, upon the plea 
of their being a forgery, as no such port was known in the civilized world. With 
considerable difficulty the captain procured a map of the United States, and point- 
ing with his finger to the mouth of the Mississippi, traced the course of that stream 
to the mouth of the Ohio; from thence he led the astonished and admiring naval 
officer along the devious track of the latter river to the port of Marietta, at the 
mouth of the Muskingum, from whence he had taken his departure. This explan- 
ation was entirely satisfactory, and the American was dismissed with every token 
of regard and respect." 

One of the early settlers in this region, gave Mr. Howe, for bis work on 
Ohio, the annexed amusing sketch, illustrating pioneer life: 

People who have spent their lives in an old settled country, can form but a faint 
idea of the privations and hardships endured by the pioneers of our now flourish- 
ing and prosperous state. When I look on Ohio as it is, and think what it was in 
1802, when 1 first settled here, I am struck with astonishment, and can hardly 
credit my own senses. When I emigrated, I was a young man, without any prop- 
erty, trade, or profession, entirely dependent on my own industry for a living. I 
purchased 60 acres of new land on credit, 2 1-2 miles from any house or road, and 
built a camp of poles, 7 by 4 feet, and 5 feet high, with three sides and a fire in 
front. 1 furnished myself with a loaf of bread, a piece of pickled pork, some po- 
tatoes, borrowed a frying pan, and commenced housekeeping. 1 was not hindered 
from my work by company; for the first week I did not see a living soul, but, to 
make amends for the want of it, I had every night a most glorious concert of 



OHIO. 



141 



wolves and owls. 1 soon (like Adam) saw the necessity of a help-mate, and per- 
6ua<led a young woman to tie her destiny to mine. 1 built a log-house 20 feet 

aquare quite 'aristocratic in those days — and moved into it._ I was fortunate 

enouijh to possess a jack-knife; with that I made a wooden knife and two wooden 
forks" which answered admirably for us to eat with. A bedstead was wanted: I 
took two round poles for the posts, inserted a pole in them for a side rail, two other 
poles were inserted for end pieces, the ends of which were put in_ the logs of the 

house some puncheons were then split and laid from the side rail to the crevice 

between the logs of the house, which formed a substantial bed-cord, on which we 
laid our straw bed, the only one we had — on which we slept as soundly and woke as 
hap])v as Albert and Victoria. 




A Pioneer Dwelling in the Woods. 

Tn process of time, a yard and a half of calico was wanted; I started on foot 
through the woods ten miles, to Marietta, to procure it; but alas! when I arrived 
there I found that, in the absence of both money and credit, the calico was not to 
be obtained. The dilemma was a serious one, and how to escape I could not de- 
vise; but I had no sooner informed my wife of my failure, than she suggested that 
I had a pair of thin pantaloons which I could very well spare, that would make 
quite a decent frock: the pants were cut up, the frock made, and in due time, the 
child was dressed. 

The long winter evenings were rather tedious, and in order to make them pass 
more smoothly, by great exertion, I purchased a share in the Belpre library, 6 miles 
distant. From this I promised myself much entertainment, but another obstacle 
presented itself — I had no candles ; however, the woods afforded plenty of pine 
knots — with these 1 made torches, by which I could read, though I nearly spoiled 
my eyes. Many a night have I passed in this manner, till 12 or 1 o'clock reading 
to my wife, while she was hatcheling, carding or spinning. Time rolled on, the 
payments for my land became due, and money, at that time, in Ohio, was a cash 
article : however, 1 did not despair. I bought a few steers; some I bartered for 
and others I got on credit — my credit having somewhat improved since the calico 
expedition — slung a knapsack on my back, and started alone with my cattle for Rom- 
ney, on the Potomac, where I sold them, then traveled on to Litchfield, Connecti- 
cut, paid for my land, and had just $1 left to bear my expenses home, 600 miles 
distant. Before I returned, I worked and procured 50 cents in cash ; with this and 
n>y dollar I commenced my journey homeward. I laid out my dollar for cheap 
hair combs, and these, with a little Yankee pleasantry, kept me very comfortably 
at the )>rivate houses where I stopped till I got to Owego, on the Susquehanna, 
where I had a power of attorney to collect some money for a neighbor in Ohio. 



142 OHIO. 

At Marietta are some ancient works, which, although not more remarka- 
ble than others in the state, and not so extensive as some, are more generally 
known, from having been so frequently described by travelers. They are on 
an elevated plain, above the present bank of the Muskingum, on the east 
side, and about half a mile from its junction with the Ohio. They consist 
of walls and mounds of earth in direct lines, and in square and circular 
forms. The largest square fort, or town, contained about forty acres, en- 
compassed by a wall of earth, from six to ten feet high. On each side were 
three openings, probably gateways. On the side next the Muskingum there 
was a covert way, formed of two parallel walls of earth, upward of 200 feet 
apart, extending probably, at the time of their construction, to the river. 
There was also a smaller fort, consisting of 20 acres, having walls, gateways 
and mounds. The mound in the present graveyard is situated on the south- 
east of the smaller fort. The following inscriptions are copied from monu- 
ments in this yard : 

Sacred to the memory of Commodore Abraham Whipple, whose naval skill and courage 
will ever remain the pride and boast of his country. In the Revolution, he was the first 
on the seas to hurl defiance at proud Britain, gallantly leading the way to wrest from the 
mistress of the seas her scepter, and there wave the star spangled banner. He also con- 
ducted to the sea the first square rigged vessel ever built on the Ohio, opening to commerce 
resources beyond calculation. He was born Sept. 26th, A.D. 1733, and died May 26th, 1819, 
aged 85 years. 

Gen. RuFUS Putnam, died May 4, 1824, in the 87th year of his age. 



Here lies the body of his Excellency, Return Jonathan Meigs, who was born at Mid- 
dletown, Connecticut, Nov. — , 1766, and died at Marietta, March 29, 1825. For many 
years his time and talents were devoted to the service of his country. He successively filled 
the place of Judge of the Territory North-west of the Ohio, Senator of Congress of the 
United States, Governor of the State, and Post Master General of the United States. Tc 
the honoured and revered memorj' of an ardent Patriot, a practical Statesman, an enlight- 
ened Scholar, a dutiful Son, an indulgent Father, an aflFectionate Husband, this monument 
is erected by his mourning widow, Sophia Meigs. 



In memory of Doctor Samuel Hildreth, a native of Massachusetts, who died at Belpre, 
August 6th, A.D. 1823, aged 73 years. 

Death is the good man's friend — the messenger who calls him to his Father's house. 

Martha Brainerd, daughter of Dr. Joseph Spencer, Jr., and grand-daughter of M.ij. 
Gen. Joseph Spencer, officers in the army of the Revolution in 1775, the latter a member 
of the Continental Congress of 1778, born at Lebanon, Connecticut, Jan. 18, 1782, married 
in Virginia to Stephen RadelifF Wilson, May 20th, 1798, died at Marietta, Jan. 10th, 1852. 



Gallipolis, the county seat of Gallia county, one of the oldest towns in 
Ohio, is pleasantly situated on the Ohio River, 102 miles south-easterly from 
Columbus, and contains about 2,800 inhabitants. It was settled in 1791, by 
a French colony, sent out under the auspices of the "Scioto Company," 
which appears to have been in some way connected with the Ohio Company. 
The agents of the Scioto Company, in Paris, were Joel Barlow, of the 
United States ; Playfair, an Englishman ; and a Frenchman, named De Snis- 
son. A handsome, but deceptive French map was engraved, and glowing 
representations of the country were given, and, being about the beginning 
of the French Revolution, the "flattering delusion" took strong hold. The 
terms to induce emigration were as follows : The company proposed to take 
the emigrant to their lands and pay the cost, and the latter bound himself 
to work three years for the company, for which he was to receive fifty acres, 



OHIO. 



143 



a house, and cow. About five hundred Frenchmen left their native country, 
debarked mostly at Alexandria, Va., and made their way to the promised 
land. 

The location of Gallipolis was effected just before the arrival of the 
French. Col. Rufus Putnam sent Maj. Burnham, with about 40 men, for 




GallipoUs, i. e. Town of the French, in 1791. 

that purpose, who made the clearing and erected block-houses and cabins on 
the present public square. Eighty log cabins were constructed, 20 in each 
row. At each of the corners were block-houses, two stories high. Above 
the cabins, on the square, were two other parallel rows of cabins, which, with 
a high stockade fence, formed a sufficient fortification in times of danger. 
These upper cabins were a story and a half high, built of hewed logs, and 
finished in better style than those below, being intended for the richer class. 
The following is from a communication to the American Pioneer, from one 
of the colonists, Waldeurard 3Ieulette : 

At an early meeting of the colonists, the town was named Gallipolis (town of 
the French). 1 did not arrive till nearly all the colonists were there. 1 descended 
the river in 1791, in flat boats, loaded with troops, commanded by Gen. St. Clair, 
destined for an expedition against the Indians. Some of my countrymen joined 
that expedition; among others was Count Malartie, a captain in the French guard 
of Louis XVI. General St. Clair made him one of his aids-de-camp in the battle, 
in which he was severely wounded. He went back to Philadelphia, from whence 
he returned to France. The Indians were encouraged to greater depredations and 
murders, by their success in this expedition, but most especially against the Amer- 
ican settlements. From their intercourse with the French in Canada, or some 
other cause, they seemed less disposed to trouble us. Immediately after St. Clair's 
defeat, Col. Sproat, commandant at Marietta, appointed four spies for Gallipolis — 
two Americans and two French, of which I was one, and it was not until after the 
treaty at Greenville, in 1795, that we were released. 

Notwithstanding the great difficulties, the difference of tempers, education, and 
professions, the inhabitants lived in harmony, and having little or nothinjj to do, 
made themselves agreeable and useful to each other. The Americans and hunters, 
employed by the company, performed the first labors of clearing the township, 
which was divided into lots. 

Although the French were willing to work, yet the clearing of an American 



144 



OHIO. 



wilderness and its heavy timber, was far morfi than they could perform. To mi- 
grate from the eastern states to the " far west," is painful onouirh now-a-days, but 
how much more so it must be for a citizen of a large European town ! Even a 
farmer of the old countries would find it very hard, if not impossible to clear land 
in the wilderness. Those hunters were paid by the colonists to prepare their gar- 
den ground, which was to receive the seeds brought from France; few of the col- 
onists knew how to make a garden, but they were guided by a few books on that 
subject, which they had brought likewise from France. The colony then began to 
improve in its appearance and comfort. The fresh provisions were supplied by the 
company's hunters, the others came from their magazines. 

Breckenridge, in his Recollections, gives some reminiscences of GalHpolis, 
related in a style of charming simplicity and humor. He was then a boy of 
nine years of age : 

Behold me once more in port, and domiciled at the house, or inn, of Monsieur, or 
rather, Dr. Saugrain, a cheerful, sprightly little Frenchman, four feet six, English 
measure, and a chemist, natural philosopher and physician, both in the English and 
French signification of the word. . . . This singular village was settled by people 
from Paris and Lyons, chiefly artisans and artists, peculiarly unfitted to sit down 
in the wilderness and clear away forests. 1 have seen half a dozen at work in 
taking down a tree, some pulling ropes fastened to the branches, while others were 
cutting around it like beavers. Sometimes serious accidents occurred in conse- 
quence of their awkwardness. Their former employment had been only calculated 
to administer to the luxury of highly polished and wealthy societies. There were 
carvers and gilders to the king, coach makers, freizurs and peruke makers, and a 
variety of others who might have found some employment in our larger towns, but 
who were entirely out of their place in the wilds of Ohio. Their means by this 
time had l>een exhausted, and they were beginning to suffer from the want of the 
comforts and even the necessaries of life. The country back from the river was 
still a wilderness, and the Gallipotians did not pretend to cultivate anything more 
than small garden spots, depending for their supply of provisions on the boats 
which now began to descend the river; but they had to pay in cash, and that was 
become scarce. They still assembled at the ball room twice a week; it was evi- 
dent, however, that they felt disappointment, and were no longer happy. The pre- 
dilections of the best among them, being on the side of the Bourbons, the horrors 
of the French revolution, even in their remote situation, mingled with their private 
misfortunes, which had at this time nearly reached their acme, in consequence of 
the discovery that they had no title to their lands, having been cruelly deceived by 
those from whom they had purchased. It is well known that congress generously 
made them a grant of twenty thousand acres, from which, however, but few of them 
ever derived any advantage. 

As the Ohio was now more frequented, the house was occasionally resorted to, 
and especially by persons looking out for land to purchase. The doctor had a small 
apartment which contained his chemical apparatus, and I used to sit by him as 
often as I could watching the curious operation of his blow-pipe and crucible. I 
loved the cheerfal little man, and he became very fond of me in return. Many of 
my countrymen used to come and stare at his doings, which they were half inclined 
to think had a too near resemblance to the black art. 

The doctor was a great favorite with the Americans, as well for his vivacity and 
sweetness of temper, which nothing could sour, as on account of a circumstance 
which gave him high claim to the esteem of the backwoodsmen. He had shown 
himself, notwithstanding his small stature and great good nature, a very hero in 
or)mbat with the Indians. He had descended the Ohio in company with two 
French philosophers, who were believers in the primitive innocence and goodness 
of the children of the forest. They could not be persuaded that any danger was to 
be apprehended from the Indians; as they had no intentions to injure that people, 
they supposed no harm could be meditated on their part. Dr. Saugrain was not 
altogether so well convinced of their good intentions, and accordingly kept his pis- 
tols loaded. Near the mouth of the Sandy, a canoe with a party of warriors ap- 
proached the boat; the philosophers invited them on board by signs, when they 



OHIO. 



145 



came rather too willingly. The first thino; they did on comins; on board of the boat 
was to salute the two philosophers with the tumaliawk ; and they would have treated 
the doctor in the same way but that he used his pistols with good effect — killed two 
of the savages, and then leaped into the water, diving like a dipper at the flash of 
the guns of the others, and succeeded in swimming to the shore with several severe 
wounds whose scars were conspicuous. 

The doctor was married to an amiable young woman, but not possessing as much 
vivacity as himself As Madam Saugrain had no maid to assist her, her brother, a 
boy of my age, and myself were her principal helps in the kitchen. We brought 
water and wood, and washed the dishes. 1 used to go in the morning about twu 
two miles for a little milk, sometimes on the frozen ground, barefooted. I tried a 
pair of savots, or wooden shoes, but was unable to make any use of them, although 
they had been made by the carver to the king. Little perquisites, too, sometimes 
fell to our share from blacking boots and shoes; my companion generally saved 
his, while mine would have burned a hole in my pocket if it had remained there. 
In the spring and summer, a good deal of my time was passed in the garden, weed- 
ing the beds. While thus engaged, 1 formed an acquaintance with a young lady, 
of eighteen or twenty, on the other side of the palings, who was often similarly oc- 
cupied. Our friendship, which was purely Platonic, commenced with the story of 
Blue Beard, recounted by her, and with the novelty and pathos of which 1 was 
much interested. 

Soon after Breckenridge left the place, but in 1807 again saw Gallipolis: 

As we passed Point Pleasant and the Islniid below it, Gallipolis, which I looked for with 
anxious feelings, hove in sight. I tliought of the French inhabitants — I thought of my 
friend Saugrain, and I recalled, in the liveliest colors, the incidents of that portion of my 
life which wa** passed here. A year is a long time at that period — every day is crowded 
witli new and great and striking events. When the boat landed, I ran up the bank and 
looked around; hut alas! how changed! The Americans had taken the town in hand, 
and no trace of antiquity, that is, of twelve ye.irs ago, remained. I hastened to tlie snot 
where I expected to find tlie abode, the little log house, tavern and laboratoiy of the doc- 
tor, but they had vanished like the palace of Aladdin. After some inquiry, I found a little 
Frenchman, who, like the old woman of Goldsmith's villatre, was "the sad historian of tlie 
deserted plain" — that is, deserted by one race to be peopled by another. He led me to 
where a few lugs might be seen, as the only remains of the once happy tenement which had 
sheltered me — but all around it was a common; the town had taken a different direction. 
My heart sickened; the picture which my imagination had drawn — the scenes which my 
memory loved to cherish, were blotted out and obliterated. A volume of reminiscences 
seemed to be annihilated in an instant! I took a hasty glance at the new town as I re- 
turned to the boat. I saw brick houses, painted frames, fanciful inclosures, ornamental 
trees. Even the pond, which had carried off a third of the French population by its malu- 
ria, had disappeared, and a pretty green had usurped its place, with a neat brick court 
house in the midst of it. This was too much; I hastened my pace, and with sorrow once 
more pushed into the stream. 

Cincinnati, the metropolis of Ohio, and capital of Hamilton county, is on 
the right or northern bank of the Ohio, 116 miles south-west of Columbus, 
455, by the course of the river, from Pittsburg, Pa.; 1,447 above New Or- 
leans, by the 31ississippi and Ohio rivers; 518 west from Baltimore, 617 
from Philadelphia, 704 from New York, 655 east from St. Louis, Mo., 492 
from Washington City. Lat. 39° 6' 30"; Long. 84° 27' W. from Greenwich, 
or 7° 25' W. from Washington. It is the largest inland city in the United 
States, and is frequently called the "Queen City of the West." 

Soon after the first settlement of Ohio was commenced at Marietta, several 
parties were formed to occupy and improve separate portions of .Judge 
Symmes' purchase between the Miami Rivers. The first, led by Maj. Stites, 
laid out the town of Columbia, at the mouth of the Little Miami. The second 
party, about twelve or fifteen in number, under Matthias Denman and Robert 
Patterson, after much difficulty and danger, caused by floating ice in the 
Ohio, landed on its north bank, opposite the mouth of the Licking, Dec. 24, 

10 



146 



OHIO. 



1788. Here they proceeded to lay out a town, wliicli they called Losanti- 
vi/le, which was afterward changed to Cincinnati. The original price paid 
by Mr. Denman for the land on which the city now stands, was, in value, 
about Ji/fei'ii 2^^nce per acre. A third party of adventurers, under the imme- 
diate care of Judge Symmes, located themselves at North Bend. 

For some time it was a matter of doubt which of the rivals, Columbia, Cin- 
cinnati or North Bend would eventually become the seat of business. The 
garrison for the defense of the settlements having been established at Cincin- 
nati, made it the head-quarters and depot of the army. In addition to this, 




Cincinnati frojn the KentucJcy side of the Ohio. 

Parts of Covington and Newport, Ky., appear on the right; o, landing, Cincinnati; h, the sulinrb of 
Fulton, up the Ohin, on the left of which is East Walnut Hills, and through which passes the Little Miami 
Railroad, leadinu- to the eastern cities ; c. Mount Adams, on which is the Cincinnati Observatovy ; d, posi- 
tion of Walnut Hills, three miles from the city ; e. Mount Auburn, 480 feet al)0ve the bed of the Ohio ; /, 
Vine-street Hill,* four miles beyond which are the elegant country seats at Clifton ; g, valley of Mill-creek, 
on which is Spring Grove Cemetery, and the railroad track to Dayton. 

as soon as the county courts of the territory were organized, it was created 
the seat of justice for Hamilton county. These advantages turned the scale 
in favor of Cincinnati. 

At first, North Bend had a decided advantage over it, as the troops de 
tailed by Gen. Harmar for the protection of the Miami settlers were landed 
there, through the influence of Judge Symmes. It appears, however, that the 
detachment soon afterward took its departure for Cincinnati. The tradition 
is, that Ensign Luce, the commander of the party, while looking out verj 
leisurely for a suitable site on which to erect a block-house, formed an ac- 
quaintance with a bet'utiful, black-eyed female, to whom he became much 
attached. She was the wife of one of the settlers at the Bend. Her husband 
saw the danger to which he was exposed if he remained where he was. He 
therefore resolved at once to remove to Cincinnati. The ensign soon fol- 
, lowed, and, as it appears, being authorized to make a selection for a military 
work, he chose Cincinnati as the site, and notwithstanding the remonstrances 
of Judge Symmes, he removed the troops and commenced the erection of a 
block-house. Soon after Maj. Doughty arrived at Cincinnati with troops 
from Fort Harmar, and commenced the erection of Fort Washington. The 



* The bulk of the German population is in that portion of the city between the base of 
Mt. Auburn and Vine-street Hill. The line of the canal to Toledo cuts off the German set- 
tlement from the south part of the city. "Over the Rhine," t. e., over the canal, is, in 
common parlance, the appellation given to that quarter. The total German population is 
estimated at 40,000. 



OHIO. 147 

f\>llowing details upon the history of the phice is extracted from Howe's Hist. 
Collections of Ohio. 

Soon as the settlers of Cincinnati landed, they commenced erecting three or 
four cabins, the first of which was built on Front, east of and near 3Iain- 
street. The lower table of land was then covered with sycamore and maple 
trees, and the upper with beech and oak. Through this dense forest the 
streets were laid out, their corners being marked upon the trees. This survey 
extended from Eastern Row, now Broadway, to Western Row, now Central- 
avenue, and from the river as far north as Northern Row, now Seventh street. 

In January, 1790, Gen. Arthur St. Clair, then governor of the north-west 
territory, arrived at Cincinnati to organize the county of Hamilton. In the 
succeeding fall, Gen. Harmar marched from Fort Washington on his expedi- 
tion against the Indians of the north-west. In the following year (1791), 
the unfortunate army of St. Clair marched from the same place. On his re- 
turn, St. Clair gave Major Zeigler the command of Fort Washington and re- 
paired to Philadelphia. Soon after, the latter was succeeded by Col. Wil- 
kinson. This year, Cincinnati had little increase in its population. About 
one half of the inhabitants were attached to the army of St. Clair, and many 
killed in the defeat. 

In 1792, about fifty persons were added by emigration to the population of 
Cincinnati, and a house of worship erected. In the spring following, the 
troops which had been recruited for Wayne's army landed at Cincinnati and 
encamped on the bank of the river between the village of Cincinnati and 
Mill-creek. To that encampment Wayne gave the name of "Hobson's choice," 
it being the only suitable place for that object. Here he remained several 
months, constantly drilling his troops, and then moved on to a spot now in 
Darke county, where he erected Fort Greenville. In the fall, after the army 
had left, the small-pox broke out in the garrison at Fort Washington, and 
spread with so much malignity that nearly one third of the soldiers and citi- 
zens fell victims. In July, 1794, the army left Fort Greenville, and on the 
20th of August defeated the enemy at the battle of the "Fallen Timbers," in 
what is now Lucas county, a few miles above Toledo. Judge Burnet thus 
describes Cincinnati at about this period: 

Prior to the treaty of Greenville, which estalilished a permanent peace between 
the United States and the Indians, but few improvements had been made of any 
description, and scarcely one of a permanent character. In Cincinnati, Fort Wash- 
ington was the most remarkable object. That rude, but highly interesting struc- 
ture stood between Third and Fourth streets, produced east of Eastern Row, now 
Broadway, which was then a two pole alley, and was the eastern boundary of the 
town, as originally laid out. It was composed of a number of strongly built, hewed 
log cabins, a story and a half high, calculated for soldiers' barracks. Some of them, 
more conveniently arranged, and better finished, were intended for officers' quar- 
ters. They were so placed as to form a hollow square of aljout an acre of ground, 
with a strong block-house at each angle. It was built of large logs, cut from the 
ground on which it stood, which was a tract of fifteen acres, reserved by congress 
in the law of 1792, for the accommodation of the garrison. 

The artificers' yard was an appendage to the fort, and stood on the bank of the 
river, immediately in front It contained about two acres of ground, inclosed by 
small contiguous buildings, occupied as work-shops and quarters for laborers. 
Within the inclosure; there was a large two story frame house, fiimiliarly called 
the "yellow house," built for the accommodation of the quartermaster general, 
which was the most commodious and best finished edifice in Cincinnati. 

On the north side of Fourth-street, immediately behind the fort, Col. Sargeant, 
secretary of the territory, had a convenient frame house, and a spacious garden 
cultivated with care and' taste. On the east side of the fort. Dr. Allison, the sur 



148 



OHIO. 



ge(.n general of the array, had a plain frame dwellincr, in the center of a large lot 
cultivated as a garden and fruitery, which was called Peach Grove. The Pres- 
byterian Church, an interesting edifice, stood on Main-street, in front of the spa- 
cious brick building now occupied by the First Presbyterian congregation. It was 
a substantial frame building, about 40 feet by 30, inclosed with clapboards, but 
neither lathed, plastered nor ceiled. The floor was of boat plank, resting on 
wooden blocks. In that humble edifice the pioneers and their families assembled, 
statedly, for public worship; and, during the continuance of the war, they always 
attended with loaded rifles by their sides. That building was afterward neatly 
finished, and some years subsequently (1814) was sold and removed to Vine-street. 
On the north side of Fourth-street, opposite where St. Paul's Church now stands, 
there stood a frame school-house, inclosed, but unfinished, in which the children 
of the village were instructed. On the north side of the public square, there waa 
a strong log building, erected and occupied as a jail. A room in the tavern of 
George Avery, near" the frog-pond, at the corner of Main and Fifth-streets, hati 




The First Church built in Cincinnati* 

been rented for the accommodation of the courts; and as the penitentiary system 
had not been adopted, and Cincinnati was a seat of justice, it was ornamented with 
a pillory, stocks and whipping-post, and occasionally with a gallows. These were 
all the structures of a public character then in the place. Add to these the cabins 
and other temporary buildings for the shelter of the inhabitants, and it will com- 
plete the schedule of the improvements of Cincinnati at the time of the treaty of 
Greenville. 

It may assist the reader in forming something like a correct idea of the appear- 
ance of Cincinnati, and of what it actually was at that time, to know that at the 



®The engraving represents the First Presbyterian Church, as it appeared in February, 
1817, and is engraved from a drawing then taken by Mr. Howe for his "Historical Collec- 
tions of Ohio." It stood on the west side of Vine, just north of Fourth-street, on the spot 
noN7 occupied by the Summer Garden. Its original site was on the spot now occupied 
bv the First Presbyterian Church, on Fourth-street. In the following spring, it waa taken 
down, and the materials used for the construction of several dwellings in the part of Cincin- 
i.ari called I'exns. The greater proportion of the timber was found to be perfectly sound. 
In 1791, a number of the inhabitants formed themselves into a company, to escort the Rev. 
.lames Kemper from beyond the Kentucky River to Cincinnati ; and after his arrival, a 
subscription was set on foot to build this church, which was erected in 1792. This sub- 
scription paper is still in existence, and bears date January 16, 1792. Among its signers 
were Gen. Wilkinson, Captains Ford, Peters and Shaylor, of the regular service, Dr. Alli- 
son, surgeon to St. Clair and Wayne, Winthrop Sargeant, Capt. Robert Elliott and others 
principally citizens, to the number of 106, not one of whom survive. 



OHIO. 



149 



intersection of Main and Fifth-streets there was a pond of watei", full of aldei 
bushes, from which the fro.iis serenaded the neighborhood during the suiiuuer 
and fall, and which rendered it necessary to construct a causeway of logs, to pass 
it. That morass remained in its natural state, with its alders and its frogs, several 
years after. Mr. B. became a resident of the place, the population of which, includ- 
ing the garrison and followers of the army, was about six hundred. The fort was 
then commanded by William H. Harrison, a captain rn the army, but afterward 
president of the United States. In 1797, Gen. Wilkinson, the commander-in-chief 
of the army, made it his headquarters for a few months, but did not, apparently, 
interfere with the command of Capt. Harrison, which continued till his resignation 
in 1798. 

During the period now spoken of, the settlements of the territory, including Cin- 
cinnati, contained but few individuals, and still fewer families, who had been ac- 
customed to mingle in the circles of polished society. That fact put it in the power 
of the military to give character to the manners and customs of the people. Such 




Cincinnati in 1802. Population about 800. 

The engraving is fi-om a drawing made by Wtn. Bucknall, Esq., now of London, England. The principal 
part of the village was uiion the lauding. Fort Washington (shown by the flag) was the most conspicuous 
object then in Cincinnati. Its site was on the south side of Third-street, just west of Broadway, or, ag 
it was early called, Eastera Eow. 

a school, it must be admitted, was by no means calculated to make the most favor- 
able impression on the morals and sobriety of any community, as was abundantly 
proven by the result 

Idleness, drinking and gambling prevailed in the army to a greater extent than it has 
done to any subsequent period. This may be attributed to the fact that they had been 
several years in the wilderness, cut off from all society but their own, with but few 
comforts or conveniences at hand, and no amusements but such as their own inge- 
nuity could invent. Libraries were not to be found — men of literary minds, or 
polished manners, were rarely met with; and they had long been deprived of the 
advantage of modest, accomplished female society, which always produces a salu- 
tary influence on the feelings and moral habits of men. Thus situated, the officers 
wei-e urged, by an irresistible impulse, to tax their wits for expedients to fill up the 
chasms of leisure which were left on their hands, after a full discharge of their mil- 
iary duties; and, as is too frequently the case, in such circumstances, the bottle, 
the dice-box and the card-table were among the expedients resorted to, because 
they were the nearest at liand, and the most easily procured. 

It is a distressing fact that a very large proportion of the officers under General 
Wayne, and subsequently under Gen. Wilkinson, were hard drinkers. Harrison, 
Clark, Shomberg, Ford, Strong, and a few others, were the only exceptions. Such 
were the habits of the army when they began to associate with the inhabitants of 
Cincinnati, and of the western settlements generally, and to give tone to public 
sentiment As a natural consequence, the citizens indulged in the same practices 



150 OHIO. 

and formed the same habits. As a proof of this, it may be stated that when Jfr. 
Burnet came to the bar, there vrere nine resident lawj'ers engaged in the pracfica, 
of whom he is and has been for many years the only survivor. 'J'hey all becamo 
confirmed sots, and descended to premature graves, excepting his brother, who was 
a young man of high promise, but whose life was terminated by a rapid consump- 
tion, in the summer of 1801. He expired under the shade of a tree, by the side 
of the road, on the banks of Paint creek, a few miles from Chillicothe. 

On the yth of November, 1793, Wm. Maxwell established, at Cincinnati, "the 
Centinel of the North- Western Territory," with the motto, "open to all parties — 
influenced by none." It was on a half sheet, royal quarto size, and was the first 
newspaper printed north of the (^hio River. In 1796, Edward Freeman became 
the owner of the paper, which he changed to " Freeman's .lournal," which he con- 
tinued until the beginning of 1800, when he removed to Chillicothe. On the 28th 
of May, 1799, Joseph Carpenter issued the first number of a weekly paper, entitled 
the "Western Spy and Hamilton Gazette." On the 11th of January, 1794, two 
keel boats sailed from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh, each making a trip once in four 
weeks. Each boat was so covered as to be protected against rifle and musket balls, 
and had port holes to fire out at, and was provided with six pieces, carrying pound 
balls, a number of muskets and ammunition, as a protection against the Indians 
on the banks of the Ohio. In 1801, the first sea vessel equipped for sea, of 100 
tuns, built at Marietta, passed down the Ohio, carrying produce; and the banks of 
the river at Cincinnati were crowded with spectators to witness this novel event 
Dec. 19, 1801, the territorial legislature passed a bill removing the seat of gov- 
ernment from Chillicothe to Cincinnati. 

January 2, 1802, the territorial legislature incorporated the town of Cincinnati, 
and the following officers were appointed: David Zeigler, president; Jacob Burnet, 
recorder; Wm. Ramsay, David E. Wade, Chas. Avery, John Reily, Wm. Stanley, 
Samuel Dick, and Wm. Rufi'ner, trustees; Jo. Prince, assessor; Abram Cary, col- 
lector; and James Smith, town marshal. In 1795, the town contained 94 cabins, 
10 frame houses, and about 500 inhabitants. 



Cincinnati is situated in a beautiful valley of about 12 miles in circumfer- 
ence, surrounded by hills, which rise to the hight of about 500 feet. This 
valley is divided nearly in the center by the Ohio River. On the Kentucky 
side of the Ohio, the towns of Covington and Newport are situated in it, and 
it is there pierced by the smaller valley of the Licking River, running south- 
erly. On the Ohio side the valley is also pierced, below the settled part of 
Cincinnati, by the valley of Mill creek, running northerly. Cincinnati is 
laid out with considerable regard to regularity ; the streets in the center of 
the city being broad, and intersecting each other at right angles. Many of 
the hills surrounding the city are adorned by stately and elegant mansions, 
with ornamental grounds attached ; while some of them are yet covered with 
aroves of ancient forest trees. 

The greater part of the city is built on two terraces, or plains, sometimes 
called "bottoms," of which the first is about 50, and the second 108 feet 
above low water mark. These elevations, in grading, have been reduced 
more nearly to a gradual ascent of from 5 to 10 degrees from the river. 
The city extends more than three miles along the river. The central por- 
tions are compactly and handsomely built, with streets about 6Q feet wide, 
bordered with spacious warehouses, stores, etc., many of which are magnifi- 
cent structures, of beautiful brown freestone, rising to the hight of 6 stories, 
and with fronts of elaborate architecture. Main-street extends from the 
steamboat landing, in a northerly direction, and Broadway, Sycamore, Wal- 
nut, Vine, Race, Elm, and Plum-streets, are parallel to it. It is intersected 
at rijrht angles by 14 principal streets, named Water, First. Second, Third> 
eic. An open area upon the bank of the river, with about 1,000 feet front, east 



OHIO. 



151 



from the foot of Main-street, embracing some 10 acres, is reserved for tlie bncl- 
in-, and usually presents a scene of great activity. The shore is paved with 
Btoue from low water mark to the top of the first bank, and furnished with 




Vietc on Fourth street, Cincinnati 

Tl.e first .uUdin. on the left ^^ ^ 1^:^^^^^;^^ ^^^rSrt^n.^T^^^^^^'^:^, 
r moTDrTGoot^rbr^^S il^dtrve'ro/r buU^l-ian CUu.vU, appear .eyo.d. 

floatin-^ wharves, which accommodate themselves to the great variation in 
L hi"h^ of the river. From GO to 80 steamboats are often seen here at 
mice nresentin'^ a scene of animation and business life. , . , . ., 

The^Ohb River, at Cincinnati, is 1,800 feet, or about one third of a mile, 



152 OHIO. 

wide, and its mean annual range from low to high water is about 50 feet : 
the extreme range may be 10 feet more. The water is at its lowest point of 
depression usually in August, September and October, and the greatest rise, 
ii\ December, March, May and June. Its current, at its mean hight, is three 
n)iles an hour; when higher, or rising, it is more, and when very low it does 
not exceed two miles. The navigation of the river is rarely suspended by 
ice. The city is supplied with water raised from the Ohio by steam power, 
ciipable of forcing into the reservoir 5,000,000 gallons of water each twelve 
hours. The reservoir is elevated about 200 feet above the bed of the Ohio, 
and is estimated to contain 5,000,000 gallons. 

In point of commercial importance, Cincinnati occupies a front rank in 
the west. By means of the numerous steamers which are constantly plying 
to and fro on the bosom of the majestic river, which rolls gracefully on the 
south of the city, and the several canals and railroads which enter here, 
Cincinnati is connected with every available point of importance in the 
great and highly productive valley of the Mississippi. The trade is not, 
however, confined to the interior : and a vast amount of foreign importation 
and exportation is done. The pork business is carried on more extensively 
here than at any other place in the world. 

Manufacturing is entered into here with great energy, and employs a vast 
amount of capital. Numerous mills and factories are in operation, besides 
founderies, planing mills, rolling mills, saw mills, rolling mills, flouring mills, 
type founderies, machine shops, distilleries, etc. Nearly all kinds of ma- 
chinery is driven by steam, and there are now about 300 steam engines in 
operation in the city. Steamboat building is an extensive and important 
business here. Among the most important branches of manufacture is that 
of iron castings, implements and machinery of various kinds, as steam en- 
gines, sugar mills, stoves, etc., some of the establishments employing hun- 
dreds of hands. The manufacture of clothing is also a great interest ; and 
in the extent of the manufacture of furniture, the factories surpass any others 
in the Union. Cincinnati is also the most extensive book publishing mart 
in the west. The total value of the product of the manufacturing and in- 
dustrial pursuits of Cincinnati, for 1859, was ascertained by Mr. Cist to sum 
up more than one hundred and twelve millions of dollars. Among the 
heaviest items were, ready made clothing 15 millions ; iron castings, 6^ 
millions; total iron products, 13 millions; pork and beef packing, 6^ mil- 
lions; candles and lard oil, 6 millions; whisky, 5^ millions; furniture, 3§ 
millions; domestic liquors, 3^ millions; publications, newspapers, books, etc., 
2§ millions; and patent medicines, 2 millions. 

Cincinnati was the first city in the world to adopt the steam fire engine. 
The machine used is of Cincinnati invention, by Abel Shawk. The fire de- 
partment is under pay of the city. It is admirably conducted, and so efficient 
that a serious conflagration is very rare. The huge machines, when on their 
way to a fire, are drawn through the streets by four powerful horses moving 
at full gallop, and belching forth flames and smoke, form an imposing spec- 
tiicle. 

Cincinnati has the first Observatory built on the globe by the contribu- 
tions of "the people." It is a substantial stone building, on the hill east of 
the city. 500 feet above the Ohio, named Mt. Adams, from John Quincy 
Adhius, who laid the corner stone of the structure, Nov. 9, 1813. The teU 
escope is of German manufacture; it is an excellent instrument, and cost 
about $10,000. 



OHIO. 



153 



The public buildings of Cincinnati are numerous, and some of them of 
beautiful architecture. The Mechanics' Institute is a substantial building, 
erected by voluntary subscription. The Ohio School Library and that of the 
Mechanics' Institute are merged in one, which is free to the public : it has 




Pike's Opera House. 

The Eagle on the SMmmit is perched 110 feet above the pavement. The Opera room is abont 100 feel 
each way, and from the floor of the Parquette to tlie crown of the dome is 82 feet ; it has throe tier of 
boxes, and a seating capacity of nearly 3,000 pereons. 

24,000 volumes. The Catholic Institute, which adjoins it, is an elegant and 
capacious structure with a front of freestone. The Cincinnati College edifice 
is a large building of compact gray limestone. In it are the rooms of the 
Chamber of Commerce and the Young Mens' Mercantile Library Association. 
This association has 2,500 members, and a library of 20,000 volumes, beside 
all the principal American and foreign periodicals. The Masonic Temple, 
corner of Third and Walnut, cost about $150,000. It is one of the most 
beautiful and imposing buildings in the Union. The material is a light free- 
stone, and the style Byzantine. The County Court House is the largest 
building in the city. It cost more than a million of dollars: its front is of 
gray limestone, and the whole structure is of the most durable character. 
Among the theaters of the city, Pike's Opera House, for the beauty and ex- 
quisite taste shown in its construction, has a national reputation. It cost 
with the ground, nearly half a million of dollars: its magnificent opera hall 
is justly the pride of the citizens. Among the 110 churches of the city, 
the Catholic Cathedral, on Eighth-street, is the most imposing. It is 200 
feet long and 80 feet wide, with a spire rising to the hight of 250 feet, and 
cost about $100,000. 

Cincinnati has its full share of literary and benevolent institutions. It 
has 5 medical and 4 commercial colleges, the We&leyan Female, and also St. 



154 OHIO. 

Xavier Colleges. The common school system is on the principle now in 
vogue, of graded schools. The scholars are divided into three classes — the 
common, intermediate and high schools. And these, in turn, are graded, one 
year being given to each grade. A child is taken at six years of age, and at 
eighteen graduates at the high school, with an education based on the com- 
mon branches, and completed with some of the languages and higher 
branches of science.* 

Cincinnati is the center of many extensive railway lines, running north, 
east, south and west, and also the terminus of the Miami Canal, extending 
to Lake Ei-ie and Toledo, and the Whitewater Canal, penetrating the heart 
of Indiana. Population, in 1800. 759; in 1810, 2,540; in 1820, 9,602; 
1830,24,831; 1840, 46,.338; 1850, 118,761; in 1860. 171.293; the suburbs, 
Covington and Newport, would increase this to about 200,000. 

Cincinnati is noted for the successful manufacture of wine from native 
grapes, particularly the Catawba. The establishment of this branch of in- 
dustry is due to the unremitting exertions of Mr. Nicholas Longworth, a 
resident of Cincinnati for more than half a century. 

Prior to this, the manufacture of American wine had been tried in an 
experimental way, but it had failed as a business investment. Learning that 
wine could be made from the Catawba grape, a variety originating in North 
Carolina, Mr. Longworth entered systematically into its cultivation, and to 
encourage the establishment of numerous vineyards, he offered a market on 
his own premises for all the must (juice), that might be brought him, with- 
out reference to the quantity. 

•'At the same time he offered a reward of five hundred dollars to whoever should 
discover a better variety. It proved a great stimulus to the growth of the Catawba 
vine in the neighborhood of Cincinnati, to know that a man of Mr. Longworth's 
means stood ready to pay cash, at the rate of from a dollar to a dollar and a quar- 
ter a gallon, for all the grape juice that might be brought to him, without reference 
to the quantity. It was in this way, and by urgent popular appeals through the 
columns of the newspaper.s, that he succeeded, after many failure.s, and against the 
depressing influence of much doubt and indifi"erence, in bringing the enterprise up 

* The forcing system prevails in the graded schools of our large cities to an alarming ex- 
tent. It would seem a.s if. in the opinion of those who control these institutions, Provi- 
dence had neglected to mnke the days of sufficient length, for children to obtain an educa- 
tion. In some of our larse cities, doubtlf'ss many children can he found, on any winter 
night, between the late hours of S and 10, busv pouring over their books — a necessity re- 
quired for a respectable scholarship. Many, if the writer can believe alike teachers and 
parents, break down under the system. Others, doubtless, are to reap bitter fruits in after 
life, in long years of suffering, if, more happily, they fail to fill premature graves! 

H. H. Barney, Esq., formerly superintendent of the public schools of Ohio, himself with 
thirty-two years of experience as a teacher, thus expresses his views on this subject: 

" This ill-judged system of education has proved, in numerous instances, fatal to the 
health of the inmates of our public schools, exhausting their physical energies, irritating 
their nerves, depressing and crushing, to a great extent, that elasticity of spirit, vigor of 
body, and pleasantness of pursuit, which are essential to the highest success in education 
as well as in every other occupation. 

Parents, guardians, physicians, and sensible men and women everywhere, bear testimony 
against a system of education which ignores the health, the happiness, and, in some CAses, 
even the life of the pupil. Yet this absurd, cruel system is still persevered in, and will 
continue to be, so long as our public schools are mainly filled with the children of the 
poorer and humbler classes of society, and so long as the course of study and number of 
study hours are regulated and determined by those who have had little or no experience in 
the education or bringing up of children, or who, by educating their own offspring, at home 
or in private schools, have, in a measure, shielded them from the evils of this stern, rigor- 
ous, unnatural system of educating the intellect at the expense of the body, the affections, 
the disposition, and the present as well as life long welfare of the pupil." 



OHIO. 



155 



to its present high and stable position. Wlien he took the matter in hand there 
was much to discourage any one not possessed of the traits of constancy of pur- 
pose and perseverance peculiar to Mr. Longworth. Many had tried the manufac- 
ture of wine, and had failed to give it any economical or commercial importance. 




LongicortJi s Vineyard. 
Situated on the banks of the Ohio, four miles aboTe CindiiDati. 

Jt 5vas not believed, until Mr. Longworth practically demonstrated it, after many 
long and patient trials of many valued varieties from France and Madeira, none 
3f Aviiich gave any promise of success, that a native grape was the only one upon 
which any hope could be placed, and that of the native grapes, of which he had 
experimented upon every known variety, the Catawba offered the most assured 
promise of success, and was the one upon which all vine-growers might with coo- 
Silence depend. It took years of um-emitted care, multiplied and wide-spread in- 
vestigations, and the expenditure of large sums of money, to establish this fact, 
and bring the agricultural community to accept it and act under its guidance. 
The success attained by Mr. Longworth* soon induced other gentlemen resident 
in the vicinity of Cincinnati, and favorably situated for the purpose, to undertake 
the culture of the Catawba, and several of them are now regularly and extensively 
engaged in the manufacture of wine. The impetus and encouragement thus given 
to the business soon led the German citizens of Hamilton county to perceive its 
advantages, and under their thrifty management thousands of acres, stretching up 
from the banks of the Ohio, are now covered with luxuriant and proQtable vine- 
yards, rivaling in profusion and beauty the vine clad hills of Italy and France. 
I'he oldest vineyard in the county of Hamilton is of Mr. Longworth's planting. 
The annual product of these vineyards may be set down at between five and sis 
hundred thousand gallons, worth at present from one and a half to two dollars a 
gallon ; but the price, owing to the rapidity of the consumption, will probably ad- 



*" Mr. Longworth was always curious after new and interesting things of Nature's pro- 
ducing. It was the remark of an old citizen of Cincinnati, that, if Mr. Longworth was to 
be suddenly thrown, neck and heels, into the Ohio River, he would come to the surface with 
a new variety of fish in each hand. His chief interest in horticultural matter.<, however, 
has been expended upon the strawberry and the grape. The perfection of variety' and cul- 
ture to which he has, by his experiments and labors, brought these two important fruits of 
the country, have established their extensive and systematic cultivation in all parts of tb« 
west." 



156 OHIO- 

vance rather than decline. It is the prophecy of Mr. Flasir, Mr. Longworth's son- 
in-law, the gentleman who has charge of the commercial department of his wine 
business, that, in the course of comparatively few years, the annual product of 
the Sparkling Catawba will be counted by millions of bottles, while that of the 
still sorts will be estimated by its millions of gallons. Mr. Longworth alone bot- 
tles annually over 150,000 bottles, and has now in his cellars a ripening stock of 
300,000 bottles. These cellars are situated on the declivity of East Sixth-street, 
on the road to Observatory Hill. They occupy a space ninety feet by one hundred 
and twenty-five, and consist of two tiers of massive stone vaults, the lower of which 
is twenty five feet below the surface of the ground. Here are carried on all the 
various processes of wine-making, the mashing, pressing, fining, racking, bottling, 
labeling and boxing; and beneath the arches and along the walls are the wine butts, 
arranged and numbered in the order of the several vintages; piles of bottles stand 
about, ready for the bottlers." 

Within the last few years, the grape crop in the Ohio valley has been 
much injured by mildew and rot, yet the crop, thus far, has been as reliable 
as any other fruit. The most certain locality for the production of the 
grape in Ohio, is Kelly's Island, in Lake Erie, near Sandusky City, where 
the vines bear fruit when they fail in all other localities. This is ascribed to 
the uniformity of temperature at night, during the summer months, by which 
the formation of dew is prevented, and consequently of mildew. The grape 
is now cultivated in vineyards, for making wine, in twenty-one states of the 
Union. In the mountain regions of Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and South 
Carolina, the increase has been rapid and extensive. That district and Cal- 
ifornia appear to be the most favorable grape producing parts of the Union. 
Longworth's garden is among the curiosities of Cincinnati, and was for- 
merly greatly visited by strangers.' It is an inelosure of several acres, near 
the heart of the city, and at the foot of Mt. Adams. The mansion, with its 
art- treai^ures, is in the midst. On the grounds are several fine conservato- 
ries, filled with rare plants, a grape-house for foreign vines, and experi- 
mental forcing-house, for new varieties of strawberries and other plants. 
Mr. Longworth died February 10, 1863, at the advanged age of eighty-one. 
The suburbs of Cincinnati are very beautiful. Over on the hills the whole 
surface of the country, for miles and miles in every direction, is disposed, in 
exquisite undulations, with charming country seats, scattered here and there. 
The prominent localities are Walnut Hills, the seat of Lane Seminary, Mt. 
Auburn, Avondale and Clifton, the last containing the most elegant of rural 
seats. Spring Grove Cemetery, an inelosure of 168 acres, is four miles from 
Cincinnati — a city of the dead in a beautiful location, and where nature and 
art join their attractions. 

North Beiid^ once the home of General Harrison, is 16 miles below the 
city, and four from the Indiana line, at the northermost point of a bend in the 
Ohio River. This place derives its chief interest from having been long the 
residence of William Henry Harrison. The family mansion stood on a level 
plat about 300 yards back from the Ohio, amid pleasing scenery. It was de- 
stroyed by fire a few years since. The engraving on the following page is 
copied from a drawing made in 18-46 by Mr. Howe for his work on Ohio. 
The eastern half of the mansion, that is, the part on the reader's right, from 
the door in the main building, was built of logs. The whole structure was 
clapboarded and painted, and had a neat appearance. 

This dwelling became noted in the presidential campaign of 1840, which re- 
sulted in the election of Gen. Harrison to the presidency — commonly called "the 
Hard Cider Campaign.'' It is said that some opponent had declared in a public 
speech that he was unfit for the office, because he never had shown the ability to 



OHIO. 



1.37 



raise himself beyond the occupancy of a log cabin, in which he lived very coarsely, 
with no better beverage than hard cider. It was an unfortunate charge for the 
wishes of the accuser. The taunt of his being a poor man, and hying in a log 
cabin was seized upon by the whigs as an evidence of his incorruptibility in the 
' many responsible stations he had 

held, and the log cabin became at 
once the symbol of the party. 
Thousands of these were erected 
forthwith all over the land as ral- 
lying points for political meetings. 
Miniature cabins were carried in 
political processions, and in some 
cases barrels labeled "hard cider." 
Such enthusiasm as was excited 
among the masses of the western 
pioneers by the nomination of their 
favorite military leader had never 
before been exceeded. Immense 
mass meetings, with processions 
and song singing became the order 
of the time. Among the songs sung 
by assembled multitudes in all 
piirts of the country, the most p«pn- 
ular was one entitled '"Tippeca- 




North Bend, 
Kesidence of President Harrison. 



no'- and Tyler too" in which occurred these verses: 



What has caused this great commotion, motion, motion, 

Our country through ? 
It is the ball that's rolling on 

For Tippecanoe and Tyler too, 

For Tippecanoe and Tyler too ; 
And with them we'll beat little Van, 
Van, Van, Van, Van is a used up man, 
And with them we'll beat little Van. 

The latch-string hangs outside the door, door, door. 

And is never pulled through, 
For it never was the custom of 

Old Tippecanoe and Tyler too. 

Old Tippecanoe and Tyler too ; 
And with them we'll beat little Van, 
Van, Van, Van, Van is a used up man, 
And with them we'll beat little Van. 

The tomb of Harrison is near by, on a small oval mound, elevated about 150 
feet above the Ohio, and commanding a view of beauty. It is a plain brick struc- 
ture, without inscription. 



Near the tomb of Harrison is the grave of Judge Symmes. On a tablet there is 
this inscription : 

Here rest the remains of John Cleves Symmes, who at the foot of these hills made the 
first settlement between the Miami Rivers. Born at Long Island, state of New York, July 
21, A. D. 1742; died at Cincinnati, February 26, A. D. 1814. 

Jiuliie Symmes, before his removal to the west, was a member of congress fiom 
Kew Jersey, and also chief justice of that state. Gen. Harrison married his 
diiu<:hter, who, as late as 1860, still survived. At the treaty of Greenville, the In- 
dians told Judge Symmes, and others, that in the war they had frequently brought 
up their rifles to shoot him, and then on recognizing him refused to pull the trig- 
«er. This was in consequence of his previous kindness to them, and spoke volumes 
in his praise, as well as honor to the native instinct of the savages. 



158 



OHIO. 




Ancient IJiaick-hoi-se nkar North Bend. 



Three miles below North Bend, on the Ohio, was Sucrar Camp Settlement, com 
posed of about thirty houses, and a blook-house erected as a defense against tht 

Indians. This was aliout the 
time of the first settlement 
of Cincinnati. Until within 
a few years, this block- 
house was standinii. The ad- 
joining cut is from a draw- 
inii taken on the spot in 1846. 
We give it because it shows 
the ordinary form of these 
structures. Their distin- 
guishing feature is that from 
the bight of a man's shoulder 
the building the rest of the 
way up projects a foot or two 
from the lower part, leaving 
at the point of junction be- 
tween the two parts a cavity 
through which to thrust rifles 
on the approach of enemies. 
Hamilton^ the capital of Butler county, is 25 miles north of Cincinnati, on 
the Miami Canal, river and railroad to Dayton, and at the terminus of a 
railroad to Richmond. A hydraulic canal of 28 feet fall gives excellent 
water power, and there are now in operation several flourishing manuiactui- 
ing establishments — paper, flouring, woolen, planing mills, iron foundries, 
etc. Population 8000. The well known Miami University/ h 12 miles north- 
west of Hamilton, in the beautiful town of Oxford. 

John Cleves Symmes,^ the author of the "Theory of Concentric Spheres," demon- 
strating that the earth is hollow, inhabited by human beings, and widely open at 
the poles, was a native of New Jersey, and a nephew of Judge Symmes. He re- 
sided in the latter part of his life at Hamilton, where he died in 1829, aged about 
50 years. In early life he entered the army as an ensign. He was with Scott in 
his Niagara campaign, and acted with bravery. In a short circular, dated at St. 
Louis, in 1818, Capt. Symmes first promul- 
gated the fundamental principles of his 
theory to the world. From time to time, 
he published various articles in the pub- 
lic prints upon the subject. He also de- 
livered lectures, first at Cincinnati in 1820, 
and afterward in various places in Ken- 
tucky and Ohio. 

" In the year 1822, Capt. Symmes petitioned 
the congress of the TJnited States, setting 
forth, in the first place, his belief of the ex- 
istence of a habitable and accessible concave 
to this globe; his desire to embark on a voy- 
age of discovery to one or other of the polar 
regions; his belief in the great profit and honor 
his country would derive from such a dis- 
covery; and prayed that congress would equip 
and fit out for the expedition, two vessels, 
of two hundred and fifty or three hundred 
tuns burden; and grant such other aid as gov- 
ernment might deem necessary to promote the 
object. This petition was presented in the 
senate by Col. Richard M. Johnson, on the 7th day of March, 1822, when (a motion to 
refer it to the committee of foreign relations having failed), after a few remarks it was 
laid on the table — Ayes, 25, In December, 182:3, he forwarded similar petitions to both 
^lauses of congress, which met with a similar fate. In January 1824, he petitioned the 




MONUMENT OF J. C. SYMMES. 

Symmes' Hole" memory. It is surmounted 
by a. globe "open at the poles." 



OHIO. 



159 



general assembly of the state of Ohio, praying that body to pass a resolution approbatory 
of his theory; and to recommend him to congress for an outfit suitable to the enterprise. 
This memorial was presented by Micajah T. Williams, and, on motion, the further con- 
sideration thereof was indefinitely postponed." 

His theory was met with ridicule, both in this country and Europe, and became 
a fruitful source of jest and levity, to the public prints of the day. Notwithstand- 
inir, he advanced many plausible and ingenious arguments, and won quite a num 
ber of converts among those who attended his lectures, one of whom, a gentleman 
of Hamilton, wrote a work in its support, published in Cincinnati in 1826, in which 
he stated his readiness to embark on a voyage of discovery to the North Pole, for 
the purpose of testing its truth. Capt. Symmes met with the usual fate of pro- 
jectors, in living and dying in great pecuniary embarrassment: but he left the 
reputation of an honest man. 




Soiith-easieni view of the Court House, at ChilUcoihe. 

This beautiful and commodious structure is in the central part of Chillieothe; the left wing, on the cor- 
ner of Main ami Paint-streets, attached to the main biiilding, contains tlie offices of the Probate Judge, 
tlie Sheriff, and the Clerk ; the other wing, those of the Recorder, Treasurer, and Auditor. The First 
Presbyterian Church is seen on the left. 

Chillicothe is on the west bank of the Scioto, on the line of the Ohio 
Canal and Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad, 45 miles S. of Columbus, 45 
from Portsmouth, and 96 from Cincinnati. The Scioto curves around it on 
the north, and Paint creek flows on the south. The site of the place is on a plain 
about .30 feet above the river. It contains 17 churches, a young- ladies' 
Academy of the Notre Dame, a flourishing military academy, and about 
9,000 inhabitants. 

The new court house, in this town, is one of the best designed, most beautiful, 
and convenient structures of the kind we have seen in our tour through the 
United States. It was erected at an expense of about $100,000, and was 
designed by Gen. James Rowe, one of the county commissioners. A room 
is set apart in the court house for the preservation of the relics of antiquity. 
Here is preserved the table around which the members of the territorial 
council sat when they formed the laws of the North West Territory, of which 
Chillicothe was the capital. Around it also gathered the members who 
formed the first constitution of Ohio. The old bell which called them to- 



160 



OHIO. 




gether is preserved, also the copper eagle, which, for fifty years, perched on 
the spire of the old state house. 

In 1800, the old state house was commenced and finished the next year, 
for the accommodation of the legislature and courts. It is believed that it 

was the first public stone edi- 
fice erected in the territory. 
The mason work was done by 
Major Wm. Rutledge, a sol- 
dier of the Revolution, and 
the carpentering by William 
Guthrie. The territorial leg- 
islature held their session in 
it for the first time in 1801. 
The convention that framed 
the first constitution of Ohio 
was held in it, the session 
commencing on the first Mon- 
day in November, 1802. In 
April, 1803, the first state leg- 
islature met in the house, and 
held their sessions until 1810. 
The sessions of 1810-11, and 
1811-12, were held at Zanes- 
ville, and from there removed 
back to Chillicothe and held 
in this house until 181G, when 
Columbus became the perma- 
nent capital of the state. This ancient edifice was standing until within a 
few years. 

In the war of 1812, Chillicothe was a rendezvous for United States troops. They 
were stationed at Camp Bull, a stockade one mile N. of the town, on the west bank 
of the Scioto. A large number of British prisoners, amounting to several hundred, 
were at one time confined at the camp. On one occasion, a conspiracy was formed 
between the soldiers and their officers who were confined in jail. The plan was 
for the privates in camp to disarm their guard, proceed to the jail, release the 
officers, burn the town, and escape to Canada. The conspiracy was disclosed by 
two senior British officers, upon which, as a measure of security, the officers were 
sent to the penitentiary in Frankfort, Ky. 

Four deserters were shot at camp at one time. The ceremony was impressive 
and horrible. The soldiers were all marched out under arms, with music playing, 
to witness the death of their comrades, and arranged in one long extended line in 
front of the camp, facing the river. Close by the river bank, at considerable dis- 
tances apart, the deserters were placed, dressed in full uniform, with their coats 
buttoned up and caps drawn over their faces. They were confined to stakes in a 
kneeling position behind their coffins, painted black, which came up to their waists, 
exposing the upper part of their persons to the fire of their fellow-soldiers. Two 
sections, of six men each, were marched before each of the doomed. Signals were 
given by an officer, instead of words of command, so that the unhappy men should 
not be apprised of the moment of their death. At the given signal the first sec- 
tions raised their muskets and poured the fatal volleys into the breasts of their 
comrades. Three of the four dropped dead in an instant; but the fourth sprang 
up with great force, and gave a scream of agony. The reserve section stationed 
before him were ordered to their places, and another volley completely riddled his 
bosom. Even then the thread of life seemed hard to sunder. 

On another occasion, an execution took place at the same spot under most mel- 
ancholy circumstances. It was that of a mere youth of nineteen, the son of a 



Old State House, Chillicothe. 
[Drawn by Henry Howe, in 1846.] 



OHIO. 



16] 



wido-w. In a frolic he had wandered several miles from camp, and was on his re- 
turn when he stopped at an inn by the way-side. The landlord, a fiend in human 
shape, apprised of the reward of $50, offered for the apprehension of deserters, 
persuaded him to remain over night, with the offer of taking him into camp in the 
morning, at which he stated he had business. The youth, unsuspicious of any- 
thing wrong, accepted the offer made with such apparent kindness, when lo ! on 
his arrival next day with the landlord, he surrendered him as a deserter, swore 
falsely as to the facts, claimed and obtained the reward. The court-martial, igno- 
rant of the circumstances, condemned him to death, and it was not until he was no 
more, that his innocence was known. 




Portsmovth from the Ketduckt/ shore of the Ohio. 

The view shows the appearance of the Steamboat Landing, as seen from Springville, on the Kentucky 
side of the Ohio. The Biggs' House, corner of Marlvet and Front-streets, appears on the left, Gaylord & 
Co.'s Boiling Mill on the right. The Scioto River passes at the foot of the mountainous range on the left. 

Portsmouth, the capital of Scioto county, is beautifully situated on the 
Ohio River, at the mouth of the Scioto, 90 miles S. of Columbus, and 110 
by the river above Cincinnati, at the terminus of the Erie and Ohio Canal, 
and Scioto and Hocking Valley Railroad. It contains 16 churches, 5 fonn- 
deries, 3 rolling mills, 3 machine shops, and about 8,000 inhabitants. The 
great iron region of the state lies north and east of Portsmouth, and adds 
much to the business of the town. Here, on tbe Kentucky side of the Ohio, 
is a range of mountainous hills, averaging 500 feet high. Opposite Ports- 
mouth they rise precipitously to a hight of 600 feet, being the highest eleva- 
tion on the Ohio River, presenting a very striking and beautiful appearance. 
The Ohio is 600 yards wide at the landing, which is one of the best on the 
river, there being water sufficient for the largest boats at all seasons. A wire 
suspension bridge passes over the Scioto at this place. 

It is said that 1^ miles below the old mouth of the Scioto, stood, about 
the year 1740, a French fort or trading station. Prior to the settlement at 
Marietta, an attempt at settlement was made at Portsmouth, the history of 
which is annexed from an article in the American Pioneer, by George Cor- 
win, of Portsmouth: 

]n April, 1785, four families from the Redstone settlement in Pennsylvania, de- 
scended the Ohio to the mouth of the Scioto, and there moored their boat under 
the high bank where Portsmouth now stands. They commenced clearing the 
11 



162 OHIO 

p-ound to plant seeds for a crop to support their families, hoping that the red men 
of the forest would suffer them to remain and improve the soil. They seemed to 
hope that white men would no longer provoke the Indians to savage warfare. 

Soon after they landed, the four men, the heads of the families, started up tho 
Scioto to see the paradise of the west, of which they had heard from the mouths 
of white men who had traversed it during their captivity among the natives. Leav- 
ini: the little colony, now consisting of four women and their children, to the pro- 
teotion of an over-ruling Providence, they traversed the beautiful bottoms of the 
Scioto as far up as the prairies above, and opposite to where Piketon now stands. 
One of them, Peter Patrick by name, pleased with the country, cut the initials of 
liis name on a beech, near the river, which being found in after times, gave the 
name of Pee Pee to the creek that flows through the prairie of the same name ; 
and from that creek was derived the name of Pee Pee township in Pike county. 

Encamping near the site of Piketon, they were surprised by a party of Indians, 
Avho killed two of them as they lay by their fires. The other two escaped over the 
hills to the Ohio River, which they struck at the mouth of the Little Scioto, just 
as some white men going down the river in a pirogue were passing. They were 
goini^ to Port Vincennes, on the Wabash. The tale of woe which was told by these 
men, with entreaties to be taken on board, was at first insufficient for their relief 
It was not uncommon for Indians to compel white prisoners to act in a similar 
manner to entice boats to the shore for murderous and marauding purposes. After 
keeping them some time running down the shore, until they believed that if there 
was an ambuscade of Indians on shore, they were out of its reach, they took them 
on board, and brought them to the little settlement, the lamentations at which can 
not be described, nor its feeling conceived, when their peace was broken and their 
hopes blasted by the intelligence of the disaster reaching them. My informant 
was one who came down in the pirogue. 

There was, however, no time to be lost ; their safety depended on instant flight 
— and gathering up all their movables, they put off to Limestone, now Maysville, as 
a place of greater safety, where the men in the pirogue left them, and my informant 
said, never heard of them more. 

Cirdeville, the county seat of Pickaway county, on the Scioto River, on 
the line of tbe Erie and Ohio Canal, and on the railroad from Cincinnati to 
Wheeling, is 26 miles S. from Columbus, and 19 N. from Chillicothe. It 
lias numerous mills and factories, and an extensive water power. Population 
.about 5,000. 

It was laid out in 1810, as the seat of justice, by Daniel Dresbatch, on 
land originally belonging to Zeiger and Watt. The town is on the site of 
ancient fortifications, one of which having been circular, originated the name 
•of the place. The old court house, built in the form of an octagon, and de- 
«troy«d in 1841, stood in the center of the circle. There were two forts, one 
being an exact circle of 69 feet in diameter, the other an exact square, 55 
iirods on a side. The former was surrounded by two walls, with a deep ditch 
between them; the latter by one wall, without any ditch. Opposite each 
gateway a small mound was erected inside, evidently for defense. 

Three and a half miles south of Cirdeville are the celebrated Pickawai/ Plains, 
eaid to contain the richest body of land in southern Ohio. " They are divided into 
two parts, the greater or upper plain, and the lesser or lower one. They com- 
prise about 20,000 acres. When first cultivated the soil was very black, the result 
of veo"etable decomposition, and their original fertility was such as to produce one 
hundred bushels of corn, or fifty of wheat to the acre. Formerly the plains were 
adorned with a great variety of flowers. 

Of all places in the west, this pre-eminently deserves the name of " classic 
ground," for this was the seat of the powerful Shawnee tribe. Here, in olden time, 
birrned the council fires of the red man; here the affairs of the nation in general 
council were discussed, and the important questions of peace and war decided. 
On these plains the allied tribes marched forth and met Gen. Lewis, and fought 



OHIO. 163 

the sanguinary battle at Point Pleasant, on the Virginia bank of the Ohio, at the 
eve of the Revolution. Here it was that Logan made his memorable speech, and 
here, too, that the noted campaign of Dunmore was brought to a close by a treaty, 
or rather a truce, at Camp Charlotte. 

Among the circumstances which invest this region with extraordinary interest, 
is the fact, that to those towns were brought so many of the truly unfortunate 
prisoners who were abducted from the neighboring states. Here they were immo- 
lated on the altar of the red men's vengeance, and made to suffer, to the death, all 
the tortures savage ingenuity could invent, as a sort of expiation for the aggres- 
sions of their race. 

Old Chillicothe, which was the principal village, stood on the site of Westfall, 
on the west bank of the Scioto, 4 miles below Circleville. It was here that Logan, 
the Mingo chief, delivered his famous speech to John Gibson, an Indian trader. 
On the envoy arriving at the village, Logan came to him and invited him into an 
adjoining wood, where they sat down. Afler shedding abundance of tears, the 
honored chief told his pathetic story — called a speech, although conyersatipnally 
given. Gibson repeated it to the officers, who caused it to be published in the 
Virginia Gazette of that year, so that it fell under the observation of Mr. Jefferson, 
who gave it to the world in his Notes on Virginia : and as follows : 

I appeal to any white man to say, if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry, and I gave 
him not meat; if ever he came cold or naked, and I gave him not clothing? 

During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained in his tent, an advo- 
cate for peace. Nay, such was my love for the whites, that those of my own country pointed 
at me as they passed by, and said, " Logan is the friend of white men." I had even thought 
to live with you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cool 
blood, and unprovoked, cut oflF all the relatives of Logan ; not sparing even my women and 
children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any human creature. This 
called on me for revenge. I have sought it. I have killed many. I have fully glutted my 
vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at the beams of peace. Yet, do not harbor the 
thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel 
to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan ? Not one. 

This brief effusion of mingled pride, courage, and sorrow, elevated the character 
of the native American throughout the intelligent world; and the place vvhere it 
was delivered can never be forgotten so long as touching eloquence is admired by 
men. 

The last years of Logan were truly melancholy. He wandered about from tribe 
to tribe, a solitary and lonely man; dejected and broken-hearted, by the loss of 
his friends and the decay of his tribe, he resorted to the stimulus of strong drink 
to drown his sorrow. He was at last murdered in Michigan, near Detroit. He 
was, at the time, sitting with his blanket over his head, before a camp-fire, his 
elbows resting on his knees, and his head upon his hands, buried in profound re- 
flection, when an Indian, who had taken some offense, stole behind him and buried 
his tomahawk in his brains. Thus perished the immortal Logan, the last of his 
race. 

At the various villages, were the burning grounds of the captives taken in war. 
These were on elevated sites, so that when a victim was sacrificed by fire, the 
smoke could be seen at the other towns. 

The chief, Cornstalk, whose town was on Scippo Creek, two miles south- 
easterly from Old Chillicothe, was a man of true nobility of soul, and a 
brave warrior. , 

At the battle of Point Pleasant he commanded the Indians with consummate skill, and 
if at any time his warriors were believed to waver, his voice could be heard above the din 
of battle, exclaiming in his native tongue, " Be strong! — be strong! " When he returned 
to the Pickaway towns, after the battle, he called a council of the nation to consult what 
should be done, and upbraided them in not suffering him to make peace, as he desired, on 
the evening before the battle. "What," said he, " will you do now? The Big Knite is 
coming on us, and we shall all be killed. Now you must fight or we are undone." But 
no one answering, he said, " then let us kill all our women and children, and go and fight 
until we die." But no answer was made, when, rising, he struck his tomahawk in a post 
of the council house and exclaimed, " I'll go and make peace," to which all the warriors 
grunted "oughl ough!"and runners were instantly dispatched to Dunmore to solicit 
peace. 



1164 



OHIO. 



In the summer of 1777, he was atrociously murdered at Point Pleasant. As his mur- 
derer? were approaching, his son Elinipsico trembled violently. " His father encouraged 
him not to be afraid, for that the Great Man above had sent him there to be killed and die 
with him. As the men advanced to the door, Cornstalk rose up and met them: they fired 
and seven or eight bullets went through him. So fell the great Cornstalk warrior — whose 
name was bestowed upon him by the consent of the nation, as their great strength and 
support." Had he lived, it is believed that he would have been friendly with the Ameri- 
cans, as he had come over to visit the garrison at Point Pleasant to communicate the de- 
sign of the Indians of uniting with the British. His grave is to be seen at Point Pleas- 
ant to the present day. 




State Capitol, at Columbus. 

Columbus, the seat of justice for Franklin county, and capital of Ohio, 
on the left bank of the Scioto, 110 miles N.E. from Cincinnati, 100 N.W. 
from Marietta, and 139 S.E. from Cleveland, is on the same parallel of lati- 
tude with Zanesville and Philadelphia, and on the same meridian with De- 
troit, Mich., and Milledgeville, Geo. 

The site of Columbus is level, and it is regularly laid out, with broad, 
spacious streets : Broad-street, the principal one, is 120 feet wide. In the 
center of the city is a public square of 10 acres, inclosed by a neat railing ; 
and in the environs is Goodale Park, a tract of 40 acres, covered with a 
growth of native trees. The new state house, or capitol, is one of the most 
magnificent buildings in the Union. It is 304 feet long by 184 wide, and 
from its base to the top of the rotunda is 157 feet. The material is a hard, 
whitish limestone, resembling marble. 

Columbus is surrounded by a rich and populous country, and is a place of 
active business. The National road, passes through it from east to west, 
and the Columbus feeder connects it with the Ohio canal. Several plank 
roads and turnpikes terminate here, and numerous railroads, stretching out 
their iron arms in every direction, give it convenient communication with 
all parts of the state and Union. 



OHIO. 



165 



In the environs of the city are the various state institutions. The State 
Penitentiary is a large and substantial edifice ; the buildings and inclosures 
form a hollow square of six acres ; about 1,000 convicts have been confined 
here at one time. The Ohio Lunatic Asylum, a noble istructure, occupies 
about an acre of ground, and has thirty acres attached to it, covered with 
trees and shrubbery. The Deaf and Dumb Asylum is a handsome building, 
surrounded with grounds laid out with taste. The Ohio Institution for the 
Education of the Blind is surrounded by a plot of ground, of about 9 acres, 
laid out with graveled walks, and planted with trees. The Starling Medi- 
cal College is a handsome Gothic edifice. The Theological Seminary of the 
German Lutherans, is about three fourths of a mile from the center of the 
city. Columbus, as a commercial depot, has superior facilities, and it has 
numerous and extensive manufacturing establishments. Population, in 1820, 
1,400; in 1840, 6,048; in 1850, 18,138; and in 1860, 18,647. 

From the first organization of the state government until 1816, there was no per- 
manent state capital. The sessions of the legislature were held at Chillicothe until 
1810; the sessions of 1810-11 and 1811-12, were held at Zanesville; after that, 
until December, 1816, they were again held at Chillicothe, at which time the leg- 
islature was first convened at Columbus. 

Among the various proposals to the legislature, while in session at Zanesville, 
for the establishment of a permanent seat of government, were those of Lyne Star- 
ling, James Johnston, Alex. M'Laughlin and John Kerr, the after proprietors of 
Columbus, for establishing it on the " high bank of the Scioto River, opposite 
Franklinton," which site was then a native forest. On the 14th Feb., 1812, the 
legislature passed a law accepting their proposals, and in one of its sections', 
selected Chillicothe as a temporary seat of government merely. By an act amend- 
atory of the other, passed P'eb. 17, 1816, it was enacted, " that from and after the 
second Tuesday of October next, the seat of government of this state shall be 
established at the town of Columbus." 




Ohio White Sulphur Springs. 

On the 19th of Feb., 1812, the proprietors signed and acknowledged their arti- 
cles at Zanesville, as partners, under the law for the laying out, etc., of the town of 
Columbus. The contract having been closed between the proprietors and tlie state, 
the town was laid out in the spring of 1812, under the direction of Moses Wright. 

For the first few years Columbus improved rapidly. Emigrants flowed in, appa- 
rently, from all quarters, and the improvements and general business of the place 
kept pace with the increase of population. Columbus, however, was a rough spot 
in the woods, off from any public road of much consequence. The east and west 



166 OHIO. 

travel passed through Zanesville, Lancaster and Chillicothe, and the mails came in 
cross-line on horseback. The first successful attempt to carry a mail to or from 
Columbus, otherwise than on horseback, was by Philip Zinn, about the year 1816, 
once a week between Chillicothe and Columbus. The years from 1819 to 182-6, 
were the dullest years of Columbus ; but soon after it began to improve. The lo- 
cation of the national road and the Columbus feeder to the Ohio canal, gave an 
impetus to improvements. 

The Ohio White Sulphur Springs are beautifully situated on the Scioto 
River, in Delaware county, 17 miles north of Columbus, near the line of the 
Springfield, Mt. Vernon and Pittsburg Railroad. Upon the estate are four 
medicinal springs of diiferent properties : one is white sulphur, one magne- 
sian, and two chalybeate. The spring property consists of 320 acres, part 
of it woodland, handsomely laid off in walks and drives. The healthiness 
of the location and the natural attractions of the spot, joined to the liberal 
and generous accommodations furnished by the proprietors, have rendered 
this, at the present time, the most popular watering place in the west. 

Newark, the capital of Licking county, on the Central Ohio Railroad, 33 
miles easterly from Columbus, is a pleasant town of about 4,000 inhabitants. 
Six miles west of Newark is Granville, noted for its educational institutions, 
male and female, and the seat of Dennison Univei'sity, founded in 1832, by 
the Baptists. This was one of the early settled spots in Central Ohio. The 
annexed historical items are from the sketches of Rev. Jacob Little : 

In iy04, a company was formed at Granville, Mass., with the intention of making a 
settlement in Ohio. This, called " the Scioto Company," was the third of that name which 
efifected settlenients in this state. The project met with great favor, and much enthusiasm 
was elicited; in illustration of which, a song was composed and sung to the tune of "Pleas- 
ant Ohio," by the young people in the house and at labor in the field. We annex two 
stanzas, which are more curious than poetical: 
When rambling o'er these mountains Our precious friends that stay behind, 

And rocks, where ivies grow We're sorry now to leave ; 

Thick as the hairs upon your head, But if they'll stay and break their shins, 

'Mongst which you can not go; For them we'll never grieve; 

Great storms of snow, cold winds that blow, Adieu, my friends I come on my dears, 

We scarce can undergo ; This journey we'll forego, 

Says I, my boys, we'll leave this place And settle Licking creek, 

For the pleasant Ohio. In yonder Ohio. 

The Scioto company consisted of 114 proprietors, who made a purchase of 28,000 acres. 
In the autumn of 1805, 2.34 persons, mostly from East Granville, Mass., came on to the 
purchase. Although they had been forty-two days on the road, their first business, on their 
arrival, having organized a church before they left the east, was to hear a sermon. The 
fii'st tree cut was that by which public worship was held, which stood just in front of the site 
of the Presbyterian church. On the first Sabbath, November 16th, although only about a 
dozen trees had beon cut, they held divine worship, both forenoon and afternoon, at that 
spot. The novelty of worshiping in the woods, the forest extending hundreds of miles 
every way, the hardships of the journey, the winter setting in, the fresh thoughts of home, 
with all the friends and privileges left behind, and the impression that such must be the 
accommodations of a new country, all rushed on their nerves and made this a day of varied 
interest. When they began to sing, the echo of their voices among the trees was so dif- 
ferent from what it was in the beautiful meeting house they had left, that they could no 
longer restrain their tears. They wept when they rfinevibered Zion. The voices of part of 
the choir were for a season suppressed with emotion. 

An incident occurred, which some Mrs. Sigouruey should put into a poetical dress. 
Deacon Theophilus Reese, a Welsh Baptist, had two or three years before built a cabin a 
mile and a halt north, and lived all this time without public worship. He had lost his 
cows, and hearing a lowing of the oxen belonging to the company, set out toward them. 
As he ascended the hills overlooking the town-plot, he heard the singing of the choir. 
The reverberation of the sound from hill-tops and trees, threw the good man into a serious 
dilemma. The music at first seemed to be behind, then in the tops of the trees or the 
clouds. He stopped till, by accurate listening, he caught the direction of the sound, and 
went on, till passing the brow of the hill, when he saw the audience sitting on the level 
below. He went home and told his wife that "tfte promise of God is a bond;" a Welsh 



OHIO. 



167 



phrase, signifying that we have security, equal to a bond, that religion will prevail every- 
where. He said, "these must be good people. I am not afraid to go among them.'* 
Though he could not understand English, he constantly attended the reading meeting. 
Hearing the music on that occasion made such an impression upon his mind, that when he 
became old and met the first settlers, he would always tell over this story. 




Court House., ZanesvlUe. 

Zanesvillb, the capital of Muskingum county, is beautifully situated on 
the east bank of the Muskingum River, opposite the mouth of the L icking 
creek, 54 miles E. of Colunibus, 82 from Wheeling, and 179 E.N.E. from 
Cincinnati. The Muskingum, in passing the town, has a natural descent of 
nine feet in a distance of about a mile, which is increased by dams to sixteen 
feet, thus affording great water-power, which is used by extensive manufac- 
toi-ies of various kinds. The number of factories using steam power is also 
large, arising from the abundance of bituminous coal supplied from the sur- 
rounding hills. Steamboats can ascend from the Ohio to this point, and 
several make regular passages between Zanesville and Cincinnati. The Cen- 
tral Ohio Railroad connects it with Columbus on one hand and Wheeling on 
the other; the Zanesville, Wilmington and Cincinnati Railroad, about 130 
miles long, terminates here, and connects with another leading north to 
Cleveland. 

Five bridges cross the Muskingum here, including the railroad bridge, 
connecting the city with Putnam, South Zanesville and West Zanesville, all 
of which are intimately connected with the business interests of Zanesville 
proper. There are 5 flouring mills, also iron founderies and machine shops, 
which do an extensive business. The railroad bridge is of iron, 538 feet in 
length, and contains 67 tuns of wrought iron and 130 tuns of cast iron. 
The water of the river is raised, by a forcing pump, into a reservoir on a hill 
160 feet high, containing nearly a million of gallons, and from thence dis- 
tributed through the city in iron pipes. Zanesville has excellent schools, 
among which is the Free School, supported by a fund of from $300,000 to 
$500,000, bequeathed by J. Mclntire, one of the founders of the place. 
Within a circuit of a mile from the court house are about 16,000 inhabit- 
ants: within the city proper, about 10,000. 

In May, 1796, congress passed a law authorizing Ebenezer Zane to open 



.168 OHIO. 

a road from Wheeling, Va., to Limestone, now Maysville, Ky. In the fol- 
lowing year, Mr. Zane, accompanied by his brother, Jonathan Zanc, and his 
son-in-law, John Mclntire, both experienced woodsmen, proceeded to mark 
out the new road, which was afterward cut out by the latter two. As a com- 
pensation for opening this road, congress granted to Ebenezer Zane the priv- 
ilege of locating military warrants upon three sections of land, not to exceed 
one mile square each. One of these sections was to be at the crossing of the 
Muskingum, and one of the conditions annexed to Mr. Zane's grant was, that 
he should keep a ferry at that spot. This was intrusted to Wm. M'Culloch 
and H. Crooks. The first mail ever carried in Ohio was brought from Ma- 
rietta to M'Culloch's cabin, by Daniel Convers, in 1798. 

In 1799, Messrs. Zane and M'Intire laid out the town, which they called West- 
bourn, a name which it continued to bear until a post-office was established by the 
postmaster general, under the name of Zanesville, and tke village soon took the 
same name. A few families from the Kanawha, settled on the west side of the 
river soon after M'Culloch arrived, and the settlement received pretty numerous 
accessions until it became a point of importance. It contained one store and no 
tavern. The latter inconvenience, however, was remedied by Mr. M'Intire, who, 
for public accommodation, rather than for private emolument, opened a house of 
entertainment. It is due to Mr. M'Intire and his lady to say that their accommo- 
dations, though in a log cabin, were such as to render their house the traveler's 
home. Prior to that time there were several grog shops where travelers might 
stop, and after partaking of a rude supper, they could spread their blankets and 
bearskins on the floor, and sleep with their feet to the fire. But the opening of 
Mr. M'Intire's house introduced the luxury of comfortable beds, and although his 
board was covered with the fruits of the soil and the chase, rather than the luxu- 
ries of foreign climes, the fare was various and abundant. This, the first hotel at 
Zanesville, stood at what is now the corner of Market and Second-streets, a few 
rods from the river, in an open maple grove, without any underbrush ; it was a 

})leasant spot, well shaded with trees, and in full view of the falls. Louis Phillippe, 
ate king of France, was once a guest of Mr. M'Intire. 

At that time, all the iron, nails, castings, flour, fruit, with many other articles 
now produced here in abundance, were brought from Pittsburgh and Wheeling, 
either upon pack-horses across the country, or by the river in canoes. Oats and 
corn were usually brought about fifty miles up the river, in canoes, and were worth 
from 75 cents to $1 per bushel : flour, $6 to |8 per barrel In 1802, David Har- 
vey opened a tavern at the intersection of Third and Main-streets, which was about 
the first shingle-roofed house in the town. Mr. M'Intire having only kept enter- 
tainment for public accommodation, discontinued after the opening of Mr. Har- 
vey's tavern. 

In 1804, when the legislature passed an act establishing the county of Mus- 
kingum, the commissioners appointed to select a site for the county seat, reported 
in favor of Zanesville. The county seat having been established, the town im- 
proved more rapidly, and as the unappropriated United States military lands had 
been brought into market during the preceding year (1803), and a land office 
esta1)lished at Zanesville, many purchases and settlements were made in the 
county. 

The seat of government had been fixed temporarily at ChilHcothe, but for sev- 
eral reasons, many members of the legislature were dissatisfied, and it was known 
that a change of location was desired by them. 

In February, 1810, the desired law was passed, fixing the seat of government at 
Zanesville, until otherwise provided. The legislature sat here during the sessions 
of 'lO-'ll and '11-'12, when the present site of Columbus having been fixed upon 
for the permanent seat, the Chillicothe interest prevailed, and the temporary seat 
was once more fixed at that place, until suitable buildings could be erected at 
Columbus. 

The project of removing the seat of government had been agitated as early as 
1807 or' '8, and the anticipation entertained that Zanesville would be selected, gave 



OHIO. 169 

increased activity to the progress of improvement. Much land was entered in the 
county, and many settlements made, although as late as 1813, land was entered 
within three miles of Zanesville. In 1809, parts of the town plat were covered 
with the natural growth of timber. 

The following inscriptions are copied from monuments, the first three in 
the ancient graveyard, on the hill at the head of Main -street, in Zanesville, 
the others in the extensive cemetery in Putnam, the village opposite : 

Sacred to the memory of John McIntire, who departed this life July 29, 1815, aged 56 
years. He was born at Alexandria, Virginia, laid out the town of Zanesville in 1800, of 
which he was the Patron and Father. He was a member of the Convention which formed 
the Constitution of Ohio. A kind husband, an obliging neighbor, punctual to his engage- 
ments; of liberal mind, and benevolent disposition, his death was sincerely lamented. 



Sacred to the memory of William Raynolds, a native of Virginia, he emigrated to Ohio 
in 1804, and settled in the town at the foot of this hill, where he departed this life Nov. 12, 
1844, aged 50 years. 

Who, though formed in an age when corruption ran high, 

And folly alone seemed with folly to vie ; 

When genius with traffic too commonly strain'd. 

Recounted her merits by what she had gain'd. 

Yet spurn'd at those walks of debasement and pelf, 

And in poverty's spite, dared to think for himself. 



Man goeth to his long home, and mourners go about the streets. Within this case lieth 
the mortal part of David Harvey, who was born in the parish of Hogen, county of Corn- 
wall, England, June 21, 1746 ; arrived in Frederiektown, Md., June, 1774, and voted for 
the Independence of the United States ; supported the war by furnishing a soldier during 
the term thereof, according to an act of the Assembly of that State. Arrived on the bank 
of the Muskingum River, at Zanesville, Ohio, 10th of Dec, 1800. Died May, 1845, aged 
69 years. 

William Welles, born in Glastenbury, Conn., 1754. Among the pioneers of the North 
West Territory, he shared largely in their labors, privations and perils. In 1790, he lo- 
cated at Cincinnati. As Commissary he was with the army of St. Clair, and was wounded 
in its memorable defeat. In 1800, he settled in Zanesville, subsequently he removed to 
Putnam, where he lived respected and beloved by all who knew him, and died universally 
lamented, on the 26th of Jan., 1814. 



Dr. Increase Matthews, born in Braintree, Massachusetts, Dec. 22, 1772. Died June 
6, 1856. " Blessed is the man in whose spirit there is no guile." Psalms xxxii, 2. Dr. 
Matthews emigrated to Marietta, Ohio, 1800. In the spring of 1801 he removed to Zanes- 
ville, and the same year bought the land which forms the cemetery, including the town plat 
of Putnam. For some time he was the only physician in the county. Among the early 
pioneers of the valley of the Muskingum, his many unostentatious virtues, and the purity 
and simplicity of his life and character were known and appreciated. 



Coshocton, the capital of Coshocton county, is a small village, 30 miles 
above Zanesville, at the forks of the Muskingum, and on the line of the 
Pittsburg, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad. This vicinity was a favorite 
residence of the Indians, especially the Shawnees, and they had numerous 
villages on the Muskingum and its branches. 

Before the settlement of the country, there were several military expeditions into 
this region. The first was made in the fall of 1764, by Col. Henry Boquet, with a 
large body of British regulars and borderers of Pennsylvania and Virginia. Ovei^ 
awed by .his superiority, and unable by his vigilance to eflFect a surprise, the 
combined tribes made a peace with him, in Avhich they agreed to deliver up their 
captives. The delivery took place on the 9th of November, at or near the site of 
Coshocton. The number brought in was 206, men, women and children, all from 



170 OHIO. 

the frontiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia. The scene which then took place was 
very affecting, as related by Hutchins. 

Language, indeed, can but weakly describe the scene, one to which the poet or painter 
might have repaired to enrich the highest colorings of the variety of the human passions, 
the philosopher, to find ample subject for the most serious reflection, and the man to exer- 
cise all the tender and sympathetic feelings of the soul. There were to be seen fathers 
and mothers recognizing and clasping their once lost babes, husbands hanging around the 
necks of their newly recovered wives, sisters and brothers unexpectedly meeting together, 
after a long separation, scarcely able to speak the same language, or for some time to be 
sure that they were the children of the same parents. In all these interviews joy and rap- 
ture inexpressible were seen, while feelings of a very different nature were painted in the 
looks of others, flying from place to place, in eager inquiries after relatives not found; 
trembling to receive an answer to questions; distracted with doubts, hopes and fears on 
obtaining no account of those they sought for; or stiffened into living monuments of hor- 
ror and woe, on learning their unhappy fate. 

The Indians, too, as if wholly forgetting their usual savageness, bore a capital part in 
hightening this most affecting scene. They delivered up their beloved captives with the 
utmost reluctance — shed torrents of tears over them — recommending them to the care and 
protection of the commanding officer. Their regard to them continued all the while they 
remained in camp. They visited them from day to day, brought them what corn, skins, 
horses, and other matters had been bestowed upon them while in their families, accompa- 
nied with other presents, and all the marks of the most sincere and tender affection. Nay, 
they didn't stop here, but when the army marched, some of the Indians solicited and ob- 
tained permission to accompany their former captives to Fort Pitt, and employed them- 
selves in hunting and bringing provisions for them on the way. A young Mingo carried 
this still firther, and gave an instance of love which would make a figure even in romance. 
A young woman of Virginia was among the captives, to whom he had formed so strong 
an attachment as to call her his wife. Against all the remonstrances of the imminent 
danger to which he exposed himself by approaching the frontier, he persisted in following 
her, at the risk of being killed by the surviving relatives of many unfortunate persons who 
had been taken captive or scalped by those of his nation. 

But it must not be deemed that there were not some, even grown persons, who showed 
an unwillingness to return. The Shawnees were obliged to bmd some of their prisoners, 
and force them along to the camp, and some women who had been delivered up, afterward 
found means to escape, and went back to the Indian tribes. Some who could not make 
their escape, clung to their savage acquaintances at parting, and continued many days in 
bitter lamentations, even refusing sustenance. 

In 1774, in Dunmore's war, a second expedition, of 400 Virginians, under 
Col. Angus M'Donald, entered the country, and destroyed the Wakatomica 
towns, and bui'nt the corn of the Indians. This was in the vicinity of Dres- 
den, a few miles below the forks. 

In the summer of 1780, a third expedition, called " the Coshocton campaign" 
was made, under Col. Broadhead. The troops rendezvoused at "Wheeling, and 
marched to the forks of the Muskingum. They took about 40 prisoners, whom they 
tomahawked and scalped in cold blood. A chief, who, under promise of protec- 
tion, came to make peace, was conversing with Broadhead, when a man, named 
Wetzel, came behind him, and drawing a concealed tomahawk from the bosom of 
his hunting shirt, lifted it on high and then buried it in his brains. The confiding 
savage quivered, fell and expired. 

In Tuscarawas county, which lies directly east and adjoining to Coshoc- 
ton, as early as 1762, the Moravian missionaries, Rev. Frederick Post and 
John Heckewelder, established a Mission among the Indians on the Tusca- 
rawas, where, in 1781, Mary Heckewelder, the first white child born in Ohio, 
first saw the light. Other missionary auxiliaries were sent out by that 
society, for the propagation of the Christian religion among the Indians. 
Among these was the Rev. David Zeisberger, a man whose devotion to the 
cause was attested by the hardships he endured, and the dangers he encoun- 
tered. Had the same pacific policy which governed the Friends of Penn- 
sylvania, in their treatment of the Indians, been adopted by the white set- 



OHIO. 



171 



tiers of the west, the efforts of the Moravian missionaries in Ohio would 
have been more successful. 

They had three stations on the Tuscarawas Elver, or rather three Indian villages, 
viz : Snoenbrun, Gnadenhutten and Salem. The site of the first is about two miles 
south of New Philadelphia; seven miles farther south was Gnadenhutten, in the 
immediate vicinity of the present village of that name ; and about five miles below 
that was Salem, a short distance from the village of Port Washington. The first 
and last mentioned were on the west side of the Tuscarawas, now near the margin 
of the Ohio canal. Gnadenhutten is on the east side of the river. It was here 
that a massacre took place on the 8th of March, 1782, which, for cool barbarity, is 
perhaps unequaled in the history of the Indian wars. 

The Moravian villages on the Tuscarawas were situated about mid-way between 
the white settlements near the Ohio, and some warlike tribes of Wyandots and 
Delawares on the Sandusky. These latter were chiefly in the service of England, or at 
least opposed to the colonists, with whom she was then at war. There was a Brit- 
ish station at Detroit, and an American one at Fort Pitt (Pittsburg), which were 
regarded as the nucleus of western operations by each of the contending parties. 
The Moravian villages of friendly Indians on the Tuscarawas were situated, as the 
saying is, between two fires. As Christian converts and friends of peace, both 
policy and inclination led them to adopt neutral grounds. 

Several depredations had been committed by hostile Indians, about this time, on 
the frontier inhabitants of western Pennsylvania and Virginia, who determined 
to retaliate. A company of one hundred men was raised and placed under the 
command of Col. Williamson, as a corps of volunteer militia. They set out for 
the Moravian towns on the Tuscarawas, and arrived within a mile of Gnad*?nhut- 
ten on the night of the 5th of March. On the morning of the 6th, finding the In- 
dians were employed in their cornfield, on the west side of the river, sixteen of 
Williamson's men crossed, two at a time, over in a large sap-trough, or vessel used 
for retaining sugar water, taking their rifles with them. The remainder went into 
the village, where they found a man and a woman, both of whom they killed. The 
sixteen on the west side, on approaching the Indians in the field, found them more 
numerous than they expected. They had their arms with them, which was usual 
on such occasions, both for purposes of protection and for killing game. The 
whites accosted them kindly, told them they had come to take them to a place 
where they would be in future protected, and advised them to quit work, and re- 
turn Avith them to the neighborhood of Fort Pitt. Some of the Indians had heen 
taken to that place in the preceding year, had been well treated by the American 
governor of the fort, and been dismissed with tokens of warm friendship. Under 
these circumstances, it is not surprising that the unsuspecting Moravian Indians 
readily surrendered their arms, and at once consented to be controlled by the ad- 
vice of Col. Williamson and his men. An Indian messenger was dispatched to 
Salem, to apprise the brethren there of the new arrangement, and both companies 
returned to Gnadenhutten. 

On reaching the village, a number of mounted militia started for the Salem settlement, 
but e'er they reached it, found that the Moravian Indians at that place had alreadv left 
their corn-fields, by the advice of the messenger, and were on the road to join their breth- 
ren at Gnadenhutten. Measures had been adopted by the militia to secure the Indians 
whom they had at first decoyed into their power. They were bound, confined in two houses 
and well guarded. On the arrival of the Indians from Salem (their arms having been pre- 
viously secured without suspicion of any hostile intention), they were also fettered, and di- 
vided between the two prison houses, the males in one, and the" females in the other. The 
number thus confined in both, including men, women and childi-en, have been estimated 
from ninety to ninety-six. 

^ A council was then held to determine how the Moravian Indians should be disposed of. 
This self constituted military court embraced both officers and privates. The late Dr. 
Dodridge, in his published notes on Indian wars, etc., says: " Colonel Williamson put the 
question, whether the Moravian Indians should be taken prisoners to Fort Pitt, or put to 
death? '^ requesting those who were in favor of saving their lives to step out and form a 
second rank. Only eighteen out of the whole number stepped forth as the advocates of 
mercy. In these the feelings of humanity were not extinct. In the majority, which was 
large, no sympathy was manifested. They resolved to murder (for no other word can ex- 



1172 



OHIO. 



press the act), the whole of the Christian Indians in their custody. Among these were 
several who had contributed to aid the missionaries in the work of conversion and civili- 
zation — two of whom emigrated from New Jersey after the death of their spiritual pastor, 
Rev. David Brainard. One woman, who could speak good English, knelt before the com- 
mander auil begged his protection. Her supplication was unavailing. They were ordered 
to prepare for death. But the warning had been anticipated. Their firm belief in their 
new creed was shown forth in the sad hour of their tribulation, by religious exercises of 
preparation. The orisons of these devoted people were already ascending the throne of 
the Most High! — the sound of the Christian's hymn and the Christian's prayer found an 
echo in the surrounding woods, but no responsive feeling in the bosoms of their execution- 
ers. With gun, and spear, and tomahawk, and scalping knife, the work of death pro- 
gressed in these slaughter houses, till not a sigh or moan was heard to proclaim the exist- 
ence of human life within — all, save two — two Indian boys escaped, as if by a miracle, to 
be witnesses in after times of the savage cruelty of the white man toward their unfortu- 
nate race. 

Thus were upward of ninety human beings hurried to an untimely grave by those who 
should have been their legitimate protectors. After committing the barbarous act, Wil- 
liamson and his men set fire to the houses containing the dead, and then marched off for 
Shoenbrun, the upper Indian town. But here the news of their atrocious deeds had pre- 
ceded them. The inhabitants had all fled, and with them fled for a time the hopes of the 
missionaries to establish a settlement of Christian Indians on the Tuscarawas. The fruits 
of ten years' labor in the cause of civilization were apparently lost. 

Those engaged in the campaign, were generally men of standing at home. When the 
expedition was formed, it was given out to the public that its sole object was to remove 
the Moravians to Pittsburg, anil by destroying the villages, deprive the hostile savages of 
a shelter. In their towns, various articles plundered from the whites, were discovered. 
One man is said to have found the bloody clothes of his wife and children, who had re- 
cently been murdered. These articles, doubtless, had been purchased of the hostile Indi- 
ans. The sight of these, it is said, bringing to mind the forms of murdered relations, 
wrought them up to an uncontrollable pitch of frenzy, which nothing but blood could 
eatisfy. 

In the year 1799, when the remnant of the Moravian Indians were recalled by the United 
States to reside on the same spot, an old Indian, in company with a young man by the 
name of Carr, walked over the desolate scene, and showed to the white man an excava- 
tion, which had formerly been a cellar, and in which were still some moldering bones of 
the victims, though seventeen years had passed since their tragic death — the tears, in the 
meantime, falling down the wrinkled face of this aged child of the Tuscarawas. 

The Mission, having been resumed, was continued in operation until the 
year 1823, when the Indians sold out their lands to the United States, and 
removed to a Moravian station on the Thames, in Canada. The faithful 
Zeisberger died and was buried at Groshen, the last abiding place of his flock. 
In a small graveyard there, a little marble slab bears the following inscrip- 
tion : 

David Zeisberger, who was born 11th April, 1721, in Moravia, and departed this life 7th 
Nov., 1808, aged 87 years, 7 months and 6 days. This faithful servant of the Lord labored 
among the Moravian Indians, as a missionary, during the last sixty years of his life. 



Steubenville, the capital of Jefferson county, is situated on the right 
bank of the Ohio, on an elevated plain, 150 miles from Columbus, 36, in a 
direct line, from Pittsburgh, and 75 by the river, and 22 above Wheeling, 
Va. It is surrounded by a beautiful country, and is the center of an exten- 
sive trade, and flourishing manufactories of various kinds, which are supplied 
with fuel from the inexhaustible mines of stone coal in the vicinity. The 
Female Seminary at this place, situated on the bank of the river, is a flour- 
ishing institution, and has a widely extended reputation. It contains about 
9,000 inhabitants. 

Steu))enville was laid out in 1798, by Bezabel Wells and James Ross. It dei-ives 
its name from Fort Steuben, which was erected in 1789, on High-street, near the 
site of the Female Seminary. It was built of block-houses connected by palisade 
fences, and was dismantled at the time of Wayne's victory, previous to which it 



OHIO. 



173 



had been garrisoned by the United States infantry, under the command of Colonel 
Beatty. 

The old Mingo town, three miles below Steubenville, was a place of note prior 
to the settlement of the country. It was the point where the troops of Col. Wil- 
liamson rendezvoused in the infamous Moravian campaign, and those of Colonel 
Crawford, in his unfortunate expedition against the Sandusky Indians. It was 




View in Steubenville. 

The engraving shows the appearance of Market-street, looking westward, near the Court House, which 
appears on the right ; a portion of the Market on the left ; the Steubenville and Indiana Railroad crosses 
B;arket-street in the distance, near which are Woolen Factories. 

also, at one time, the residence of Logan, the celebrated Mingo chief, whose form 
was striking and manly, and whose magnanimity and eloquence have seldom been 
equaled. He was a son of the Cayuga chief Skikellimus, who dwelt at Shamokin, 
Pa., in 1742, and was converted to Christianity under the preaching of the Mora- 
vian missionaries. _ Skikellimus highly esteemed James Logan, the secretary of the 
province, named his son from him, and probably had him baptized by the mission- 
aries. 

Logan took no part in the old French war, which ended in 1760, except that of 
a peace makcr,_ and was always the friend of the white people until the base mur- 
der of his family to which has been attributed the origin of Dunmore's war. This 
event took place near the mouth of Yellow creek, in this county, about 17 miles 
above Steubenville. During the war which followed, Lc ^«t» frequently showed his 
magnanimity to prisoners who fell into his hands. 

Conneauf, in Ashtabula county, the north-eastern corner township of Ohio, 
is on Lake Erie, and on the Lake Shore Railroad, 67 miles east of Cleve- 
land ; it is distinguished as the landing place of the party who made the first 
settlement of northern Ohio, in 1796 ; hence it is sometimes called the Pit/- 
mouth of the Western Reserve. There is a good harbor at the mouth of 
Conneaut creek, and a light house. 

On the 4th of July, 1796, the first surveying party of the Western Re- 
serve landed at the mouth of Conneaut creek. Of this event, John Barr, 
Esq., in his sketch of the Western Reserve, in the National Magazine for 
December, 1845, has given the following sketch : 

The sons of revolutionary sires, some of them sharers of themselves in the great 
baptism of the republic, they made the anniversary of their country's freedom a 



174 OHIO. 

day of ceremonial and rejoicing. They felt that they had arrived at the place of 
their labors, the — to many of them — sites of home, as little alluring, almost as 
crowded with dangers, as were the levels of Jamestown, or the rocks of Plymouth 
to the ancestors who had preceded them in the conquest of the sea-coast wilderness 
of this continent. From old homes and friendly and social associations, they were 
almost as completely exiled as were the cavaliers who debarked upon the shores of 
Virginia, or the Puritans who sought the strand of Massachusetts. Far away as 
they were from the villages of their birth and boyhood ; before them the trackless 
forest, or the untraversed lake, yet did they resolve to cast fatigue, and privation 
and peril from their thoughts for the time being, and give to the day its due, to pa- 
triotism its awards. Mustering their numbers, they sat them down on the east- 
ward shore of the stream now known as Conneaut, and, dipping from the lake the 
liquor in which they pledged their country — their goblets, some tin cups of no rare 
workmanship, yet every way answerable, with the ordnance accompaniment of two 
or three fowling pieces discharging the required national salute — the first settlers 
of the Reserve spent their landing-day as became the sons of the Pilgrim Fathers 
— as the advance pioneers of a population that has since made the then wilderness 
of northern Ohio to " blossom as the rose," and prove the homes of a people as re- 
markable for integrity, industry, love of country, moral truth and enlightened leg- 
islation, as any to be found within the territorial limits of their ancestral New 
England. 

The whole party numbered on this occasion, fifty-two persons, of whom two were fe- 
males (Mrs. Stiles and Mrs. Gunn, and a child). As these individuals were the advance 
of after millions of population, their names become worthy of record, and are therefore 
given, viz: Moses Cleveland, agent of the company; Augustus Porter, principal surveyor; 
Seth Pease, Moses Warren, Amos Spafford, Milton Hawley, Richard M. Stoddard, "sur- 
veyors; Joshua Stowe, commissary; Theodore Shepard, physician; Joseph Tinker, princi- 
pal boatman; Joseph Mclntyre, George Proudfoot, Francis Gay, Samuel Forbes, Elijah 
Gunn, wife and child, Amos Sawten, Stephen Beaton, Amos Barber, Samuel Hungerford, 
William B. Hall, Samuel Davenport. Asa Mason, Amzi Atwater, Michael Coffin, Elisha 
Ayres, Thomas Harris, Norman Wilcox, Timothy Dunham, George Goodwin, Shadrach 
Benham, Samuel Agnew, Warham Shepard, David Beard, John Briant, Titus V. Munson, 
Joseph Landon, Job V. Stiles and wife, Charles Parker, Ezekiel Hawley, Nathaniel Doau, 
Luke Hanchet, James Hasket, James Hamilton, Olney F. Rice, John Lock, and four 
others whose names are not mentioned. 

On the 5th of July, the workmen of the expedition were employed in the erection of a 
large, awkwardly constructed log building; locating it on the sandy beach on the east 
shore of the stream, and naming it " Stowe Castle," after one of the party. This became 
the storehouse of the provisions, etc., and the dwelling-place of the families. No perma- 
nent settlement was made at Conneaut until 1799, three years later. 

Judge James Kingsbury, who arrived at Conneaut shortly after the sur- 
veying party, wintered with his family at this place, in a cabin which stood 
on a spot now covered by the waters of the lake. This was about the first 
family that wintered on the Reserve. 

The story of the sufferings of this family have often been told, but in the midst of plenty, 
where want is unknown, can with difficulty be appreciated. The surveyors, in the prose- 
cution of their labors westwardly, had prmcipally removed their stores to Cleveland, while 
the family of Judge Kingsbury remained at Conneaut. Being compelled by business to 
leave in the fall for the state of New York, with the hope of a speedy return to his family, 
the judge was attacked by a severe fit of sickness confining him to his bed until the setting 
in of winter. As soon as able he proceeded on his return as far as Buffalo, where he hired 
an Indian to guide him through the wilderness. At Presque Isle, anticipating the. wants 
of his family, he purchased twenty pounds of flour. In crossing Elk creek, on the ice, 
he disabled his horse, left him in the snow, and mounting his flour on his own back, pur- 
sued his way, filled with gloomy forebodings in relation to the fate of his family. On his 
arrival late one evening, his worst apprehensions were more than realized in a scene ago- 
nizing to the husband and father. Stretched on her cot lay the partner of his cares, who 
had followed him through all the dangers and hardships of the wilderness without repin- 
ing, pale and emaciated, reduced by meager famine to the last stages in which life can be 
supported, and near the mother, on a little pallet, were the remains of his youngest child, 
born in his absence, who had just expired foi the want of that nourishment which the 
mother, deprived of sustenance, was unable to give. Shut up by a gloomy wilderness, she 



OHIO. 



175 



was far distant alike from the aid or sympathy of friends, filled with anxiety for an absent 
husband, suffering with want, and destitute of necessary assistance, and her children ex- 
piring around her with hunger. 

Such is the picture presented, by which the wives and daughters of the present day may 
form some estimate of the hardships endured by the pioneers of this beautiful country. It 
appears that Judge Kingsbury, in order to supply the wants of his family, was under the 
necessity of transporting his provisions from Cleveland on a hand sled, and that himself 
and hired man drew a barrel of beef the whole distance at a single load. 

Mr. Kingsbury subsequently held several important judicial and legislative trusts, and 
until within a few years since, was living at Newburg, about four miles distant from Cleve- 
land. He was the first who thrust a sickle into the first wheat field planted on the soil of 
the Reserve. His wife was interred at Cleveland, about the year 1843. The fate of her 
child — the first white, child born on the Reserve, starved to death for want of nourishment — 
will not soon be forgotten. 




View in Superior-street, Cleveland. 

The view shows the appearance of Superior-street looking westward. The Weddel House is seen on the 
right. The Railroad, Canal, and Cuyahoga River, all pass within a few rods westward of the four story 
building seen at the head of the street. 

Cleveland, the capital of Cuyahoga county, on the south shore of Lake 
Erie, at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, is, next to Cincinnati, the most 
commercial city in the state, and with the exception of Chicago, Detroit and 
Buffalo, of all the lake cities. It has great natural facilities for trade, and 
is connected with the interior and Ohio River by the Ohio Canal and several 
railroads. The various railroads terminating here are, the Cleveland and 
Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, Cleveland and Mahoning, Cleve- 
land and Pittsburg, Cleveland and Erie, and Cleveland, Zanesville and Cin- 
cinnati. It has a good harbor, which has been improved by piers extending 
into the lake. It is situated 135 miles E.N.E. from Columbus, 255 from 
Cincinnati, 130 from Pittsburg, 130 from Detroit, 183 from Buffalo, and 455 
from New York. The location of the city is beautiful, being on a gravelly 



176 



OHIO. 



plain elevated nearly 100 feet above the lake. The streets cross each other 
at right angles, and vary from 80 to 120 feet in width. Near the center is a 
handsome public square of 10 acres. The private residences are mostly of 
a superior order, and in almost every street are indications of wealth and 
taste. Euclid-street is an avenue of extraordinary width, running easterly 
from the city, and extending for two miles into the country. There is no 
single street in any city in the Union, which equals it in the combination of 
elegant private residences, with beautiful shrubbery and park like grounds. 
The unusual amount of trees and shrubbery in Cleveland has given it the 
appellation of "the Forest City:" it is a spot where "town and country ap- 
pear to have met and shaken hands." The city is lighted with gas, and also 
supplied with the very best of water from the lake. The manufactures of 
the city are extensive and important, consisting of steam engines and various 
kinds of machinery, mill irons, stoves, plows, carriages, cabinet ware, edge 
tools, copper smelting works, woolen goods, tanning and the manufacture of 
oils. The agricultural products of the interior of the state are forwarded 
here in large quantities, which are reshipped for eastern or European mar- 
kets. Ship and steamboat building is also carried on to a considerable ex- 
tent. The lumber trade is one of great prominence. The packing of beef 
and pork is largely carried on. The wholesale and jobbing business in the 
various mercantile departments is increasing daily. 

Cleveland has 2 medical colleges, one of which is the Western Reserve 
Medical College, the other is of the Homoeopathic school, a fine female sem- 
inary on Kinsman's-street, 2 Roman Catholic convents, and a variety of be- 
nevolent institutions. Ohio City, on the west side of the city, formerly a 
separate corporation, is now comprised in Cleveland. Population, in 1796, 
3; 1798, 16; 1825, 500; 1840, 6,071; 1850,17,034; and in 1860, it was 
43,550. 

As early as 1755, there was a French station within the present limits of Cuya- 
hoga county, that in which Cleveland is situated. On Lewis Evans' map of the 

middle British colonies, published 
that year, there is marked upon the 
west bank of the Cuyahoga, the 
words, ^^ French house," which was 
doubtless the station of a French 
trader. The ruins of a house sup- 
posed to be those of the one alluded 
to, have been discovered on Foot's 
farm, in Brooklyn township, about 
five miles from the mouth of the 
Cuyahoga. The small engraving an- 
nexed, is from the map of Evans, and 
delineates the geography as in the 
original. 

In 1786, the Moravian missionary 
Zeisberger, with his Indian converts, 
left Detroit, and arrived at the mouth 
of the Cuyahoga, in a vessel called 
the Mackinaw. From thence, they 
proceeded up the river about ten miles from the site of Cleveland, and settled in 
an abandoned village of the Ottawas, within the present limits of Independence, 
which they called Pilgerruh, i. e. Pilgrim's rest. Their stay was brief, for in the 
April following, they left for Huron River, and settled near the site of Milan, Erie 
county, at a locality they named New Salem. 

The British, who, after the revolutionary war, refused to yield possession of the 
lake country west of the Cuyahoga, occupied to its shores until 1790. Their trar 




OHIO. 



177 



ders had a house in Ohio City, north of the Detroit road, on the point of the hill, 
near the river, when the surveyors first arrived here in 1796. From an early day, 
Washington, Jefferson and other leading Virginia statesmen regarded the mouth 
of the Cuyahoga as an important commercial position. 

The city was originally comprised in lands purchased by the Connecticut Land 
Company," and formed a portion of what is termed the Western Reserve. This 
company was organized in 1795, and in the month of May following, it commis- 
sioned Gen. Moses Cleveland to superintend the survey of their lands, with a staff 
of forty -eight assistants. On July 22, 1796, Gen. Cleveland, accompanied by Agns- 
tus Porter, the principal of the surveying department, and several others, entered 
the mouth of the Cuyahoga from the lake, but as they were engaged in making a 
traverse, they continued their progress to Sandusky Bay. In the interim, Job P. 
Stiles and his wife and Joseph Tinker arrived in a boat with provisions, and wer? 
employed in constructing a house about half way from the top of the bank to the 
shore of the river, a short distance north of Main (Superior) street. On the re- 
turn of the party from Sandusky, they surveyed and made a plat of the present 
city of Cleveland. 

The first building erected in Cleveland, is supposed to have been in 1786, by Col. 
James Hillman, of Youngstown, Mahoning county, who was engaged in conveying 
flour and bacon from Pittsburg to the mouth of the Cuyahoga, for the use of the 
British army in the upper lakes. He visited the site of Cleveland six times, and 
on one occasion caused a small cabin to be erected " near a spring in the hill side, 
within a short distance of what is now the western termination of Superior-street." 
It is probable that Stiles and Tinker availed themselves of this site, and possibly 
it furnished a part of the materials to erect their hut. 

In the winter of 1796-7, the population consisted of three inhabitants. Early 
in the spring of 1797, .fames Kingsbury and family, from New England, and Elijah 
Gunn removed to Cleveland. The next families who came here were those of Maj. 
Carter and Ezekiel Hawley, from Kirtland, the family of the major being accom- 
panied by Miss Cloe Inches. In the spring of the following year (1798), Maj. Car- 
ter sowed two acres of corn on the west side of Water-street. He was the first 
person who erected a frame building in the city, which he completed in 1802. On 
the 1st of July, 1797, William Clement was married to Cloe Inches. The ceremony 
of this first marriage was performed by Seth Hart, who was regarded by the sur- 
veying party as their chaplain. In 1799, Rodolphus Edwards and Nathaniel Doane 
with their families, emigrated from Chatham, Conn., to Cleveland, being ninety-two 
days on their journey. In the autumn of this year, the whole colony, without ex- 
ception, were afflicted with the fever and ague. 

The following historical items were taken from the Traveler, and pub- 
lished in the Cleveland Weekly Herald, Jan. 5, 1859: 

The first city school was held in Maj. Carter's house in 1802, and the children 
were taught by Anna Spafford. The first postoffice was established here in 1804, 
when letters were received and transmitted every seven days. In the same year 
the first militia training occurred. The place of rendezvous was Doane's corner, 
and the muster amounted to about fifty men. In 1805, the harbor was made a 
port of entry, and classed within the Erie district. In the same year the territorv 
on the west side of the Cuyahoga was ceded to the states by treaty. In 1809, .loel 
Thorpe and Amos Simpson each built a boat at Newberg, of six or seven tuns, and 
conveyed them in wagons to the harbor, where they were launched. The first 
judicial trial took place in 1812. It was held in the open air, beneath the shade 
of a cherry tree, which then stood at the corner of Water and Superior-streets: it 
being a charge of murder against an Indian, called John O'Mic, who was convicted 
and executed. A court house was erected this year on the public square, opposite 
the place where the stone church now stands. It was an unique structure; ilun- 
geons were excavated underneath for a cityjaiL In 1815, Cleveland was incor- 
porated with a village charter, and Alfred Kelley was the first president. Mr. 
Kelley was the first attorney in Cleveland. The first brick house in the city was 
that of J. R. and J. Kelley, in 1814, in Superior-street. This edifice was soon suc- 
ceeded by another, built by Alfred Kelley, still standing in Water-street. In 1816, 

12 



178 



OHIO. 



the first bank was established In the city, under the title of the " Commercial Bank 
of Lake Erie." The number of vessels eni-oUed as hailing this year from Cleve- 
land was but seven, and their aggregate burden 430 tuns. In 1817, the first church 
was organized, which was the Episcopal church of Trinity. On July 31, 1818, the 
first newspaper, "2^/ie Cleveland Gazette and Commercial Register,'^ was issued. 
On the Ist of Sept., the same year, steamed in the " Walk-in-the- Water," the first 
steamboat which entered the hai-bor. It was commanded by Capt. Fish, hailed 
from Buffalo, and was on its way to Detroit. 

In 1819. Mr. Barber built a log hut on the west side of the harbor, and may be 
considered as the first permanent settler in Ohio City. The first Presbyterian 
church was organized in 1820, and the stone church was erected on the public 
square in 1834. In 1821, the first Sunday school was established in Cleveland, 
which was attended by twenty scholars. In 1825, an appropriation of $5,000 was 
made by the government for the improvement of the harbor, and during this year 
the first steamboat was built here, and the Ohio Canal commenced. In 1827, the 
Cuyahoga Furnace Company commenced their manufactory, being the first ii'on 
works erected in the city. In 1830, the light house was built at the termination of 
Water-street, the lantern of which is 135 feet above the water level. In 1832, the 
Ohio Canal was completed. It had occupied seven years in its construction, is 307 
miles in length, and cost $5,000,000. In 1 836, Cleveland was incorporated a city : 
the first mayor was John Willey. In 1840, the population had increased to 6,071 ; 
in 1845, to 12,206. In 1851, Feb. 23d, the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati 
Railroad was opened for travel, and on the same day, forty miles of the Cleveland 
and Pittsburg Railroad were likewise completed. Population, this year, 21,140. 
The United States Marine Hospital, on the banks of the lake, was completed in 
1852; it was commenced in 1844. 




Eastern view of Toledo. 

The view shown the appearance of part of Toledo, as seen from the opposite bank of the Mautnee, at one 
of the Ferry hmdings. The Island House, the Union Passenger Depot, and the Telegraph Station appear 
on the left. 

Toledo, is a city and port of entry, in Lucas county, on the western 
bank of the Maumee, 4 miles from its mouth, and 10 miles from Lake Erie, 
134 miles N.W. of Columbus, 66 S.S.W. of Detroit, and 100 W. of Cleve- 
land, and 246, by canal, N. of Cincinnati. It is the terminus of the Wabash 
and Erie Canal, the longest in the Union; also of the Miami and Erie Canal. 



OHIO. ;,-C) 

It is the port of nortli-eastern Indiana, and of a large region in north-western 
Ohio. It is eminently a commercial town, has not only great natural fa- 
cilities, but has also communication by canals and railroads in all direc- 
tions. 

The Michigan Southern Railroad and the air-line railroad passing through 
northern Indiana, the Toledo, Wabash and Western Road, the Toledo and 
Detroit Road, the northern and southern divisions of the Cleveland and To- 
ledo Road, and the Dayton and Michigan Road, all terminate here in a com- 
mon center at the Union Depot. The river is about half a mile wide here, 
and forms a harbor admitting the largest lake vessels. Population in 1860, 
13,784. 

Toledo covers the site of a stockade fort, called Fort Industry, erected 
about the year 1800, near what is now Summit-street. The site of the town 
originally was two distinct settlements — the upper, Port Lawrence, the lower, 
Vistula. 

In the summer of 1832, Vistula, under the impetus given it by Captain 
Samuel Allen, from Lockport, N. Y., and Major Stickney, made quite a 
noise as a promising place for a town. At the same time arrangements were 
being made by Major Oliver and Micajah T. Williams, of Cincinnati, with 
Daniel 0. Corastock and Stephen B. Comstock, brothers, from Lockport, for 
the resuscitation of Port Lawrence, at the mouth of Swan creek. The Com- 
stocks took an interest, and became the agents of the Port Lawrence prop- 
erty. 

No sales of any importance were made before 1833. In Vistula, the first 
store was started by Mr. E. Briggs ; W. J. Daniels was his clerk. Soon after 
Flagg & Bissell opened a more extensive store of goods — probably the first 
good assortment for the use of white people. In 1833, not much progress 
was made toward building a town in Vistula or Port Lawrence. In 1834, 
speculation in lots began, and with slight intermission continued until the 
spring of 1837. Mr. Edward Bissell, from Lockport, a man of enterprise 
and activity, became a part owner, and gave a great impetus to the growth 
of Vistula. Through him and the Port Lawrence owners, many men of in- 
fluence became interested in the new towns. Among these. Judge Mason, 
from Livingston county, N. Y., deserves mention, as he became agent of 
Mr. Bissell and the other chief owners, and made Vistula his place of resi- 
dence. 

In Port Lawrence the first Toledo steamer was built, and called the De- 
troit. She was of one hundred and twenty tuns, and commanded by Capt. 
Baldwin, son of a sea captain of that name, who was one of the earliest set- 
tlers in that place. 

In 1836, Toledo was incorporated as a city. The same year the Wabash 
and Erie Canal was located, but was not so far finished as to make its busi- 
ness felt until 1845, when the Miami and Erie Canal was opened through 
from Lake Erie to the Ohio, at Cincinnati. 

In 1835, Toledo was the center of the military operations in the " Ohio and 
Michigan war" — originating in the boundary dispute between the two states. The 
militia of both states were called out and marched to the disputed territory, under 
their respective governors — Lucas, of Ohio, and Mason, of Michigan. No blood 
was shed, although, at one time, serious results wero threatened. Michigan claimed 
a narrow strip on her southern border of eight miles wide, which brought Toledo 
into that state. The matter was referred to congress, who ceded to Michigan the 
large peninsula between Lakes Huron, Superior and Michigan, now known as the 
copper region in lieu of the territory in dispute. 



180 



OHIO. 



PLAN ILLUSTRATING THE BATTLES OP THE MAUMEE. 

[^Explanations. — The map shows 
about eisrht miles of the country along 
each side of the Maumee, including 
the towns of Perrysburg, Maumee 
City and Waterville. 

Just previous to the battle of the 
Fallen Timbers, in August, 1794, 
Wayne's army was encamped at a lo- 
cality called Roche de Boeuf, a short 
distance above the present site of 
Waterville. The battle commenced at 
the Presque Isle hill. The routed In- 
dians were pursued to even under the 
guns of the British Fort Miami. 

Fort Meigs., memorable from having 
sustained two sieges in the year 1813, 
is shown on the east side of the Mau- 
mee, with the British batteries on both 
sides of the river, and near the Brit- 
ish fort, is the site of Proctor s en- 
campment.^ 




The Maumee Yalley in which Tole- 
do is situated, is noted in the early his- 
tory of the country. It was a favorite 
point with the Indians, particularly 
that part in the vicinity of the vil- 
lages of Maumee City and Perrysburg, 
about nine miles south of Toledo. As 
early as 1680, the French had a trading 
station just below the site of Maumee 
City; and in 1794, the British built 
Fort Miami on the same spot. This 
was within American territory, and 
from this point the British traders in- 
stigated the Indians to outrages upon 
the American settlements. Two im- 
portant events occurred in this vicinity 
— the victory of Wayne, August 20, 
1794, and the siege of Fort Meigs, 
in the war of 1812. 

Wayne's battle ground is about three 
miles south of Maumee City, on the 
west side of the river. He approached 
from the south, having with him about 
three thousand men, of whom sixteen 
hundred were Kentuckians under Gen. 

Scott. From Wayne's official report we make the annexed extract, which 

contains the principal points of this important victory : 

The legion was on the right, its flanks covered by the Maumee : one brigade of 



OHIO. 



181 




Wayne's Battle Geound. 

The view is from the north, showing on the left the Mau- 
mee and in front Prosque Isle Hill. On the right by the road- 
side, is the noted Turkey Foot Bock.* 



mounted volunteers on the left, under Brig. Gen. Todd, and the other in the rear, 
under Brig. Gen. Barbee. A select battalion of mounted volunteers moved in front 
of the legion, commanded by Major Price, who was directed to keep sufficiently 
advanced, so as to give timely notice for the troops to form in case of action, it be- 
ing yet undetermined whether the Indians would decide for peace or war. 

After advancing about five miles. 
Major Price's corps received so 
severe a fire from the enemy, who 
were secreted in the woods and 
high grass, as to compel them to 
retreat. The legion was immedi- 
ately formed in two lines, princi- 
pally in a close thick wood, which 
extended for miles on our left, and 
for a very considerable distance 
in front; the ground being cov- 
ered with old fallen timber, prob- 
ably occasioned by a tornado, 
which rendered it impracticable 
for the cavalry to act with effect, 
and aflForded the enemy the most 
favorable covert for their mode of 
warfare. The savages were form- 
ed in three lines, within supporting distance of each other, and extending for near 
two miles at right angles with the" river. I soon discovered, from the weight of 
the fire and extent of their lines, that the enemy were in full force in front, in 
possession of their favorite ground, and endeavoring to turn our left flank. I there- 
fore gave orders for the second line to advance and support the first; and directed 
Major General Scott to gain and turn the right flank of the savages, with the whole 
force of the mounted volunteers, by a circuitous route ; at the same time 1 ordered 
the front line to advance and charge with trailed arms, and rouse the Indians 
from their coverts at the point of the bayonet, and when up, to deliver a close and 
well-directed fire on their backs, followed by a brisk charge, so as not to give them 
time to load again. 

I also ordered Captain Mis Campbell, who commanded the legionary cavalry, to 
turn the left flank of the enemy next the river, and which afforded a favorable 
field for that corps to act in. All these orders were obeyed with spirit and prompt- 
itude ; but such was the impetuosity of the charge by the first line of infantry, tliat 
the Indians and Canadian militia and volunteers were driven from all their coverts 
in so short a time, that although etery possible exertion was used by the officers 
of the second line of the legion, and by Generals iScott, Todd and Barbee, of the 
mounted volunteers, to gain their proper positions, but part of each could get up in 
season to participate in the action ; the enemy being driven, in the course of one 
hour, more than two miles through the thick woods already mentioned, by less than 
one half their numbers. From every account the enemy amounted to two thousand 
combatants. The troops actually engaged against them were short of nine hun- 
dred. This horde of savages, with their allies, abandoned themselves to flight, and 
dispersed with terror and dismay, leaving our victorious army in full and quiet pos- 
session of the field of battle, which terminated under the influence of the guns of 
the British garrison. 

The loss of the enemy was more than that of the federal army. The woods were 



* At this spot says tradition, an Indian chief named Turkey Foot, rallied a few of his 
men and stood upon it fighting until his strength becoming exhausted from loss of blood, he 
fell and breathed his last. Upon it have been carved by the Indians, representations of tur- 
key's feet, now plainly to be seen, and it is siiid "the early settlers of and travelers through the 
Mauraee valley, usually found many small pieces of tobacco deposited on this rock, which 
had been placed there by the Indians as devotional acts, by way of sacrifices, to appease 
the indignant spirit of the departed hero." 



182 OHIO. 

strewed for a considerable distance with the dead bodies of Indians and their white 
auxiliaries, the latter armed with British muskets and bayonets. 

We remained three days and nights on the banks of the Maumee, in front of the 
field of battle, during which time all the houses and corn-fields were consumed 
and destroyed for a considerable distance, both above and below Fort Miami, as 
well as within pistol-shot of the garrison, who were compelled to remain tacit spec- 
tators to this general devastation and conflagration, among which were the houses, 
stores and property of Colonel M'Kee, the British Indian agent and principal stim- 
ulator of the war now existing between the United States and the savages." 

The loss of the Americans in this battle, was 33 killed and 100 wounded, inclu- 
ding 5 officers among the killed, and 19 wounded. One of the Canadians taken in 
the action, estimated the force of the Indians at about 1400. He also stated that 
about 70 Canadians were with them, and that Col. M'Kee, Capt. Elliott and Simon 
Girty were in the field, but at a respectable distance, and near the river. 

When the broken remains of the Indian array were pursued under_ the British 
fort, the soldiers could scarcely be restrained from storming it. This, independent 
of its results in bringing on a war with Great Britain, would have been a desper- 
ate measure, as the ifort mounted 10 pieces of artillery, and was garrison by 450 
men, while Wavne had no armament proper to attack such a strongly fortified place. 
While the troops remained in the vicinity, there did not appear to be any commu- 
nication between the garrison and the savages. The gates were shut against them, 
and their rout and slaughter witnessed with apparent unconcern by the British. 
That the Indians were astonished at the lukewarmness of their real allies, and re- 
garded the fort, in case of defeat, as a place of refuge, is evident from various cir- 
cumstances, not the least of which was the well known reproach of Tecumseh, in 
his celebrated speech to Proctor, after Perry's victory. The near approach of the 
troops drew forth a remonstrance from Major Campbell, the British commandant, 
to General Wayne.* A sharp correspondence ensued, but without any special re- 
sults. The morning before the army left, General Wayne, after arranging his force 
in such a manner as to show that they were all on the alert, advanced with his nu- 
merous stair and a small body of cavalry, to the glacis of the British fort, recon- 
noiterinii; it with great deliberation, while the garrison were seen with lighted 
matches^ prepared for any emergency. It is said that Wayne's party overheard 
one of the British subordinate officers appeal to Major Campbell, for permission to 
fire upon the cavalcade, and avenge such an insulting parade under his majesty's 
guns; but that officer chided him with the abrupt exclamation, "6e a gentleman ! 
be a gentleman / "j" 

After the defeat and massacre of the Kentuckians under Winchester at the 
River Raisin, near the site of Monroe, Michigan, in February, 1813, Gen. 
Harrison commander-in-chief of the army of the north-west, established his 
advance post at the foot of the Maumee Rapids and erected a fort, subse- 
quently named Meigs, in honor of Governor Meigs. 

"On the breaking up of the ice in Lake Erie, General Proctor, with all his dispo- 
sable force, consisting of regulars and Canadian militia from Maiden, and a large 
body of Indians under their celebrated chief, Tecumseh, amounting in the whole 
to two thousand men, laid siege to Fort Meigs. To encourage the Indians, he had 



*Gen. Wayne was a man of most ardent impulses, and in the heat of action apt to forget 
that he was the general— not the soldier. AVhen the attack on the Indians who were con- 
cealed behind the fallen timbers, was commencing by ordering the regulars up, the late Gen. 
Harrison, then aid to Wayne, being lieutenant with the title of major, addressed his superi- 
or — "Gen. Wayne, I am afraid you will get into the fight yourself, and forget to give me 
the necessary field orders." "Perhaps I may, replied Wayne, "and if I do, recollect the 
standing order for the day is, charge the rascals with the bayonet." 

tThat the Indian war was in a great measure sustained by British influences, admits of 
ample proof. Gen. Harrison, in his letter to Hon. Thomas Chilton, shows this from his own 
personal observation, and concludes it with this sentence. "If then the relation I have giv- 
en is correct, the war of the revolution continued in the western country, vntil the peace of Grcen- 
oille, in 1795." 



OHIO. 183 

promised them an easy conquest, and assured them that General Harrison should 
be delivered up to Tecumseh. On the 26th of April, the British columns appeared 
on the opposite bank of the river, and established their principal batteries on a 
commanding eminence opposite the fort. On the 27th, the Indians crossed the 
river, and established themselves in the rear of the American lines. The garrison, 
not having completed their wells, had no water except what they obtained from the 
river, un&v a constant firing of the enemy. On the first, second, and third uf May, 
their' batteries kept up an incessant shower of balls and shells upon the fort. On 
the nit^htof the third, the British erected a gun and morter battery on the left hank 
of the°river, within two hundred and fifty yards of the American lines. The Indi- 
ans climbed the trees in the neighborhood of the fort, and poured in a galling fire 
upon the garrison. In this situation General Harrison received a summons fn^m 
Proctor for a surrender of the garrison, greatly magnifying his means of annoy- 
ance; this was answered by a prompt refusal, assuring the British general that if 
he obtained possession of the fort, it would not be by capitulation. Apprehensive 
of such an attack. General Harrrison had made the governors of Kentucky and 
Ohio minutely acquainted with his situation, and stated to them the necessity of 
reinforcements for the relief of Fort Meigs. His requisitions had been zealously 
anticipated, and General Clay was at this moment descending the Miami with twelve 
hundred Kentuckians for his relief ^ . , ^ r. 

"At twelve o'clock in the night of the fourth, an officer* arrived from General 
Clay, with the welcome intelligence of his approach, stating that he was just above 
the rapids, and could reach them in two hours, and requesting his orders. Harri- 
son determined on a general sally, and directed Clay to land eight hundred men on 
the ri.'dit bank, take possession of the British batteries, spike their cannon, imme- 
diately return to their boats, and cross over to the American fort. The remainder 
of Clay's force were ordered to land on the left bank, and fight their way to_ the 
fort, while sorties were to be made from the garrison in aid of these operations. 
Captain Hamilton was directed to proceed up the river in a pirogue, land a sub- 
altern on the left l)ank, who should be a pilot to conduct Gen. Clay to the fort : and 
then cross over and station his pirogue at the place designated for the other di- 
vision to land. General Clay, having received these orders, descended the river in 
order of battle in solid columns, each officer taking position according to his rank. 
Col. Dudley, being the eldest in command, led the van, and was ordered to take the 
men in the twelve" front boats, and execute General Harrison's orders on the right 
bank. He effected his landing at the place designated, without difficulty, (ieneral 
Clay kept close alouL^ the left bank until he came opposite the place of Col. DuiUey's 
landing, but not finding the subaltern there, he attempted to cross over and join 
Col. Dudley; this was prevent by the violence of the current on the rapids, and he 
again attempted to land on the left bank, and effected it, with only fifty inen amid 
a'ljrisk fire from the enemy on shore, and made their way to the fort, receiving then- 
fire until within the protection of its guns. The other boats under the command 
of Col. Boswell, were driven further down the current, and landed on the right 
to join Col. Dudley. Here they were ordered to re-embark, land on the left bank, 
and proceed to the fort. In the mean time two sorties were made from the garri- 
eon, one on the left, in aid of Col. Boswell, by which the Canadian militia and In- 
dians were defeated, and he was enabled to reach the fort in safety, and one on the 
ri"-ht against the British batteries, which was also successful." 

^'Col.'^Dudley, with his detachment of eight hundred Kentucky militia, complete- 



»This messenger was Capt. William Oliver, post master at Cincinnati in Taylor's a.linin- 
istration, then a young man, noted for his heroic bravery. He had previously be.-u si;nt 
from the fort at a time when it was surrounded by Indians, through the wilderness, witli 
instructions to General Clay. His return to the fort was extremely dangerous. Capt. Les- 
lie Coombs, now of Lexington, Ky., had been sent by Col. Dudley to communicate with Har- 
rison He approached the fort, and when within about a mile, was attacked by the Indians 
and after a gallant resistance was foiled in his object and obliged to retreat with the loss of 
nearly all of his companions. Oliver managed to get into the fort through the cover of the 
darkness of the night, by which he eluded the vigilance of Tecumseh and his Indians, who 
were very watchful and had closely invested it. 



184 OHIO. 

ly succeeded in driving the British from their batteries, and spiking the cannon. 
Having accomplished this object, his orders were peremptory to return immedi- 
ately to his boats and cross over to the fort : but the blind confidence which gener- 
ally attends militia when successful, proved their ruin. Although repeatedly or- 
dered by Col. Dudley, and warned of their danger, and called upon from the fort to 
leave the ground ; and although there was abundant time for that purpose, before 
the British reinforcements arrived; yet they commenced a pursuit of the Indians, 
and suffered themselves to be drawn into an ambuscade by some feint skirmishing, 
while the British troops and large bodies of Indians were brought up, and inter- 
cepted their return to the river. Elated with their first success, they considered 
the victory already gained and pursued the enemy nearly two miles into the woods 
and swamps, where they were suddenly caught in a defile and surrounded by 
double their numbers. Findino; themselves in this situation, consternation pre- 
vailed ; their line became broken and disordered, and huddled together in unre- 
sisting crowds, they were obliged to surrender to the mercy of the savages. For- 
tunately for these unhappy victims of their own rashness, General Tecumseh com- 
manded at this ambuscade, and had imbibed since his appointment more humane 
feelings than his brother Proctor. After the surrender, and all resistance had 
ceased, the Indians, finding five hundred prisoners at their mercy, began the work 
of massacre with the most savage delight. Tecumseh sternly forbade it, and buried 
his tomahawk in the head of one of his chiefs who refused obedience. This order 
accompanied with this decisive manner of enforcing it, put an end to the massacre. 
Of eight hundred men only one hundred and fifty escaped. The residue were slain 
or made prisoners. Col. Dudley was severely wounded in the action, and after- 
ward tomahawked and scalped.* 

'"'■"This defeat was occasioned by the impetuous valor of his men. In one of the general 
orders after the 6th of May, Harrison takes occasion to warn his men against that rash 
bravery which he says " t* characteristic of the Kentuchy troops, and if persisted in is as fatal 
in its results as cowardice." 

After Dudley had spiked the batteries, which had but few defenders, some of his men 
loitered about the banks and filled the air with cheers. Harrison, and a group of officers, 
who were anxiously watching them from the grand battery, with a presentiment of the hor- 
rible fate that awaited them, earnestly beckoned them to return. .Supposing they were re- 
turning their cheers, they reiterated their shouts of triumph. Harrison seeing this, ex- 
claimed in tones of anguish, "they are lost / they are lost 1 — can I never get men to obey my 
orders ? " He then offered a reward of a thousand dollars to any man who would cross the 
river and apprise Col. Dudley of his daager. This was undertaken by an officer, but he 
was too late. 

Hon. Joseph R. Underwood, then a lieutenant, has given some extremely interesting de- 
;tails of the horrible scenes which ensued.; says he: 

"On our approach to tne oid garrison, the Indians formed a line to the left of the road, 
;there being arperpendicular bank to the right, on the margin of which the road passed. I 
;perctnved that the prisoners were running the gauntlet, and that the Indians were whipping, 
shi>oting and tomahawking the men as they ran by their line. AVhen I reached the start- 
ing place, I dashed off as fast as I was able, and ran near the muzzles of their guns, know- 
ing that they would have to shoot me while I was immediately in front, or let me pass, for 
to have turned their guns up or down their lines to shoot me, would have endangered them- 
selves, as there was a curve in their line. In this way I passed without injury, except some 
strokes over the shoulders with their gun-sticks. As I entered the ditch around the garri- 
son, the man before me was shot and fell, and I fell over him. The passage for a while 
was stopped by those who fell over the dead man and myself. How many lives were lost 
at this place I can not tell — probably between 20 and 40. The brave Captain Lewis was 
among the number. When we got within the walls, we were ordered to sit down. I lay 
in the lap of Mr. Gilpin, a soldier of Captain Henry's company, from Woodford. A new 
scene commenced. An Indian, painted black, mounted the dilapidated wall, and shot one 
of the prisoners next to him. He reloaded and shot a second, the ball passing through him 
into the hip of another, who afterward died, I was informed, at Cleveland, of the wound. • 
The savage then laid down his gun and drew his tomahawk, with which he killed two 
others. When he drew his tomahawk and jumped down among the men, they endeavored 
to escape from him by leaping over the heads of each other, and thereby to place others 
between themselves and danger. Thus they were heaped upon one another, and as I did 
not rise, they trampled upon me so that I could see nothing that was going on. The con- 
Cusion and uproar of this moment can not be adequately described. There was an excito- 



OHIO. 185 

Proctor seeing no prospect of taking the fort, and finding his Indians fast leav- 
ing him, raised the siege on the 9th of May, and returned with precipitation to 
Maiden. Tecumseh and a considerable portion of the Indians remained in ser- 
vice ; but large numbers left in disgust, and were ready to join the Americans. 
On the left bank, in the several sorties of the 5th of May, and during the siege, 
the American loss was eighty-one killed and one hundred and eighty-nine wounded. 

The British force under Proctor, during the siege, amounted, as nearly as could 
be ascertained, to 3,200 men. of whom 600 were British regulars, 800 Canadian 
militia, and 1 ,800 Indians. Those under Harrison, including the troops who arrived 
on the morning of the 5th, under Gen. Clay, were about 1,200. The number of 
his men fit for duty, was, perhaps, less than 1,100."* 

On the 20th of July, the enemy, to the number of 5,000, again appeared 
before Fort Meijrs, and commenced a second siege. The garrison was, at 
the time, under the command of Gen. Green Clay, of Kentucky. Finding 
the fort too strong, they remained but a few days. 



Sandusky City, port of entry, and capital of Erie county, is situated on 
the southern shore of Sandusky Bay, 3 miles from Lake Erie, 105 miles N. 
from Columbus, 47 E. from Toledo, 210 N.N.E. from Cincinnati, and 60 
from Cleveland and Detroit. It is also on the northern division of the Cleve- 
land and Toledo Railroad, and is the terminus of the Sandusky, Mansfield 
and Newark, and Sandusky, Dayton and Cincinnati Railroads. The bay 
is about 20 miles long and 5 or 6 wide, forming an excellent harbor, into 
which vessels of all sizes can enter with safety in storms. The ground on 
which the city stands, rises gently from the shore, commanding a fine view 
of the bay with its shipping. The town is based upon an inexhaustible 
quarry of fine limestone, which is not only used in building elegant and sub- 

ment among the Indians, and a fierceness in their conversation, which betokened on the 
part of some a strong disposition to massacre the whole of us. The British officers and 
soldiers seemed to interpose to prevent the further effusion of blood. Their expression was 
" Oh, iiichee, icahl" meaning, " oh I brother, quit 1 " After the Indian who had occasioned 
this horrible scene, had scalped and stripped his victims, he left us, and a comparative calm 
ensued. The prisoners resumed their seats on the ground. While thus situated, a tall, 
stout Indian walked into the midst of us, drew a long butcher knife from his belt and com- 
menced whetting it. As he did so, he looked around among the prisoners, apparently se- 
lecting one for the gratification of his vengeance. I viewed his conduct, and thought it 
probable that he was to give the signal for a general massacre. But after exciting our fears 
sufficiently for his satisfaction, he gave a contemptuous grunt and went out from among us. 

When it was near night, we were taken in open boats about nine miles down the river, 
to the British shipping. On the day after, we were visited by the Indians, in their bark 
canoes, in order to make a display of their scalps. These they strung on a pole, perhaps 
two inches in diameter, and about eight feet high. The pole was set up perpendicularly ia 
the bow of their canoes, and near the top the scalps were fastened. On some poles I saw 
four or five. Each scalp was drawn closely over a hoop about four inches in diameter; and 
the flesh sides, I thought, were painted red. Thus their canoes were decorated with a flag- 
staff of a most appropriate character, bearing human scalps, the horrid ensigns of savage 
warfare." 

*" During the siege," says an eye witness, " one of our militia men took his station on 
the embankment, and gratuitously forewarned us of every shot. In this he became so 
skillful that he could, in almost every case, predict the destination of the ball. As soon as 
the smoke issued from the muzzle of the gun, he would cry out, "shot," or " bomb," as the 
case might be. Sometimes he would exclaim, " block-house No. 1," or " look-out main bat- 
tery ; " "now for the meat-house; " " good-by, if you loill pass." In spite of all the expostu- 
lations of his friends, he maintained his post. One day there came a shot that seemed to 
defy all his calculations. He stood silent — motionless — perplexed. In the same imiant he 
was swept into eternity. Poor man I he should have considered, that when there is no ob- 
liquity in the issue of the smoke, either to the right or left, above or below, the fatal mes- 
senger would travel in the direct line of his vision. He reminded me of the peasant, ia 
the siege of Jerusalem, who cried out, " woe to the city I woe to the temple I woe to myaelj I " 



186 



OHIO. 



stantial edifices in tlie place, but is an extensive article of export. It has a 
large trade, and its manufactures, chiefly of heavy machinery, are important. 
Population, about 12,000. 




L, JE R IE 



North-eastern view of Public Sqvare, Sandusky. 

The view shows, first, beginning at the left, the Episcopal Church, then successively the Dutch Reformed 
Church, the Court House, Catholic Church, tlie High School, Congregational Church, Methodist, Baptist, 
and the Presbyterian Churches. 

The French established a small tradino; post at the mouth of Huron River, and 
another on the shore of the bay on or near the site of Sandusky City, which were 
abandoned before the war of the revolution. The small m,ap annexed is copied 
from part of Evans' map of the Middle British Colonies, published in 1755. The 

reader will perceive upon the east bank 
of Sandusky River, near the bay, a French 
fort there described as " Fort Junandat, 
built in 1754." The words Wandots are, 
doubtless, meant for Wyandot towns. 

Erie, Huron, and a small part of Otta- 
wa counties comprise that portion of the 
Western Reserve* known as " the fire 
lauds," being a tract of about 500,000 
acres, granted by the state of Connecticut 
to the sufferers by fire from the British in 
their incursions into that state. 

It is quite difficult to ascertain who the first 
settlers were upon the fire lands. As early, 
if not prior to the organization of the state, 
several persons had squatted upon the lands, 
at the mouth of the streams and near the 
shore of the lake, led a hunter's life and 
trafficked with the Indians. But they were a 
race of wanderers and gradually disappciired 
before the regular progress of the settlements. 
Those devoted missionaries, the Moravians, made a settlement, which they called New 




* The Western, or Connecticut Reserve, comprises the following counties in northern Ohio, 
viz : Ashtabula, Lake, Cuyahoga, Lorain, Erie, Huron, Medina, Summit, Portage, Trum- 
bull, and the northern part of Mahoning. 



illMMWi 



OHIO. 187 

Salem, as early as 1790, on Huron River, about two miles below Milan, on the Hathaway 
farm. They afterward settled at Milan. 

The first regular settlers upon the fire lands were Col. Jerard Ward, who came in the 
spring of 1808, and Almon Ruggles and Jabez Wright, in the autumn succeeding. Ei-e tlie 
close of the next year, quite a number of families had settled in the townships of Huron, 
Florence, Berlin, Oxford, Margaretta, Portland and Vermillion. These early settlers gen- 
erally erected the ordinary log cabin, but others of a wandering character built bark huts, 
which were made by driving a post at each of the four corners, and one higher between 
each of the two end corners, in the middle to support the roof, which were connected to- 
gether by a ridge pole. Layers of bark were wound around the side of the posts, each up- 
per layer lapping the one beneath to shed rain. The roof was barked over, strips being 
bent across from one eave over the ridge pole to the other, and secured by poles on them. 
The occupants of these bark huts were squatters, and lived principally by hunting. They 
were tlie seini-oivilized race that usually precedes the more substantial pioneer in the west- 
ern wilderness. 

Fremont, formerly Lower Sandusky, on the -west bank of Sandusky Eiver, 
is the county seat of Sandusky county, 30 miles easterly from Toledo, by the 
Cleveland and Toledo Railroad. Population about 4,000. 

The defense of Fort Stephenson, at this point, Aug. 2, 1813, just after 
the siege of Fort Meigs, was a memorable event in the war of 1812. 

This post had been established by Gen. Harrison, on Sandusky River, eighteen 
miles from its mouth, and forty east of Fort Meigs. It was garrisoned by one 

hundred and fifty men, under Major 
George Croghan, a young Kentuekian, 
:iii;:':ii,:ininiig just past twentv-one years of age. This 
^^_ lij fort being indefensible against heavy 
-■v li-lll cannon, which it was supposed would 
■"^ill^ be brought against it by Proctor, it was 
JBg judged best by Harrison and his officers 

\M in council, that it should be abandoned. 

„JO ^^* ^^® enemy appeared before the gar- 

S^^ rison on the 31st of July, before the or- 

der could be executed; they numbered 
thirty-three hundred strong, including 
the Indians, and brought with them sis 
FoBT Sandusky.* pieces of artillery, which, luckily, were 

of light caliber. To Proctor's summary 
demand for its surrender, he was informed that he could only gain access over the 
corpses of its defenders. The enemy soon opening their fire upon them, gave 
Croglian reason to judge that they intended to storm the north-west angle of the 
foi-t. In the darkness of night, he placed his only piece of artillery, a six pounder, 
at that point, and loaded it to the muzzle with slugs. On the evening of the 2d, 
three hundred British veterans marched up to carry the works by storm, and 
when within thirty feet of the masked battery it opened upon them.f The effect 
was decisive, twenty-seven of their number was slain, the assailants recoiled, and 
having the fear of Harrison before them, who was at Fort Seneca, some ten miles 
south, with a considerable force, they hastily retreated the same night, leaving be- 
hind them their artillery and stores. 

Upper SandnsJcy, the county seat of Wyandot county, is a village of about 

* References to the Fort. — Line 1 — Pickets. Line 2 — Embankment from the ditch to and 
against the picket. Line 3 — Dry ditch, nine feet wide by six deep. Line 4l — Outward em- 
bankment or glacis. A — Block-house first attacked by cannon, b. B — Bastion from which 
the ditch was raked by Croghan's artillery. C — Guard block-house, in the lower left cor- 
ner. D — Hospital during the attack. E E E — Military store-houses. F — Commissary's 
Btore-house. G — Magazine. H — Fort gate. K K K — Wicker gates. L — Partition gate. 

fCol. Short, who commanded this party, was ordering his men to leap the ditch, cut down 
the pickets, and give the Americans no quarters, when he fell mortally wounded into the 
ditch, hoisted his white handkerchief on the end of his sword, and begged for that mercy 
which he had a moment before ordered to be denied to his enemy. 



t BEsl^ililil-liiiiililllliiUilililllUliliifli 



188 OHIO. 

1,500 inhabitants, 63 miles N. of Columbus, on the W. bank of the Sandus- 
ky, and on the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad. It was for- 
merly the chief town of the Wyandot Indians, who ceded their land to the 
United States in 1843. 

About three miles north of the town is the battle ground, where Col. Crawford 
was defeated by the Indians, in 1782. After the massacre of the Moravian Indi- 
ans on the Tuscarawas, the remainder settled in this vicinity among the hostile In- 
dians. A second expedition was projected on the upper Ohio, to invade the Wy- 
andot country, finish the destruction of the Christian Indians, and then destroy 
the Wyandot towns in the vicinity. Four hundred and eighty men assembled at 
the old Mingo towns, near the site of iSteubenville, and elected Col. Wm. Craw- 
ford, a resident of Brownsville, as their commander. This officer was a native of 
Virginia, and an intimate friend of Washington. At this time he was about 50 
years of age. 

It was determined to carry on a war of extermination — "iio quarter was to 
be given to any man, woman or child." On the 7th of June, while marching 
through the Sandusky plains, they were attacked by the Indians, concealed in the 
high grass. The action continued until night closed in upon them, it was then 
determined to retreat. Unfortunately, instead of doing so all in a body, one part 
broke up into small parties, and these being pursued by detachments of Indians, 
mostly fell into the hands of the enemy. Some were killed and scalped at the 
time, while others were reserved for torture. Among the latter was Col. Crawford, 
who perished at the stake.* 



* The account of the burning of Crawford is thus given by Dr. Knight, his companion, 
who subsequently escaped. When we went to the fire, the colonel was stripped naked, or- 
dered to sit down by the fire, and then they beat him with sticks and their fists. Presently 
after, I was treated in the same manner. They then tied a rope to the foot of a post about 
fifteen feet high, bound the colonel's hands behind his back and fastened the rope to the 
ligature between his wrists. The rope was long enough for him to sit down or walk round 
the post once or twice, and return the same way. The colonel then called to Girty, and 
asked him if they intended to burn him ? Girty answered, yes. The colonel said he would 
take it all patiently. Upon this, Captain Pipe, a Delaware chief, made a speech to the In- 
dians, viz: about thirty or forty men, and sixty or seventy squaws and boys. When the 
speech was finished, they all yelled a hideous and hearty assent to what had been said. The 
Indian men took up their guns and shot powder into the colonel's body, from his feet as far 
up as his neck. I think that not less than seventy loads were discharged upon his naked 
body. They then crowded about him, and to the best of my observation, cut ofi" his ears ; 
when the throng had dispersed a little, I saw the blood running from both sides of his head 
in consequence thereof. 

The fire was about six or seven yards from the post to which the colonel was tied ; it wag 
made of small hickory poles, burnt quite through in the middle, each end of the poles re- 
maining about six feet in length. Three or four Indians, by turns, would take up, indi- 
vidually, one of these burning pieces of wood, and apply it to his naked body, already 
burnt black with powder. These tormentors presented themselves on every side of him 
with the burning fagots and poles. Some of the squaws took broad boards, upon which 
they would carry a quantity of burning coals and hot embers, and throw on him, so that in 
a short time, he had nothing but coals of fire and hot ashes to walk upon. In the midst of 
these extreme tortures, he called to Simon Girty, and begged of him to shoot him ; but 
Girty making no answer, he called to him again. Girty then, by way of derision, told the 
colonel that he had no gun, at the same time turuing about to an Indian who was behind 
him, laughed heartily, and by all his gestures, seemed delighted with the horrid scene. 
Girty then came up to me and bade me prepare for death. He said, however, I was not to 
die at that place, but to be burnt at the Shawnese towns. He swore by G — d I need not 
expect to escape death, but should suffer it in all its extremities. 

Col. Crawford, at this period of his sufferings, besought the Almighty to have mercy on 
his soul, spoke very low, and bore his torments with the most manly fortitude. He con- 
tinued in all the extremities of pain for an hour and three quarters or two hours longer, as 
near as I can judge, when at last, being almost exhausted, he lay down on his belly ; they 
then scalped him, and repeatedly threw the scalp in my face, telling me,-" that was my great 
captain." An old squaw (whose appearance every Way answered the ideas people entertain 
of the devil) got a board, took a parcel of coals and ashes and laid them on his back and 
head, after he had been scalped ; he then raised himself upon his feet and began to walk 



OHIO. ;,8C, 

Near the town of Upper Sandusky stands the old Wyandot Mission Church, 
built about the year 1824, from government funds, by Rev. James B. Fin- 
ley. The Methodists here sustained the mission among the Indians for many 
years. In 1816, John Stewart, a mulatto, a Methodist, came here, and gain- 
ing much influence over the na- 
tives, paved the way for a regular 
e^^"=^h= __ _ -== mission, which was soon after 

formed by Mr, Finley, who es- 

^^^Bfc^SS- — - tablished both a church and a 

fi'^-'^y-fR^i^i^i*^^^^^ ^^^^''^- '^^^^ 'was the first Indian 
a^ saa»tf?5a^^?aaiHK mission formed by the Methodists 
in the Mississippi Valley. Mr. 
Finley was very happy in his 
efforts, and in his interesting his- 
5^i^>';'JT'r^^-7'-i"vi; Bff^jM^aiMl iWa tory of the mission, gives the fol- 
lowing touching anecdote of the 
chief Summundewat, one of his 
converts, who was subsequently 
murdered by some vagabond 
whites in Hancock county, while 

„ „ ^ extending to them hospitalities : 

WYANDOT Mission Church. ^ ^ 

" Sum-mun-de-wat amused me after 
he came home by relating a circumstance that transpired one cold evening, just before 
sun-down. ' I met,' said he, ' on a small path, not far Irom my camp, a man who ask me 
if I could talk English.' I said, ' Little.' He ask me, ' How far is it to a house? ' I an- 
swer, ' I don't know — may be 10 miles — may be 8 miles.' ' Is there a path leading to it?' 
' No — by and by dis go out (pointing to the path they were on), den all woods. You go 
home me — sleep — me go show you to-morrow.' Then he come my camp — so take horse 
— tie — give him some corn and brush — then my wife give him supper. He ask where I 
come. I say, 'Sandusky.' He say,' You know Finley? ' ' Yes,' I say,' he is my brother 
— my father.' Then he say, ' He is my brother.' Then I feel something in my heart burn. 
I say, ' You preacher? ' He say, ' Yes; ' and I shook hands and say, ' My brother! ' Then 
we try talk. Then I say, ' You sing and pray.' So he did. Then he say to me, ' Sing 
and pray.' So I did; and I so much cry I can't pray. No go to sleep — I can't — I wake — 
my heart full. All night I pray and praise God, for his send me preacher to sleep my 
camp, xfext morning soon come, and he want to go. Then I go show him through the 
woods, until come to big road. Then he took my hand and say, 'Farewell, brother; by 
and by we meet up in heaven.' Then me cry, and my brother cry. We part — I go hunt. 
All day I cry, and no see deer jump up and run away. Then I go and pray by some log. 
My heart so full of joy, that I can not walk much. I say, ' I can not hunt.' Sometimes 
I sing — then I stop and clap my hands, and look up to God, my heavenly Father. Then 
the love come so fast in my heart, I can hardly stand. So I went home, and said, ' Thia 
is my happiest day.' " 




Dayton, a city, and capital of Montgomery county, is situated on the E. 
bank of the Great Miami, at the mouth of Mad River, 60 miles from 
Cincinnati, 67 from Columbus, and 110 from Indianapolis. This is the 



round the post; they next put a burning stick to him, as usual, but he seemed more insen- 
sible of pain than before. 

The Indian fellow who had me in charge, now took me away to Captain Pipe's house, 
about three quarters of a mile from the place of the colonel's execution. I was bound all 
tight, and thus prevented from seeing the last of the horrid spectacle. Next morning, 
being June 12th, the Indian untied me ; painted me black, and we set off for the Shawnee 
town, which he told me was somewhat less than forty miles distant from that place. Wo 
soon came to the spot where the colonel had been burnt, as it was partly in our way ; I saw 
his bones lying among the remains of the fire, almost burnt to ashes; I suppose, after he 
was dead, they laid his body on the fire. The Indian told me that was my big captain, and 
gave the scalp halloo. 



190 



OHIO. 



third city in Ohio, in population and wealth, and has extensive manufac- 
tures and respectable commerce. Its manufactures consist principally of 
railroad equipments, iron ware, paper, cotton, and woolen fabrics, etc. 
The city is laid out with streets 100 feet wide, crossing each other at right 




North-eastern view of the Court House, Dayton. 

Erected at an expense of about 8100,000, and 127 feet in length by G2 in breadth. The style of architec- 
ture is that of the Parthenon, with some sliglit variatious. 

angles. The public buildings are excellent, and much taste is displayed in 
the construction of private residences, many of which are ornamented by 
fine gardens and shrubbery. The abundant water power which Dayton pos- 
sesses is one of the elements of its prosperity. In 1845, a hydraulic canal 
was made, by which the water of Mad River is brought through the city. 
Numerous macadamized roads diverge from the town, and radiate in all di- 
rections ; several railroads terminate at Dayton, and by this means communi- 
cation is had with every point in the Union. The Southern Ohio Lunatic 
Asylum is established here. There are 27 churches, in 7 of which the Ger- 
man language is used. Population in ISfiO, 2<i,!;i2, 

The first families who made a permanent residence in the place, arrived on 
the 1st day of April, 1796. The first 19 settlers of Dayton, were Wm. Ga- 
hagan, Samuel Thompson, Benj. Van Cleve, Wm. Van Cleve, Solomon Gross, 
Thomas Davis, John Davis, James M'Clure, John M'Clure, Daniel Ferrell, 
William Ilamer, Solomon Hamer, Thomas Hamer, Abraham Glassmire, John 
Dorough, Wm. Chenoweth, Jas. Morris, Wm. Newcom and George Newcom. 

In 1803, on the organization of the state government, Montgomery county 
was established. Dayton was made the seat of justice, at which time only 
five families resided in the town, the other settlers having gone on to farms 
in the vicinity, or removed to other parts of the country. The increase of 
the town was gradual, until the war of 1812, which made a thoroughfare for 
the troops and stores on their way to the frontier. 

iiipringfield, a beautiful city and capital of Clarke county, is situated on 
the National Road, on Mad River, 43 miles W. from Columbus, and 84 N. 
from Cincinnati. It has great water power, well improved by a variety of 
mills and manufacturing establishments. It is surrounded by a rich and 
populous country. Several macadamized roads terminate here, and railroads 



OHIO. 



191 



connect it with the principal towns in the state. Wittemberg College, un- 
der the patronage of the Lutheran Church, chartered in 1845, is a short dis- 
tance without the town, and is surrounded with spacious grounds. Popula- 
tion, 8,000. 

Springfield was laid out in 1803, by James Demint. The old Indian town, 
Piqua, the ancient Piqua of the Shawnees, and the birth-place of Tbcumseh, 
the celebrated Indian warrior, was situated on the N. side of Mad River, 
about five miles W. from Springfield. 

Xenia^ the county seat of Green, is a well built town on the Little Miami 
Railroad, 64 miles north of Cincinnati, in a rich country. The town was 
laid off in 1803, by Joseph C. Vance. The name, Xenia, is said to be an 
old French word, signifying a New Year's gift. Wilberforce University is 
three and a half miles north-east of Xenia, an institution under the care of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church North, for the special purpose of educating 
colored youth of both sexes. Population about 5,000. 

About three miles north, on the Little Miami, is the site of the Shawnee 
town. Old Chillicothe. It was a place of note in the early history of the 
country, and a point to which Daniel Boone, with 27 other Kentuckians, 
were brought prisoners in 1778. 

Antioch College is at Yellow Springs, 9 miles north of Xenia. It is an 
institution of considerable celebrity, the one over which the late Horace 
Mann presided, with so much reputation to himself and benefit to his pupils. 




First Court House in Greene county. 

The engraving is a correct representation of the first court house in Greene. It 
was erected five and a half miles north of the site of Xenia, near the Dayton road. 
It was built by Gen. Benj. Whiteman, as a residence for Peter Borders. 

The first court for the trial of causes was held in it, in August, 1803, Francis 
Dunlavy, presiding judge. A grand jury of inquest were sworn " for the body of 
Greene county." After receiving the charge, "they retired out of court" — a cir- 
cumstance not to be wondered at, as there was but one room in the house. Their 
place of retirement, or jury room, was a little squat shaped pole hut, shown on tho 
right of the view. But it appears there was nothing for them to do. 

"But they were not permitted to remain idle long: the spectators in attendance 
promptly took the matter into consideration. They, doubtless, thought it a great 



192 OHIO. 

pity to have a learned court and nothinsc for it to do; so they set to and cut ont 
employment for their honors by en!ia!j;in2; in divers hard fights at fisticuffs, right 
on the ground. 80 it seems our pioneers fought for the benefit of the court. At 
all events, while their honors were waiting to settle differences according to law, 
they were making up issues and settling them by trial " hy combat" — a process by 
which they avoided the much complained of "laws' delay," and incurred no other 
damages than black eyes and bloody noses, which were regarded as mere trifles, 
of course. Among the incidents of the day, characteristic of the times, was this : 

A Mr. , of Warren county, was in attendance. Owen Davis, the owner of a 

mill near by, and a brave Indian fighter, as well as a kind-hearted, obliging man, 
charged this Warren county man with speculatiny in pork, alias stealing his 
neighbor's hogs. The insult was resented — a combat took place forthwith, in which 
Davis proved victorious. lie then went into court, and planting himself in front 
of the judges, he observed, iidilrcssing himself particularly to one of them, • Well, 

Ben, I've ichipped ihat hoij thief—what's the damage — what's to pay ? and, 

thereupon, snitiuir the acfion tn the word, he drew out his buckskin purse, contain- 
ing 8 or 10 dollars, and slammed it down on the table — then shaking his fist at the 

judge whom he addressed, he continued, ' Yes, Ben, and if you'd steal a hog, ■ 

you, Td ichip yov too.' He had, doubtless, come to the conclusion, that, as there 
was a court, the hixury of fiiiliting could not be indulged in gratis, and he was for 
paying up as he went. Seventeen witnesses were sworn and sent before the grand 
jury, and nine l)il]s of indi(Uinent were found the same day — all for affrays and 
assaults and batteries committed after the court was organized. To these indict- 
ments the parties all pleaded guilty, and were fined — Davis among the rest, who 
was fined eight dollars for his share in the transactions of the day." 

Greenville, the capital of Darke county, on the Greenville and Miami 
Railroad, is about 121 miles W. from Columbus. It contains some 1,500 
inhabitants. In 1793, Gen. Wayne built Fort Greenville on the site of the 
present town, and here the treaty of Greenville was concluded, between Gen, 
Wayne and the Indians. Gen. St. Clair, at the head of 1,400 men, was de- 
feated by the Indians in the north-west corner of Darke county, upward of 
20 miles from Greenville, Nov. 4, 1791. The great object of St. Clair's 
campaign was to establish a line of military posts between Fort Washington 
(Cincinnati), and the junction of St. Mary and St. Joseph Rivers, now Fort 
Wayne. The description of the battle is from Monette's history: 

On the 3d of November, the army encamped in a wooded plain, among the 
sources of a Wabash tributary, upon the banks of several small creeks, about fifty 
miles south of the Miami towns. The winter had already commenced, and the 
ground was covered with snow three inches deep. 

Next morning, Nov. 4th, just before sunrise, and immediately after the troops 
had been dismissed from parade, the Indians made a furious attack upon the mili- 
tia, whose camp was about a quarter of a mile in advance of the main camp of 
the regular troops. The militia immediately gave way, and fled with great pre- 
cipitation and disorder, with the Indians in close pursuit; and, rushing through the 
camp, they threw the battalions of Majors Butler and Clark into confusion. The 
utmost exertions of those officers failed to restore complete order. The Indians, 
pressing close upon the militia, immediately engaged Butler's command with great 
intrepidity and fury. The attack soon became general both in the front and second 
lines, but the weight of the enemy's fire was directed against the center of each 
line, where the artillery was stationed. Such was the intensity of the enemy's fire, 
that the men were repeatedly driven from their guns with great loss. Confusion 
was spreading among the troops, from the great numbers who were constantly fall- 
ing, while no impression was made by their fire upon the enemy. " At length re- 
sort was had to the bayonet. — Col. Darke was ordered to charge with part of the 
second line, and endeavor to turn the left flank of the enemy. This order was ex- 
ecuted with great spirit. The Indians instantly gave way, and were driven back 
three or four hundred yards ; but, for want of a sufficient number of riflemen to 
pursue this advantage, they soon rallied, and the troops were obliged in turn to 



OHIO. 



193 



fall back. At this moment, the Indians had entered our camp by the left flank, 
having driven back the troops that were posted there. Another charge was made 
here by the second regiment, Butler's and Clark's battalions, with equal effect, and 
it was repeated several times, and always with success ; but in each charge several 
men were lost, and particul'arly the officers ; which, with raw troops, was a loss 

altogether irremedia- 
ble.' In the last charge 
Major Butler was dan- 
gerously wounded, and 
every officer of tlie 
second regiment fell 
except three. The ar- 
tillery being now si- 
lenced, and all the of- 
ficers killed except 
Capt. Ford, who was 
severely wounded, and 
more than half the 
army having fallen, it 
became necessary to 
make a retreat, if pos- 
sible. This was im- 
mediately done, while 
Major Clark protected 
the rear with his bat- 
talion. The retreat 
was precipitous : it was 
a perfect flight. The 
camp and artillery was 
abandoned; not a horse 
was alive to draw the 
cannon. The men, in 
their flight and conster- 
nation, threw away their arms and accouterments after pursuit had ceased, and 
the road was strewed with them for more than four miles. The rout continued to 
Fort Jefferson, twenty-nine miles. The action began half an hour before sunrise, 
the retreat commenced at half past nine o'clock, and the remnant of the army 
reached P^ort Jefferson just after sunset. The savages continued the pursuit for 
four miles, when, fortunately, they returned to the scene of action for scalps and 
plunder. 

In this most disastrous battle, thirty-eight commissioned officers were killed on 
the field. Six hundred non-commissioned officers and privates were either killed 
or missing. Among the wounded were twenty-one commissioned officers, and two 
hundred and forty-two non-commissioned officers and privates. Many of the 
wounded died subsequently of their wounds. The Indian loss did not exceed sixty 
warriors killed. 

The grand error in this campaign was the impolicy of urging forward on a dan- 
gerous service, far into the Indian country, an army of raw troops, who were un- 
willing to enter upon the campaign, as was fully evinced by frequent desertions as 
they approached the hostile towns. The army was fatally reduced by the detach- 
ment sent to overtake the deserters from the Kentucky militia; and Gen. St. Clair 




Plan of St. Claiu's Battle Field.* 



* References. — A — High ground, on which the militia were encamped at the commence- 
ment of the action. B C — Encampment of the main army. D — Retreat of the militia at 
the beginning of the battle. E — St. Clair's trace, on which the defeated army retreated. 
F — Place where Gen. Butler and other oflBcers were buried. G — Trail to Girty's Town, on 
the River St. Marys, at what is now the village of St. Marys. H — Site of Fort Recovery, 
built by Wayne ; the line of Darke and Mercer runs within a few rods of the site of the 
fort. I — Place where a brass cannon was found buried, in 1830 ; it is on the bottom where 
the Indians were three times driven to the high land with the bayonet. 

13 



194 OHIO. 

himself was quite infirm, and often unable to attend to his duties as commander- 
in-chief. On the fixtal day of his defeat, he was scarcely able to be mounted upon 
his horse, either from physical infirmity or culpable intemperance.* 

The Indians engaged in this terrible battle comprised about nine hundred war- 
riors. Among them were about four hundred Shawnese, commanded by Blue 
Jacket, and chiefly from the waters of the Wabash. The remainder were com- 
manded by Little Turtle, Buckongahelas, consisting of Delawares, Wyandots, Pota- 
watamies, and Mingoes. The Delawares alone numbered nearly four hundred war- 
riors, who fought with great fury. On the ground, during the battle, were seen 
several British officers in full uniform from Detroit, who had come to witness the 
strife which they had instigated. Simon Girty commanded a party of Wyandots. 

Among the camp-followers in this campaign were nearly two hundred and fifly 
women, of whom fifty-six were killed during the carnage; the remainder were 
chiefly captured the Indians. 

Wayne's troops subsequently built a fort, called Fort Recovery, on the site 
of the battle ground. In the summer of 1794, a second battle was fought 
under the walls of the fort, between 140 Americans, under Major McMahon, 
and a party of Indians, led on by British officers. McMahon and 22 others 
were killed, but the survivors gained the fort, which the enemy also attacked 
but were driven off with severe loss. 



Within Ohio, beside those already noticed are a large number of city- 
like towns, most of which are on the lines of railroads, are capitals of their 
respective counties, have numerous churches, literary institutions, manufac- 
tories, and varied branches of industry — some are lighted with gas, have 

*St. Clair was an unfortunate officer in the Revolution, but still retained the confidence 
and friendship of Washington. In Rush's " Washington in Domestic Life," is an account 
of the interview between Mr. Tobias Lear, his private secretary, and Washington, imme- 
diately after the reception by the latter of the news of St. Clair's defeat: 

" The general now walked backward and forward slowly for some minutes without speak- 
ing. Then he sat down on a sofa by the fire, telling Mr. Lear to sit down. To this moment 
there had been no change in his manner since his interruption at table. Mr. Lear now per- 
ceived emotion. This rising in him, he broke out suddenly, ' It's all over — St. Clair's de- 
feated — routed ; the officers nearly all killed, the men by wholesale ; the rout complete — 
too shocking to think of — and a surprise in the bargain ! ' 

He uttered all this with great vehemence. Then he paused, got up from the sofa and 
walked about the room several times, agitated but saying nothing. Near the door he stopped 
short, and stood still a few seconds, when his wrath became terrible. 

'Yes,' he burst forth, 'here on this very spot, I took leave of him; I wished him succesa 
and honor; you have your instructions, I said, from the seeretarj' of war, I had a strict eya 
to them, and will add but one word — beroare of a surprise. I repeat it, beware op a sur- 
prise — you know how the Indians fight us. He went off with that as my last solemn warn- 
ing thrown into his ears. And yet 1 to suffer that army to be cut to pieces, hack'd, butch- 
ered, tomahaw'd by a surprise — the very thing I guarded him against I I Oh, God, oh, God, 
he's worse than a murderer ! how can he answer it to his country : — the blood of the slain is 
upon him — the curse of widows and orphans — the curse of Heaven?' 

This torrent came out in tones appalling. His very frame shook. It was awful, said 
Mr. Lear. More than once he threw his hands up as he hurled imprecations upon St. Clair. 
Mr. Lear remained speechless, awed into breathless silence. 

Washington sat down on the sofa once more. He seemed conscious of his passion, and 
uncomfortable. He was silent. His warmth beginning to subside, he at length said in an 
altered voice : 'This must not go beyond this room.' Another pause followed — a longer 
one — when he said, in a tone quite low, ' General St. Clair shall have justice ; I looked 
hastily through the dispatches, saw the whole disaster, but not all the particulars ; I will 
receive him without displeasure ; I will hear him without prejudice ; he shall have full jus- 
tice.' 

He was now, said Mr. Lear, perfectly calm. Half an hour had gone by. The storm was 
over; and no sign of it was afterward seen in his conduct, or heard in his conversation. 
The result is known. The whole case was investigated by congress. St. Clair was excul- 
pated and regained the confidence Washington had in him when appointing him to that 
command. He had put himself into the thickest of the fight and escaped unhurt, though 
80 ill as to be carried on a litter, and unable to mount his horse without help." 



OHIO. 195 

fire companies, and are, indeed, small cities. We mention the more promi- 
nent, givina; their populations, according to the census of 1860. 

Mount Vernon Citi/, Knox Gonntj. Population 4,147. Five miles east of 
it, is Grambier, the seat of Kenyoa College, founded in 1827, and' named 
after Lord Kenyon, one of its principal benefactors. 

Mansfield City, Richland county, a manufacturing town, a great railroad 
center, with 11 churches, 70 stores, six manufactories, and a population of 
4,540. Wooster, Wayne county, has 60 stores, 10 churches, and in 1858, 
4,837 inhabitants. Canton, Stark county, has 4,042 people. Massillon, in 
the same county, has a population of 3,680. Youngstown, in Mahoning 
county has 2,758 inhabitants. All of the above are in the northern section 
of the state, in the richest wheat counties of Ohio. 

Akron, Summit county, has 50 stores of various kinds, and: 3,520 inhab- 
itants. It is on the summit level of the Ohio canal, and has abundance of 
water power from the canal and Cuyahoga River, which is employed in a 
variety of manufactures. The manufacturing village of Cuyahoga Falls, is 
six miles north-east of Akron : the river falls there, in the space of two and 
a half miles, more than 200 feet. Western Reserve College is at Budson, 
eight and a half miles northerly from the last. Norwalk, Huron county, 
has 2,867 inhabitants. Elyrla,'Lovai\n county, has 1,615 inhabitants, Oberlin 
in the same county, 2,012 inhabitants: the collegiate institute at Oberlin is 
a flourishing institution, numbering several hundred pupils of both sexes.* 
Warren, Trumbull county, has 2,402 inhabitants. Ravenna, Portage county, 
has 36 stores, and a population of 1,797. Gainesville, Lake county, has 
2,615 inhabitants. J[s/i^c/i«i«, in Ashtabula county, 1,427 inhabitants. The 
above are on the Western Reserve. 

Tiffin, Seneca county, is the seat of Heidelberg College, and a theological 
seminary of the German Reformed Church. It has 12 churches and 4,010 
inhabitants. Bucyrus, Crawford county, has 40 stores and 2,210 inhabitants. 
Delaware, Delaware county, has 14 churches and 3,895 inhabitants. It is 
the seat of the Ohio Wesleyan University and two female colleges. Belle- 
fontaine, Logan county, has 2,600 inhabitants. Sidney, Shelby county, has 
2,055 inhabitants. Urhana, Champaign county, the seat of Urbana Univer- 
sity and a female seminary, has a population of 3,429. Piqua, Miami 
county, has 40 stores, numerous manufactories, mechanic shops, and 4,620 
inhabitants. Troy, in the same county, has 2,640 inhabitants. Lima, in Allen 

* Many of the pupils at Oberlin, male and female, are of African origin, and mingle on 
terms of social equality with the others. This singularity is in accordance with the an- 
nexed published synopsis of the institution: 

1. To educate youths of both sexes, so as to secure the development of a strong mind in 
a sound body, connected with a permanent, vigorous, progressive piety — all to be aided by a 
judicious system of manual labor. 

2. To beget and to confirm in the process of education the habit of self-denial, patient 
endurance, a chastened moral courage, and a devout consecration of the whole being to 
God, in seeking the best good of man. 

3. To establish universal liberty by the abolition of every form of sin. 

4. To avoid the debasing association of the heathen classics, and make the bible a text- 
book in all the departtnents of education. 

5. To raise up a church and ministers who shall be known and read of all men in deep 
sympathy with Christ, in holy living, and in efficient action against all which God forbids. 

fi. To furnish a seminary, afiFording thorough instruction in all the branches of an edu- 
cation for both sexes, and in which colored persons, of both sexes, shall be freely admitted, 
and on the terms of equality and brotherhood. 



.196 OHIO- 

county, has 2079 inhabitants. All of the above are in the north-western 
quarter of the state, north of the national road and west of Columbus. 

Lebanon^ Warren county, has 2,498 inhabitants. Eaton, Preble county, 
and Gennantown, Montgomery county, have each about 1,500 inhabitants, 
as also have Wilmington, Hillshoro^ and Greenfield. Ripley, on the Uliio 
River in Brown county, has 2,715 inhabitants. The above are all in the 
south-western quarter of Ohio. 

Lancaster, Fairfield county, has 4,320 inhabitants. Logan, Hocking 
connty, M' Connellsville, \n Morgan, Wellsville,\n Columbiana, iVet« iisZ>o?j, 
in Columbiana, and Cambridge, in Guernsey county, have each about 1500 
inhabitants. Pomeroy, on the Ohio lliver, in Meigs county, is in the midst 
of the great coal producing region of the state, to which it owes its impor- 
tance ; its population is 6,480. L-onton, on the Ohio River, in Lawrence 
county has 3,700 inhabitants. This town was laid out in 1849, by the Ohio 
Iron and Coal Company, and derives its importance from the iron business, 
the principal furftaces of the Ohio iron district being in its vicinity. All of 
the above, excepting Wellsville and New Lisbon, are in the south-eastern 
quarter of Ohio. 

Beside the above, Ohio contains many villages ranging from 1,000 to 
2,000 inhabitants. 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, MISCELLANIES, ETC. 

Tecumseh, the renowned warrior and chieftain of the Shawnees, was born 
about the year 1768, at the Indian town of Piqua, situated on the north side 

of Mad River, some five miles 
west of the site of Springfield, 
Clarke county. He early showed 
a passion for war, and at 17 
years evinced signal prowess in 
the capture of some boats on the 
Ohio ; but when his party burned 
a prisoner, he was struck with 
horror, and by his eloquence 
Site of Piqua. persuaded them never to be 

An Indian village and the birth-place of Tecumseh. •,. n ,., , . -j 

^ guilty 01 a like act again. In 

1795, he became a chief, and soon rose to distinction among his people. 

In 1805, Tecumseh and his brother Laulewasikaw, the prophet, established 
themselves at Greenville and gained a great influence over the Indians, through 
the pretended sorcery of the latter. Shortly after the great project of Tecumseh 
was formed of a confederacy of all the western tribes against the whites. In this 
he was backed, it is supposed, by the insiduous influence of British agents, who 
presented the Indians with ammunition, in anticipation, perhaps, of hostilities be- 
tween the two countries, in which event the union of all the tribes against the 
Americans was desirable. 

The battle of Tippecanoe, fought Nov. 7, 1811, with the brother of Tecumseh, in 
which the prophet was defeated, for a time annihilated the hopes of the brothers. 
Tecumseh was not in this battle. In the war which soon after ensued with Eng- 
land, Tecumseh was the ally of King George, and held the rank of brigadier- 
general, having, under his command, about 2,000 Indians. He was present at 
several engagements, and was eventually killed in the battle of Moravian towns, 
in Canada, near Detroit, Oct. 5, 1813. 

*• Thus fell the Indian warrior Tecumseh, in the 44th year of his agje. He was five feet 
ten inches high, and with more than usual stoutness, possessed all the agility and nerse- 




OHIO. 



197 



verance of the Indian character. His carriage was dignified, his eye penetrating, his 
countenance, which even in death, betrayed the indications of a lofty spirit, rather of the 
sterner cast. Had he not possessed a certain austerity of manners, he could never have 
controlled the wayward passions of those who followed him to battle. He was of a silent 
habit ; but when his eloquence became roused into action by the reiterated encroachment, 
of the Americans, his strong intellect could supply him with a flow of oratory that enabled 
him. as he governed in the field, so to prescribe in the council." 

" William Henry Harrison was born in Charles county, Virginia, Feb. 9, 1773 ; 
was educated at Hampden Sidney College, and afterward studied medicine. He 

received, from Washington, a military com- 

yy 4/ j/^ mission in 1791, and fought under Wayne in 

//yC^. >vT'/>'^:2/^/^...^^-^t7%.,.-^ 1792. After the battle of Maumee Rapids, he 

/7 was made captain, and placed in command of 

Fort Washington. In 1797, he was appointed 
secretary of the North-west Territory; and in 1799 and 1800, he was a delegate to 
congress. Being appointed governor of Indiana, he was also superintendent of 
Indian affairs, and negotiated thirteen treaties. He gained a great victory in the 
battle of Tippecanoe, Nov. 7, 1811. In the war with Great Britain, he was com- 
mander of the North-west army, and was distinguished in the defense of Fort 
Meigs, and the victory of the Thames. From 1816 to 1819, he was a representa- 
tive in congress, from Ohio; and from 1825 to 1828, United States Senator. In 
1828, he was minister to the Republic of Colombia; and on his return he resided 
upon his farm, at North Bend, Ohio. In 1840, he was elected president of the 
United States, by 234 votes out of 294, and inaugurated March 4, 1841. He died 
in the presidential mansion, April 4, 1841." 



In traveling through the west, one often meets with scenes that remind 
him of another land. The foreigner who makes his home upon American 

soil, does not at once assimilate 

in language, modes of life, and 
current of thought with those 
congenial to his adopted coun- 
try. The German emigrant is 
peculiar in this respect, and so 
much attached is he to his 
fatherland, that years often 
elapse ere there is any percepti- 
ble change. The annexed en- 
graving, from Howe's Ohio, il- 
lustrates these remarks: "It 
shows the mud cottage of a 
German Swiss emigrant, now 
standing in the neighborhood 
of others of like character, in 
the north-western part of Co- 
lumbiana county, Ohio. The 
frame work is of wood, with the interstices filled with light colored clay, and 
the whole surmounted by a ponderous shingled roof, of a picturesque form. 
Beside the tenement, hop vines are clustering around their slender support- 
ers, while hard by stands the abandoned log dwelling of the emigrant — de- 
serted for one more congenial with his early predilections." 

Return Jonathan Jl/ez^* * was born in Middletown, Connecticut, in 1740. He 




Swiss Emigrant's Cottage. 



* Lossing gives this pleasant anecdote of the origin of his name, Return. "A bright-eyed 
Connecticut girl was disposed to coquette with her lover, Jonathan Meigs ; and on one oc- 



198 OHIO. 

was a colonel in the army of iFie revofution, and saw much service. He was with 
Arnold at Quebec, was one of the first to mount the parapet at the storming of 
8tony Point, and received an elegant sword and a vote of thanks for a gallant ex- 
ploit at Sagg Harbor, where, with 70 of his "Leather Cap Battalion," composed of 
Connecticut men, he stormed a British post, and carried off nearly a hundred pris- 
oners. After the war he became a surveyor for the Ohio Land Company, and was 
one of the first settlers of Marietta. He drew up a system of laws for the first emi- 
grants, which were posted on a large oak near the mouth of the Muskingum. He 
was appointed a judge by Gen. St. Clair, and in 1801 Indian agent by Jeiferson 
among the Cherokees, among whom he continued to reside until his death, in 1823, 
at the age of 83 years. The Indians loved and revered him as a father. His son, 
Return Jonathan Meigs, represented Ohio in the United States Senate, from 1808 to 
1810; was governor of the state from 1810 to 1814, and postmaster-general of the 
United States from 1814 to 1823. He died at Marietta in 1825. 

Rxifiis Putnam, who has been styled "the Father of Ohio," was born at Sutton, 
Massachusetts, in 1738. He was distinguished in the war of the revolution, hold- 
ing the oflSce of brigadier-general. From 1783 to 1787, he was busy organizing a 
company for emigrating to, and settling, the Ohio country. On the 7th of April, 
1788, he landed witb the first pioneer party at the mouth of the Muskingum, and 
there founded Marietta, the first settlement in Ohio. He was appointed surveyor- 
general of the United States by Washington, in 1796, was a member of the con- 
vention which formed the first Constitution of Ohio, and died in 1824. 

Gen. Duncan McArihur, was born of Scotch parentage, in Dutchess county, N. 
Y., in 1782, and at the age of 18 entered the army, and was in several Indian cam- 
paigns. By force of talent he rose, in 1808, to the post of major general of the 
state militia. At Hull's surrender he was second in command, but on his release 
as a prisoner of war, the democratic party, by an overwhelming majority, elected 
him fo congress. On the resignation of Gen. Harrison, in 1814, he was in supreme 
command of the north-west army, and projected an expedition into Canada, where, 
at or near Malcolm's Mill, he defeated a body of Canadians. He was a represent- 
ative in congress again from 1823 to 1825; in 1830, was chosen governor of the 
state, and died a few years later. He was a strong-minded, energetic man, and 
possessed a will of iron. 

Gen. Nathaniel Massie was born in Virginia, in 1763, and was bred a surveyor. 
In 1791, he made the first settlement within the Virginia Military District, the 
fourth in Ohio, and the only one between the Scioto and Little Miami, until after 
the treaty of Greenville in 1795. This was at Manchester, on the Ohio, opposite 
Maysville, Ky. His business, for years, was the surveying of lands in the military 
district His payments were liberal, as he received in many cases one half of the 
land for making the locations; yet the risk was immense, for, during the Indian 
hostilities, every creek that was explored and every line that was run, was done 
by stealth and at the risk of life from the lurking Indians, ffom whom he had sev- 
eral narrow escapes. 

After the defeat of the Indians by Wayne, the surveyors were not interrupted 
by the Indians ; but on one of their excursions, still remembered as " the starving 
tour" the whole party, consisting ■.•r IS 'uen, suflered extremely in a driving snow 
storm for about four days. They A^**^ in a wilderness, exposed to this severe 
storm, without hut, tent, or covering, and what was still more appalling, without 
provision, and without any road or even track to retreat on, and were nearly 100 
miles from any place of shelter. On the third day of the storm, they luckily killed 

easion, when he had pressed his suit with great earnestness, and asked for a positive an- 
swer, she feigned coolness, and would give nlm no satisfaction. The lover resolved to be 
trifled with no longer, and bade her farewell, forever. She perceived her error, but he was 
allowed to go far down the lane before her pride would yield to the more tender emotiona 
of her heart. Then she ran to the gate and cried, " Return, Jonathan I Return, Jonathan I " 
He did return, they were joined in wedlock, and in commemoration of these happy words 
of the sorrowing girl, they named their first child, Return Jonathan — afterward a hero in 
our war for independence, a noble western pioneer, and a devoteNd friend of the Cher^-keea " 



OHIO. 



199 




Gbave of Simon Kenton. 



two wild turkeys, which were boiled and divided into 28 parts, and devoured with 
crreat avidity, heads, feet, entrails and all . c ^, a ■ , n i i 

In 1796, Massie laid the foundation of the settlement of the Scioto valley, by lay- 
mK out on his own land the now large and beautiful town of Chilhcothe. J he 
progress of the settlements brought large quantities of his land into market. 

Gen Massie was a member of the convention which formed the first state consti- 
tution In 1807 he was a competitor with Return Jonathan Meigs for governor, 
thev being the two most popular men in Ohio. Meigs was elected by a slight 
maiority. Massie contested the election, Meigs having lost his residence by absence. 
The legislature decided in Massie's favor, whereupon he magnanimously resigned. 
In 1813, this noble pioneer was gathered to his fathers. 

Simon Kmton, a native of Culpepper county, Virginia, and one of the 

bravest and noblest or 

western pioneers, and the 
friend of Daniel Boone, 
resided in the latter part 
of his life, on the head 
waters of Mad River, 
about five miles north of 
Bellefontaiae, in Logan 
county. His dwelling 
was the small log house 
shown on the extreme 
right of the annexed view. 
There he died, in 1836, 
at the advanced age of 
81 years. When 16 years 
of age, he had an affray 
with a young man who had married his lady love. Supposing, erroneously, 
that he had killed his rival, he fled to the wilderness of Kentucky. This 
was in the year 1771. From that time, during the whole of the revolution- 
ary war, down to the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, he was probably in more 
expeditions against the Indians, encountered greater peril, performed more 
heroic feats, and had more narrow escapes from death, than any man of his 
time. 

In 1778, he was captured by the Indians, compelled to run the gauntlet, and then 
condemned to be burnt at the stake. He was saved by the interposition of Simon 
Girty, a renegade white, who had known Kenton in Dunmore's campaign. ^ Shortly 
after he was again sentenced to death, and a second time was saved by a Canadian 
Frenchman, who prevailed upon the Indians to send him to the British at Detroit 
From thence he finally escaped, and again engaged in Indian warfare. 

In 1782, hearing he had not killed his rival in love, he returned to Virginia, in 
order to remove his father's family to his new home in Kentucky. Notwithstand- 
intf the great services he had rendered his country, on account of some defect in 
his land titles, he lost his property, and was imprisoned twelve months for debt, on 
the very spot where he had built his cabin in 1775. In 1802, he settled in Urbana, 
Ohio, where he remained some years, and was elected brigadier general of militia. 
He was in the war of 1812, under Harrison, at the battle of Moravian town, where 
he displayed his usual intrepidity. About the year 1820, he removed to the h(!;i 1 
of Mad River. At the time of his death the frosts of more than 80 winters ii:ol 
fallen on his head without entirely whitening his locks. His biographer thus de- 
scribes his personal appearance and character : . • . u i 
" General Kenton was of fair complexion, six feet one inch in hight. He stoml 
and walked very erect; and, in the prime of life, weighed about one hundred an i 
ninety pounds. He never was inclined to be corpulent, although of sufficient full 
ness to form a graceful person. He had a soft, tremulous voice, very pleasing to 



200 



OHIO. 



the hearer. He had laughing gray eyes, which seemed to fascinate the beholder. 
He was a pleasant, good-lmmored and obliging companion. When excited, or pro- 
voked to anger (which was seldom the case), the fiery glance of his eye would al- 
most curdle the blood of those with whom he came in contact. His rage, when 
roused, was a tornado. In his dealing, he was perfectly honest ; his confidence in 
man, and his credulity, were such, that the same man might cheat him twenty 
times; and if he professed friendship, he might cheat him still." 

Jacob Burnet was born in Newark, N. J., in 1770, educated at Princeton, and 
in 1796 admitted to the bar. He then emigrated to Cincinnati, and commenced 
the practice of his profession. Until the formation of the constitution of Ohio, in 
1802, he attended court regularly at Cincinnati, Marietta and Detroit, the last of 
which was then the seat of justice for Wayne county. The jaunts between these 
remote places were attended with exposure, fatigue, and hazard, and were usually 
performed on horseback, in parties of two or more, through a wilderness country. 
At that period the whole white population between Pennsylvania and the Missis- 
sippi, the Ohio and the lakes, was only about 5,000 souls. Mr. Burnet at once rose 
to the front rank in his profession. He was appointed, in 1799, a member of the 
first territorial legislature of the North-West Territory ; and the first code of laws 
were almost wholly framed by him. In 1821, he became one of the judges of the 
supreme court of Ohio; and in 1828, was elected to the national senate, as suc- 
cessor of Gen. Harrison. Nearly his entire life was passed in positions of honor 
and responsibility. On the recommendation of Lafayette, he was elected a mem- 
ber of the French Academy of Sciences. His Notes upon the North- West Terri- 
tory are among the most valuable contributions to the history of the west extant 
Judge Burnet died in 1 853, aged 83 years. 



BRADY S LEAP. 

It was across the Cuyahoga River, in northern Ohio, near the site of Franklin Milla, 
and a few miles east of the village of Cuyahoga Falls, that the noted Capt. Sam'l Brady 

made his famous leap for life, about 
i^^ "^ " /^^"^S^ the year 1780, when pursued by a 

H^_ '^ ^S party of Indians. Brady was the 

^: ^ Daniel Boone of the north-east part 

of the valley of the Ohio, which is 
full of traditions of his hardy adven- 
tures and hairbreadth escapes. Bra- 
dy's Pond is the spot where Brady 
concealed himself after his leap, the 
circumstances of which we quote be- 
low. It is a small, beautiful sheet of 
water, two and a half miles from the 
village, a little north of the Ravenna 
road : 

" Havihg in peaceable times often 
hunted over this ground with the In- 
dians, and knowing every turn of the 
Cuyahoga as familiarly as the villager 
knows the streets of his own hamlet, Brady directed his course to the river, at a spot where 
the whole stream is compressed, by the rocky cliffs, into a narrow channel of only 22 feet 
across the top of the chasm, although it is considerably wider beneath, near the water, and 
in highth more than twice that number of feet above the current. Through this pass the 
water rushes like a race horse, chafing and roaring at the confinement of its current by the 
rocky channel, while, a short distance above, the steam is at least fifty yards wide. As he 
approached the chasm, Brady, knowing that life or death was in the effort, concentrated 
his mighty powers, and leaped the stream at a single bound. It so happened, that on the 
opposite cliff, the leap was favored by a low place, into which he dropped, and grasping the 
bushes, he thus helped himself to ascend to the top of the cliff. The Indians, for a few 
moments, were lost in wonder and admiration, and before they had recovered their recol- 
lection, he was half way up the side of the opposite hill, but still within reach of their 
rifles. They could easily hare shot him at any moment before, but being bent on taking 
him alive for torture, and to glut their long delayed revenge, they forbore to use the rifle; 
but now seeing him likely to escape, thev all fired upon him: one bullet severely wounded 




Buady's Pon'i>. 



OHIO. 



201 



him in the hip, but not so badly as to prevent his progress. The Indians having to make 
a considerable circuit before they could cross the stream, Brady advanced a good distance 
ahead. His limb was growing stiff from the wound, and as the Indians gained on him, he 
made for the pond which now bears his name, and plunging in, swam under water a con- 
siderable distance, and came up under the trunk of a large oak, which had fallen into the 
pond. This, although leaving only a small breathing place to support life, still completely 
sheltered him from their sight. The Indians, tracing him by the blood to the water, made 
diligent search all round the pond, but finding no signs of his exit, finally came to the 
conclusion that he had sunk and was drowned. As they were at one time standing on the 
very tree, beneath which he was concealed, Brady, understanding their language, was very 
glad to hear the result of their deliberations, and after they had gone, weary, lame, and 
huno-ry, he made good his retreat to his own home. His followers also returned in safety. 
The°chasm across which he leaped is in sight of the bridge where we crossed the Cuya- 
hoga, and is known in all that region by the name of ' Brady's Leap.' " 



In the center of the beautiful public square in Cleveland stands the statue 
of Oliver Hazard Perry, the " Hero of Lake Erie." It was inaugurated with 

great ceremony on the 10th 
of September, 1860, the an- 
niversary of his signal vic- 
tory. Among those pres- 
ent were the governor and 
legislature of Ehode Island, 
Perry's native state, soldiers 
of the last war, survivors 
of the battle of Lake Erie, 
military from Rhode Island, 
New York, Pennsylvania, 
and about 70,000 visitors 
from the surrounding coun- 
try. Among the ceremo- 
nies of the occasion was a 
mock battle on the lake in 
imitation of that which ter- 
minated in the victory of 
Perry. Hon. Geo. Bancroft 
was the orator of the day. 
The statue is of Carrara 
marble, standing upon a 
high pedestal of Rhode 
Island granite. The figure 
can not be better described 
than in the words of Mr. 

The Pekuy Statue, at Cleveland. Walcutt, the artist, after he 

had unvailed the statue: "It is the Commander — bold and confident — ^giving 
directions to his men, while watching through the smoke of battle the eff"ect 
of his broadsides on the enemy. Figuratively, it is the impersonation of 
the triumphant hero, gazing with pride and enthusiasm over the beautiful 
land he saved by his valor, and pointing to the lake as if reminding us of 
the scene of his victory." The drapery represents the official dress of a 
commodore in the United States navy. On the front of the pedestal is an 
alto-relievo, representing the incident of Perry's passage from the Lawrence 
to the Niagara, with an inscription recording the date of the engagement. 
On either side of the pedestal is a figure, representing a sailor-boy and mid- 
shipman. 




202 ^HIO- 

Arthur St. Clair, the first governor of the North-west Territory, was a native 
of Scotland. He was a lieutenant under Wolfe, and a major general in the Revo- 
lution; subsequently was a delegate to congress from Pennsylvania, and, in 1787, 
was chosen its president. While governor of the North-west Territory, from 1788 
to 1802, he was much esteemed by the people, being easy and frank in his address, 
of great integrity and uprightness of purpose, and of extensive information. H© 
had the respect and friendship of Washington. The great misfortune of his lifft 
was his sore defeat by the Indians, Nov. 4, 1791. He died in abject poverty, in 
1818, in a cabin among the mountains of Pennsylvania. 

Col. Jared Mansfield was born in New Haven, Conn., in 1759. He was edu- 
cated at Yale College, and was subsequently professor of natural philosophy at 
West Point. He was appointed, by President Jefierson, surveyor general of the 
United States, upon which he introduced and perfected the present admirable sys- 
tem of dividing the public land, by north and south and east and west lines, into 
ranges, townships and sections. This simple plan has been of an untold benefit to 
the rapid and easy settlement of the west. He died in 1830. Ed. D. Mansfield, 
Esq., the commissioner of statistics for the state of Ohio, is his son. 

Charles Hammond was born in Maryland in 1779, and died in Cincinnati in 
1840, where most of his life was passed. He was one of the most able of lavryers 
and as a journalist acquired a greater reputation than any man who ever resided 
in the west For many years he edited the Cincinnati Gazetta 

Nathan Guilford, lawyer and journalist of Cincinnati, was born in Spencer, 
Mass., in 1786, and died in 1854. His memory is especially revered for his long 
and eminent services in laying the foundation of the common schools of Ohio — 
" a state which has one third of a million of men capable of bearing arms, but 
keeps no standing army but her school teachers, of whom she pays more than 
20,000, which provides a library for every school district, and registers as students 
more than 600,000 children. These growing in beauty and strength in this land 
of the wheat, the corn and the vine, where the purity of domestic morals is main- 
tained by the virtue and dignity of womsjia, constitutes its present glory and its 
future hope." 



THE tim:es 

OP 

THE EEBELLIOISJ' 

OHIO. 



]^o state has more cause to be gratified with her record during the 
life and death struggle of the nation than Ohio. Her sons have been 
among the bravest in the field, and the wisest in the council. Her 
patriotic governors, who have ever given such a warm support to all 
measures affecting the public good, and the cabinet officer, who so 
wisely devised means for furnishing the sinews of war, have rendered 
service not less efficient than that of her generals, who have marshaled 
vast armies, and achieved great victories. 

But not less honor is duo to those who, with their bayonets in the 
field, and their ballots at home, have done so much for the union and 
perpetuity of our government. 

How freely she contributed blood and treasure is manifest fi'om the 
following focts. At the beginning of 1865, she had 100,000 men en- 
listed in the military service of the general government j and the 
grand total furnished, from the beginning of the war, then amounted 
to 346.326. The total loss of Ohio soldiers to January, 1865, was 
estimated at 30,000. 

The state pays one tenth of the internal revenue tax. For the 
year ending November 1, 1865, this was placed at $24,000,000. The 
total landed property in the state was, in value, exclusive of town lots, 
$500,000,000, divided among 277,000 owners. 

The early days of the rebellion were marked^ in Ohio, by the same 
features of enthusiastic uprising of the people as in the other loyal 
states : but it was not until the last days of the summer of 1862, that 
the sensation of danger from the presence of the enemy on her soil 
was experienced. This was the threatened invasion of Cincinnati by 
Kirby Smith. 

The Siege of Cincinnati. — After the unfortunate battle of Eich- 
mond, on the 29th of August, Kirby Smith, with his 15,000 rebel vet- 
erans, advanced into the heart of Kentucky, took possession of Lex- 
ington, Frankfort, and Maysville. Bragg, with his large army, was 
then crossing the Kentucky line ; while Morgan, with his guerrilla 
cavalry, was already joined to Smith. Pondrous-proportioned Hum- 
phrey Marshall was also busy swelling the rebel ranks with recruits 
from the fiery young Kentuckians. Affairs looked threateningly on 
the border. (203) 



204 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

General Lewis Wallace was at once placed in command at Cincin 
nati, by order of Major-General Wright. Soon as he arrived in the 
city, on Thursday, the 4th of September, he put Cincinnati, and the 
two cities on the Kentucky side of the Ohio, Newport and Covington, 
under marshal law, and, within half an hour of his arrival, he issued 
a proclamation suspending all business, stopping the ferry-boats from 
ptying the river, and summoning all citizens to enrol themselves for 
defense. It was most effective. It totally closed business, and sent 
every citizen, without distinction, to the ranks or into the trenches. 
Nor was it needless, for the enemy, within a few days thereafter, ad- 
vanced to within five miles of the city, on the Kentucky side, and 
skirmished with our outposts. A painter, of the time, draws this pic- 
ture of the events. 

The ten days ensuing will be forever memorable in the annals of the city of Cin- 
cinnati. The cheerl'ul alacrity with which the people rose en masse to swell the 
ranks and crowd into the trenches was a sight worth seeing. Of course, there 
were a few timid creatures who feared to obey the summons. Sudden illness 
overtook some. Others were hunted up by armed men with fixed bayonets ; fer- 
reted from back kitchens, garrets and cellars where they were hiding. One peace- 
fully excited individual was found in his wife's clothes, scrubbing at the wash-tub. 
He was put in one of the German working parties, who received him with shouts 
of laughter. 

The citizens thus collected were the representatives of of all classes and many 
nativities. The man of money, the man of law, the merchant, the artist, and the 
artisan swelled the lines, hastening to the scene of action, armed either with mus- 
ket, pick or spade. 

But the pleasantest and most picturesque sight of those remarkable days was 
the almost endless stream of sturdy men who rushed to the rescue from the rural 
districts of the state. These were known as the ''squirrel-hunters." They came 
in tiles, numbering thousands upon thousands, in all kinds of costumes, and armed 
with all kinds of fire-arms, but chiefly the deadly rifle, which they knew so well 
how to use. 

Old men, middle-aged men, and often mere boys, like the "minute men" of the 
old Revolution, they dropped all their peculiar avocations, and with their leathern 
pouches full of bullets, and their oxhorns full of powder, by every railroad and 
by-way, in such numbers that it seemed as if the whole State of Ohio were peo- 
pled only with hunters, and that the spirit of Daniel Boone stood upon the hills 
opposite the town beckoning them into Kentucky. 

The pontoon bridge over the Ohio, which had been begun and completed be- 
tween sundown andsundown, groaned day and night with the perpetual stream of 
of life, all setting southward. In three days, there were ten miles of intrench- 
ments lining the Kentucky hills, making a semi-circle from the river above the 
city to the banks of the river below ; and these were thickly manned, from end to 
end, and made terrible to the astonished enemy by black and frowning cannon. 

General Heth, with his 15,000 veterans, flushed with their late success at Rich- 
mond, drew up before these formidable preparations, and deemed it prudent to 
take the matter into serious consideration, before making the attack. 

Our men were eagerly awaiting their approach, thousands in rifle-pits and tens 
of thousands along "thewhole line of fortifications, while our scouts and pickets 
■were skirmishing with their outposts in the plains in front Should the foe make 
a sudden dash and carry any point of our lines, it was thought by some that 
nothing would prevent them from entering Cincinnati. 

But for this, provision was also made. The city, above and below, was well- 
protected by a flotilla of gun-boats, improvised from the swarm of steamers which 
lav at the wharves. The shrewd leaders of the rebel army were probably kept 
well-posted, by traitors within our own lines, in regard to the reception prepared 
for them, and taking advantage of the darkness of night and the violence of a 



IN OHIO. 205 

thunder storm, made a hasty and ruinous retreat. Wallace was anxious to follow, 
and was confident of success, but was overruled by those higher in authority. 

To the above general view of the siege, we contibute our individual 
experience. Such an experience of the entire war in a diary by a 
citizen, of the genius of Defoe, would outlive a hundred common his- 
tories ; centuries hence be preserved among the choice collections of 
American historic literature. It would illustrate, as nothing else could, 
the inner life of our people in this momentous period— their varying 
emotions and sentiments ; their surprise and indignation at the trea- 
son to the beautiful country of their love ; their never-equaled patri- 
otism and generosity; their unquenchable hope; the almost despair 
that, at times, settled upon them, when all seemed but lost, through 
the timidity and irresolution of weak generals in the field; the in- 
trigues and intended treachery of demagogues at home. Then the 
groping forward, like children in the dark, of millions of loyal hearts 
for some mighty arm to guide; some mighty intellect to reveal and 
thus relieve the awful suspense as to the future ; as though any mere 
man had an attribute that alone is of God. Finally, through the 
agony of sore adversities came the looking upward to the only power 
that could help. Thus the religious instincts became deepened. Vis- 
ions of the higher life, dwarfed the large things of this: and through 
faith came greater blessings, than the wisest among the good had 
hoped. 

On the morning the city was put under martial law, I found the streets full of 
armed police in army blue, and all, without respect to age, compelled to report at 
the headquarters of their respective disti-icts for enrolment. An unwilling^ citi- 
zen, seeing the bayonet leveled at him, could but yield to the inexorable logic of 
military despotism. It was perilous to walk the streets without a pass. At every 
corner stood a sentinel. 

The colored men were roughly handled by the Irish police. From hotels and 
barber shops, in the midst of their labors, these helpless people were pounced upon 
and often bareheaded and in shirtsleeves, just as seized, driven in squads, at the 
point of the bayonet, and gathered in vacant yards and guarded. What rendered 
this act more than ordinarily atrocious was, that they, through their head men, 
had, at the first alarm, been the earliest to volunteer their services to our mayor, 
for the defense of our common homes. It was a sad sight to see human beings 
treated like reptiles. The undying hate of a low Irishman to an oppressed race 
is but a measure of his own degradation and vileness. 

Enrolled in companies, we were daily drilled. One of these, in our ward, was 
composed of old men, termed " Silver Grays." Among its members were the ven- 
erable Judge Leavitt of the United States Supreme Court, and other eminent citi- 
zens. Grandfathers were seen practicing the manual, and lifting alternate feet to 
the cadence of mark-time. 

At this stage of affairs, the idea that our colored citizens possessed warlike 
qualities was a subject for scoffing; the scofi"ers forgetting that the race in ances- 
tral Africa including even the women had been in war since the days of Ham ; 
strangely oblivious also to the fact that our foreign born city police could only by 
furious onslaughts, made with Hibernian love of the thing, quell the frequent pug- 
nacious outbreaks of the crispy-haired denisons of our own Bucktown. From 
this view, or more probably a delicate sentiment of tenderness, instead of being 
armed and sent forth to the dangers of the battle, they were consolidated into a 
peaceful brigade of workers in the trenches back of Newport, under the philan- 
thropic guidance of the Hon. Wm. M. Dickson. 

The daily morning march of the corps down Broadway to labor was a species of 
the mottled picturesque. At their head was the stalwart, manly form of the land- 



206 TIMES OP THE REBELLION 

lord of the Dumas house. Starting back on the honest, substantial, coal-black 
foundation, all shades of color were exhibited, dejienerating out through successive 
gradations to an ashy white; the index of Anglo-saxon fatherhood of the chival- 
rous American type. Arrayed for dirt-work in their oldest clothes ; apparently 
the fags of every conceivable kind of cast-oflP, kicked about and faded out garments; 
crownless and lop-eared hats, diverse boots; with shouldered pick, shovel and hoe; 
this merry, chattering, piebald, grotesque body, shuffled along amid grins and 
jeers, reminding us of the ancient nursery distich : 

" Hark ! hark ! hear the dogs bark, 
The beggars are coming to town, 
Some in rags, some in tags, 
And some in velvet gowns." 

Tuesday night, September 9th, 1862, was starlight; the air soft and balmy* 
With others, I was on guard at an improvised armory, — the old American Express 
buildings, on Third-street near Broadway. Three hours past midnight, from a sig- 
nal-tower three blocks east of us, a rocket suddenly shot high in the air; then the 
fire-bell pealed an alarm. All was again quiet. Half an hour passed. Hurrying 
footsteps neared us. They were those of the indefatigable, public-spirited John 
D. C. "Kirby Smith," said he, quickly, "is advancing on the city. The military 
are to muster on the landing and cross the river at sunrise." 

Six o'clock struck as I entered my own door. The good woman was up. The 
four little innocents — two of a kind — were asleep; in the bliss of ignorance, happy 
in quiet slumber. A few moments of hurried preparation, and I was ready for 
the campaign. The provisions these : a heavy blanket-shawl; a few good cigars; 
a haversack loaded with eatables, and a black bottle of medicinal liquid — cherry 
bounce, very choice. 

As I stepped out on the pavement, my neighbor did the same. He, too, was off 
for the war. At each of our adjoining chamber-windows, stood a solitary female. 
Neither could see the other though not ten feet apart: a wall intervening. Sad- 
ness and merriment were personified. Tears bedewed and apprehension elongated 
the face of the one. Laughter dimpled and shortened the face of the other. The 
one thought of her protector as going forth to encounter the terrors of battle : vis- 
ions of wounds and death were before her. The other thought of hers with only 
a prospect of a little season of rural refreshment on the Kentucky hills, to return 
in safety with an appetite ravenous as a wolf 's for freshly-dug pink-eyes, and Beres- 
ford's choice cuts. 

We joined our regiment at the landing. This expanse of acres was crowded 
with armed citizens, in companies and regiments. Two or three of our frail, egg- 
shell river steamers, converted into gun-boats, were receiving from drays bales of 
hay for bulworks. The pontoon was a moving panorama of newly made warriors, 
and wagons of munitions hastening southward. Back of the plain of Covington 
and Newport, rose the softly-rounded hills : beyond these were our blood thirsty 
foe. Our officers tried to maneuver our regiment. They were too ignorant to ma- 
neuver themselves: it was like handling a rope of sand. Drums beat; fifes 
squeaked, and we crossed the pontoon. The people of Covington filled their 
doorways and windows to gaze at the passing pageant. To my fancy, they looked 
scowlingly. No cheers, no smiles greeted us. It was a staring silence. The rebel 
army had been largely recruited from the town. 

March ! march ! march ! We struck the hills. The way up seemed intermin- 
able. The broiling September sun poured upon us like a furnace. The road was 
an ash heap. Clouds of limestone dust whitened us like millers, filling our nos- 
trils and throats with impalpable powder. The cry went up, water! water! Lit- 
tle or none was to be had. The unusual excitement and exertion told upon me. 
Years before, I had, bearing my knapsack, performed pedestrian tours of thous- 
ands of miles. Had twice walked across New York; once from the Hudson to 
the lake : in the hotest of summer had footed it from Richmond to Lynch- 
burg. No forty or fifty miles a day had ever wilted me like this march of only 
four. But my muscles had been relaxed by years of continuous office labor. I 
had been on my feet on guard duty all night Everything unaccustomed 1 had 



IN OHIO. 207 

about me felt heavy; my musket, my blanket-shawl, my haversack; all but my 
black bottle. Keluctantly 1 drew on my reserve, making the bottle still lighter. 
The reminiscence to this hour is to me, a bronchial benefit. 

Near the top of the hills, some 5U0 feet above the Ohio level, our regiment 
halted, when our officers galloped ahead. We broke ranks and laid down under 
the wayside fence. Five minutes elapsed. Back cantered the cortege. " Fall 
into line I Fall into line I Quick, men I " was the cry. They rode among us. 
Our colonel exclaimed — "you are now going into battle ! The enemy are advanc- 
ing ! You will receive sixty rounds of cartridges ! Do your duty, men ! do your 
duty ! " I fancied it a ruse to test our courage : and so experienced a sense of 
shame. I looked upon the men around me. Not a word was spoken : not one 
Bmiled. No visible emotion of any kind appeared, only weary faces, dirty, sweaty 
and blowsy with the burning heat. 

1 dropped my cartridges into my haversack along with my bread and butter. 
Our captain, in his musical, pleasant voice, gave us instructions, though he had 
never studied Vauban. Gentlemen ! these cartridges are peculiar ; you put the 
ball in first, and the powder on top ! " iSome one whispered in his ear. " Gentle- 
men," he again exclaimed, with a significant scowl and a shake of the head, " I 
was mistaken : you must put the powder in first and the ball on top." We did 
BO. We had elected Billy captain for he was genial and of a good family. 

We again shuffled upward. Suddenly as the drawing up of a curtain, a fine, 
open, rolling country with undulating ravines burst upun us. Two or three farm 
mansions, with half-concealing foliage and corn-fields appeared in the distance; 
beyond, a mile away, the fringed line of a forest; above, a cloudless sky and a 
noonday sun. The road we were on penetrated these woods. In these were con- 
cealed the unknown thousands of our war-hardened, desperate foe. 

On the summit of the hills we had so laboriously gained, defending the ap- 
proach by the road, ran our line of earthworks. On our right a few rods, was 
Fort Mitchell; to our left, for hundreds of yards, rifle-pits. The fort and pits 
were filled with armed citizens; and a regiment or two of green soldiers in their 
new suits. Vociferous cheers greeted our appearing. "How are you, H.?" 
struck my attention. It was the cheerful voice of a tall, slender gentleman iu 
glasses who does my legal business. 

Turning ofi" to the left into the fields in front of these, and away beyond, we 
halted an hour or so in line of b.attle, the nearest regiment to the enemy. We 
waited in expectation of an attack, too exhausted to fight, or, perhaps, even to run. 
Thence we moved back into an orchard, behind a rail fence, on rather low ground ; 
our left, and the extreme left of all our forces, resting on a farm-house. Our pio- 
neers went to work strengthening our permanent position, cutting down brush and 
small trees, and piling them against the fence. Here, we were in plain view, a 
mile in front, of the ominous forest. When night came on, in ftaution, our camp- 
fires were extinguished. We slept on hay in the open air, with our loaded mus- 
kets by our sides, and our guards and pickets doubled. 

At 4 o'clock reveille sounded, and we were up in line. I then enjoyed what I 
had not before seen in years — the first coming on of morning in the country. 
Most of the day we were in line of battle, behind the fence. Regiments to the 
right of U-! ; and more in the rifle-pits farther on, and beyond, it seemed a mile to 
the right, the artillerists in Fort Mitchell — all those on hills above us, also stood 
waiting for the enemy. Constant picket-firing was going on in front. The rebels 
were feeling our lines. Pop! pop! pop! one — two — three, then half a dozen in 
quick succession: followed by a lull with intervals of three or four minutes, 
broken perhaps by a solitary pop. Again continuous pops, like afeti-dejoie, with 
another lull: and so on through the long hours. Some of our men were wounded, 
and others, it was reported, killed. With the naked eye we caught occasional 
glimpses of the skirmishers, in a corn-field near the woods. With a glass a man 
by my side said he saw the butternut-colored garments of the foe. 

Toward evening a furious thunder storm drove us to our tents of blankets, and 
brushwood bowers. It wet us through, and destroyed the cartridges in our cotton 
haversacks. Just as the storm was closing, a tremendous fusilade on our right, 
and the cries of our officers, ''the enemy are upon us; turn out! turn out I'' 



208 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

brought us to the fence again. The rebels, we thought, had surprised us and 
would be dashing down in a moment with their cavalry through the orchard in 
our rear. Several of our companies fired off their muskets in that direction, and 
to the manifest danger of a line of our own sentinels. Ours held fast. It was a 
false alarm, and arose in the 110th Ohio, camped on the hill to our right. 

You may ask what my sensations as 1 thus stood, back to the fence, with up- 
lifted musket in expectant attitude? To be honest — my teeth chattered uncon- 
trollably. I never boasted of courage. Drenched to the marrow by the cold rain, I 
was shivering before the alarm. 1 reasoned in this way : " Our men are all raw ; 
our officers in the doughy condition. We are armed with the old, condemned 
Austrian rifle. Not one in ten can be discharged. All my reading in history has 
ground the fact into me, that militia, situated like us, are worthless when attacked 
by veterans. An hundred experienced cavalrymen, dashing down with drawn 
sabers, revolvers and secesh yells will scatter us in a twinkling. When the others 
run, — and 1 know they will, 1 won't. I'll drop beside this fence, simulate death, 
and open an eye to the culminating circumstances." I was not aching for a fight. 
Ambitious youths going in on their muscles, alas ! — are apt to come out on their 
backs. 

Unlike Nerval, I could not say : 

" I had heard of battles and longed 
To follow to the field some warlike cAop." 

When at school, I never fought excepting when my pugnacity was aroused on 
seeing large boys tyrannize over small ones. 1 never slew anything larger than a 
a cat, which had scratched me; and at this, as soon as done, I child like, as child 
I was, repenting, sat down and cried. I am soft-hearted as my uncle Toby with 
the fly — ''Go, poor devil! the world is large enough for both you and I." To pit 
my valuable life against one of these low southern whites; half animals, fierce as 
hyenas, degraded as Serbs, appeared a manifest incongruity. It never seemed so 
plain before. It was tackling the beast in the only point where he was strong, 
and in one where I was weak. 

Some things were revealed to me by this soldier-life. The alarming rumors 
current. The restraints upon one's liberty ; imprisoned within the lines of the 
regiment. The sensation of being ordered around by small men in high places; 
and despicable in any. The waste of war; piles of bread, water-soaked by rain 
into worthless pulp. The vacuity of mind from the want of business for continu- 
ous thought. The picturesque attitudes of scores of men sleeping on heaps of 
straw, seen by the uncertain light of night. The importance of an oflicer's horse 
beyond that of a common soldier, shown by the refusal of hay on which to sleep 
on the night of our arrival, because the colonel's beast wanted it. Didn't our 
good mother earth furnish a bed ? 

In our company were three of us, — W. J. F., S. D., and H. H. — not relatives in 
any way, who, in a New England city, distant nearly a thousand miles, had, over 
thirty years before been school-mates. It illustrated a peculiar phase of Ameri- 
can habits. We had some odd characters. Among us Gentiles, was a 
large shoal of Jews caught at last by the remorseless net of universal con- 
scription. Feeding and fattening in the disturbed currents of the times, all their 
wriggling to escape excited no sympathy. Our fifer, a short, square-built, warm- 
faced man, had been in the British Army — had seen service in Afghanistan, the 
other side of the globe. Another, a German lieutenant, had experience of war in 
our country — was at Shiloh. He was imaginative. 1 talked with him in the night 
To my query of the probability of a night attack, he replied, " yes ! the secesh al- 
ways attack in that way." Past midnight, as he was going the rounds of the pick- 
ets as officer of the guard, he saw crouching in the shadow of a ravine a large 
body of rebels. He ran to headquarters and aroused our colonel and staff; but 
when they arrived at the seeing point, lo ! the foe had vanished. A fat, gray- 
headed captain with protuberant abdomen, came to me soon after our arrival and 
with an impressive countenance discoursed of the perils of our position. In this, 
1 quite agreed with him. Then putting his hand to his stomach and giving his 
head a turn to one side, after the usual manner of invalids in detailing their woes, 



IN OHIO. 209 

he uttered in lugubrious tones — "I am very sick: the march over has been too 
much for me : I'feel a severe attack of my old comphiint, cholera viorbus coming 
on.' After this, I missed him. He had got a permit from the surgeon and re- 
turned home to be nursed. Our medical man, Dr. D., was old Virginia born; and 
I had, notwithstanding his generous qualities, suspected him of secesh sympa- 
thies. 1 wish to be charitable, but 1 must say this confirmed my suspicion: it was 
evident he wished to get the lighting men out of the way ! 

Saturday noon, the 13th, we began our return march. The militia were no 
longer needed ; for the rebels had fallen back, and thousands of regular soldiers 
hatfbeen pouring into the city and spreading over the hills. Our return was an 
ovation. The landing was black with men, women and children. We re-crossed 
the pontoon amid cheers and the boom of cannon. Here, on the safe side of the 
river, the sick captain, now recovered, joined his regiment. With freshly-shaven 
face, spotless collar and bright uniform he appeared, like a bandbox soldier among 
dust-covered warriors. Escaping our perils, he shared our glories a8,vvith drawn 
sword, he strutted through street after street amid cheers of the multitude, smiles 
of admirinsi women, and waving of 'kerchiefs. Weary and dirt-begrimmed, w^e 
were, in a'^tedious, circuitous march, duly shown off by our officers to all their 
lady acquaintances, until night came to our relief, kindly covered us with her 
mantle, and stopped the tomfoolery. The lambs led forth to slaughter, thus re- 
turned safely to their folds, because the butchers hadn't come. 

morgan's raid into OHIO. 

In the year following, 1863, Ohio was invaded by the guerrilla chief, 
John Morgan. He crossed from Kentucky into Indiana with a cavalry 
force of about 4000, and moved nearly parallel with the Ohio river. 
He approached within a few miles of Cincinnati, and caused some lit- 
tle stir there, but thought it not prudent to visit the city. He was 
closely pursued by the federal forces. The following are some of the 
particulars of his march and capture. 

The only battle worthy of the name took place near Buffington 
Island, where the raiders made an attempt to cross into Virginia, but 
were prevented by the gun-boats. We present the particulars as pub- 
lished at the time : 

Buffington Island lies in the Ohio river, close to the Ohio shore, about thirty- 
five miles above Pomeroy, and was chosen by the rebels as a place of crossing into 
Virginia, on account of the shoals between it and Blannerhasset's Island, twenty 

miles above. r, • ,. 1 1 -«.- 

Our gun-boats, viz: Moose (flag-boat), Reindeer, Springfield, J\aumbeag and 
Victory? in command of Lieutenant-Commander Le Roy Fitch, were patrolling 
the river from an accessible point below Ripley to Portsmouth ; but as soon as it 
was definitely ascertained that Morgan was pushing eastward, the Moose, towed 
by the Imperial, started up stream, followed at proper distances by the other boats. 
The Moose made the foot of Buffington Island on Saturday night, and remained 
until next morning, without changing position, on account of a dense fog. 

The rebel force made the shore "opposite, and above the island, as before stated, 
at two o'clock, and took position, under cover of artillery, in an extensive corn 
and wheat field, skirted by hills and woods on its north and east sides. The po- 
sion was a good one, and might have been held to advantage for a much longer 
time than it was, but for the co-operation of the gun-boat Moose, the only one of 
the fleet which arrived in time to participate. 

The Fight— The rebels had their artillery placed on the highest elevation on 
the east and completely commanded the Pomeroy road, over which Gen. Judah's 
force came filing along, unaware of the close proximity of the enemy. It should 
be noted here, that the old stage road to Pomeroy, ov",r which Morgan came, and 
the lower road traveled by Judah met in an acute angle three quarters of a mile 
14 



210 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

from the battle-field. Our column came along the lower road within range at six 
o'clock, having marched all night, having started from Pomeroy, and was not as 
fresh by five or six hours' rest as the enemy. 

The rebels met us in solid column, and moved in battalions, and at the first fire 
repulsed our advance, which was too far ahead to be assisted by our artillery. 
This was the best opportunity they had to make a successful fight, but we fell 
back to bring forward our artillery, and the enemy did not seem to care to follow 
up the advantage. During this encounter, Capt. Jno. J. Grafton, of Gen. Judah's 
stafi", became separated from the advance and narrowly escaped capture, by shoot- 
ing the rebel cavalryman who seized him. He was dismounted, and being left on 
the ground, made his way with considerable difficulty to the river, where he hailed 
the Moose and got aboard. Meantime the tight progressed, but in a desultory man- 
ner, until our artillery get into position, and our lines were drawn closely around 
the enemy. A furious onset was made on our side, and the enemy was driven 
over the field eastward, and sought the shelter of the woods beyond. 

Co-operation of the Gun-boat. — No more fortunate circumstance could have 
transpired for the union force than the escape of Captain Grafton to the gun-buat 
Moose, for he pointed out to Lieutenant-Commander Fitch the exact position of 
the rebels, and enabled that officer to so direct his guns as to throw shell in their 
very midst. The Moose is armed with twenty-four pounder Dahlgren guns — the 
most accurate and efi"ective gun in the service for operation against exposed bodies 
of men — and on this occasion the weapon did not belie its character. A dense 
fog, however, prevailed, which prevented Lieut. Fitch doing as great execution in 
the rebel works as he desired ; but his shots from the larboard and forward guns 
told, and an extensive scattering took place. The Moose opened at seven o'clock, 
and as the rebels were driven she kept steadily moving up stream, throwing shell 
and shrapnel over the heads of our lads into the ranks of the enemy. 

It now hecame evident that the rebels were being pressed in all directions, and 
that hard fighting would not save them from destruction. 

A simultaneous rush was then made for the river, and throwing away arms and 
even clothing, a large body ran down to the shore, some with horses and some 
without, and plunged into the stream. The point chosen to efl'ect the crossing 
was one mile and a half above the head of Buffington Island, and the movement 
would undoubtedly have been attended with considerable success but for the 
presence and performance of the gun-boat. The crossing was covered l>y a 
twenty-pounder Parrott and a twelve-pound howitzer dragged into position by the 
rebels in their hasty retreat, but before the guns could be loaded and sighted the 
bow guns of the Moose opened on the rel)el guns and drove the gunners away, 
after which the pieces were captured. Some twenty or thirty men only succeeded 
in crossing into Virginia at this point. Several were killed in the water, and 
many returned to the shore. While this was transpiring on the river, the roar of 
battle was still raging on the shore and back into the country. Basil Duke, under 
whose generalship the fight was conducted, was evidently getting the worst of it, 
and his wearied gang of horse-t lieves, cut-throats and nondescripts began to be- 
think them only of escape. Many threw down their arms, were taken prisoners 
and sent to the rear. Others sought the shelter of trees, or ran wildly from one 
point to another, and thus exposed themselves far more to the deadly chances of 
the field than if they had displayed courage and stood up to the fight. 

T'he scene of the battle was one of the most composite, perhaps, in the pano- 
rama of the war. The rebels were dressed in every possible manner peculiar to 
civilized man, but generally speaking their attire was very good. They wore in 
many instances large slouch hats peculiar to the slave states, and had their panta- 
loons stuck in rhfir boots. A dirty, gray-colored coat was the most prevalent, al- 
thouiih white "dusters" were to be seen. 

They were armed with carbines, Enfield rifles, sabers and revolvers, were well- 
mounted and looke 1 in good health, although jaded and tired. The battle-field 
and the roads surrounding it, were strewn with a thousand articles never se^Ti, 
perhaps, on a battle-field before. One is accustomed to see broken swords, tnns 
kets and bayonets, haversacks, cartridge-boxes, belts, pistols, gun-carriages, cai.s- 



IN OHIO. 211 

Bons, cannon, wagons upset, wounded, dead and dyinc; on a battle field, but beside 
all these on tbe battle field of Buffinjiton Island, one could pick up almost :inv ar- 
ticle in the dry goods, hardware, house-furnishing, or ladies' ur gentlemen's fur- 
nishing lino. Hats, boots, gloves, knives, forks, spoons, calico, ril»bons, drinkini;- 
cups, buggies, carriages, market-wagons, circus-wairons, and an almost endless va- 
riety of articles useful, and more or less valuable. An inventory of Morgan s 
plunder would tax the patience of an auctioneer's clerk, and I question if on"- 
man's life would be long enough to minutely catalogue the articles picked up dur- 
ing his raid. 

The carnage of the field was not remarkable, although little groups of rebels 
were found, slain by the deadly fragments of shell. 

Nearly 1,700 prisoners are now in our hands, under guard of the 8th Michigan 
cavalry, and others are constantly arriving by our scouts and pursuing parties. 

Prisoners admit a loss of 200 killed and wounded on the field, while our loss 
will not exceed a fourth of that number. The saddest incident of the fight is the 
mortally wounding of Major McCook, father of the lamented Brigadier-General 
McCook, murdered in the summer of 1862, by guerrillas, in Kentucky. 

Another writer gives some chai-acteristic incidents of this raid, 
which he derived from Major Eaney, the chief of the party of scouts. 
Raney was the well-known Cincinnati detective, and, therefore, in the 
direct line of his profession, though on a somewhat expanded field. 

At Miamitown, Raney's scouts first came in direct contact with Morgan's men, 
forming a portion of his advance guard then heading for Cincinnati. Kaney had 
but 23 men, but these were well armed and posted behind trees and fences, so as 
to command the road for some distance, without being exposed themselves. As 
80on as the extreme advance came in sight, 2.3 rifle balls whistled around its head, 
and stretched 2 men dead, and wounded 3. These were abandoned; but the return 
volley killed one of Raneys most valuable men, a member of Collins' battalion, 11 th 
Ohio, recruited for Indian service. While the skirmish was going on, a portion 
of the rebel force was engaged in pillaging the neighborhood, where they got sev- 
eral hundred dollars in small sums, and a quantity of jewelry and silver spoons. 
It was not the object nor the business of Raney to fight the rebels, although his 
ambush certainly turned them from Cincinnati, and as soon as the advance 
headed off, which it did when fired upon, the scouts mounted and rode forward to 
pick up stragglers. Three pris(mers were taken, among them Lieutenant Kirby 
of the 10th Kentucky, (rebel.) This chivalrous (?) officer, when taken, swag- 
gered in true Kentuckv blackguard style and ridinir up to Major Raney, demanded 
to be treated as a prisoner of war, for he was an officer and a gentleman, and from 
Kentucky, and was, therefore, entitled to respect, et^3., etc. Raney replied that he 
always treated a man as a gentleman until he found him to be otherwise, and al- 
ways treated a man as honest until he found him to be a thief; and by way of 
illustrating his principle, he thrust his hand into Kirby's shirtbosom, and drew 
out half a dozen pairs of ladies' kid gloves, some ribbon, ladies' silk hose, and 
some other articles of finery stolen from a store or the wardrobe of a lady of 
means. 

The next object of interest encountered by the scouts was an old, feeble man, 
evidently a discharged soldier, leaning on the arm of a sturdy, sunburned country- 
man, who, to all appearances, had humanely oflfered assistance to the returned 
veteran. This sham' would have succeeded had not the sunburned countryman 
looked a trifle too sharp out of the corners of his eyes as he passed. Raney 
thought he spied the twinkle of a rogue's eye, and he ordered the fellow to be 
taken in custody, when, upon examination, he proved to be Ike Snow, one of Mor- 
gan's most valuable and efficient scouts. 

At Harrison, the rebels were about to set fire to three mills and a distillery, but 
upon entreaty decided to spare them upon the payment of $1,00() for each build- 
ing, which was immediately handed over and pocketed by the ubiquitous John. 

At Sharon, the main body, with which Morgan was riding, stopped and hon- 
ored a butternut Uvern-keeper by tllf -WUB? of Myers with a visit. Morgan or- 



212 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

dered dinner for himself and stuff, but Alyers deinurrei], on the irvoiind that he 
could not make a fire and cook food for (so iiiatiy in a short time. MorL'an replied 
that he could soon make a fire, and he would see that the cooks were expe- 
ditious. At this suiisiestive intimation ti)e host set al)out dinner with a will, and 
by way of showing; his devotion to his guests, descended to tiie cellar and brought 
forth a bottle of old Otard, and pouring out a liberal "smile," asked Moi-;:an to 
'■ take a little trink of pranty py way of pitiers pefore tinner." Morgan, not ac- 
customed to be gotten ahead of, said, "Yes, sir, but after you." Mvers swallowed 
half the liquor, when Morgan also "smiled." Myers continued to make himself 
agreeable to his guests, and furnished them with all the information they required, 
together with a fine horse, and upon their departure received two hundred dol- 
lars in "greenbacks," as a cataplasm for his wounded lionor and patrioti>ui, for, 
be it known, that no one so heartily abused Morgan — after he was gone — as 
Myers. 

The most wanton murder, perhaps, perpetrated by Morgan, was that of McDou 
gal, at Piketon. He with two or three others, were taken prisoners, and as he 
was the best informed of the party, Morgan ordered him to act as scout, or pilot, 
for a body of the rebels. McDougal refused and expostulated with the ruffians, 
but they refused to parley, and pushed him toward a fence where they almost 
riddled his body with bullets. 

The arrival at Cincinnati of the prisoners taken in the Buffington 
fight is thus given in one of the papers of the day. 

At 11 A. M., July 23d, the rebel officers, including Dick Morgan and Basil Duke, 
were brought from the steamer Starlight to tlie foot of Main-street, on one of the 
ferry-boats. Morgan being wounded, and Duke lame, temporarily, we believe, 
they were provided with a carriage, while the balance of the officers formed in 
their rear in two ranks, when the column, strongly guarded, moved through the 
city to the city prison, on Ninth-street. The boats containing the privates then 
proceeded down the river to the foot of Fifth-street, where the prisoners were 
marched to a special train on the Indianapolis and Cincinnati railroad, and sent to 
Indianapolis. 

As soon as it was known the boats containing the prisoners had arrived, the le- 
vee was thronged with men, women and children, anxious to see the noted horse- 
thieves. Many sympathizers were present, and in several cases undertook to fur- 
nish their friends with money, refreshments, etc. This proceeding, however, was 
soon stopped by their arrest. A number of the prisoners being from Covington, 
their female relations and friends came over in carriages to see them. They were 
not permitted to communicate with the prisoners, however. 

A pass from General Burnside admitted us to the temporary enjoyment of the 
society of the rebel officers. Although the prison itself is not a very stronghold, 
we found the guard sufficient to insure the safety of the captives, for a few days 
at least. The walls were whitewashed, and they seemed to have been cleaned for 
the occasion. From the accounts we have read of Libby prison, we should judge 
the city prison, in which we entertain rebel officers, heavenly, compared to it. 
None of them have been heard to complain about it; but some of them were pre- 
sumptuous enough to think we ought to furnish them with a keg of lager beer 
once a day, and other refreshments in addition. 

The following is a list of the officers : 

Coloneh.—E. W. Duke, W. W. Ward, D. N. Smith, B. 0. Morgan; Lieut.- Col. J. W. 
Hoffman. 

Mitjors.—Vf. P. Elliott, R. S. Bullock. 

Captains. — P. Thorpe, G. M. Coleman, T. E. Eastin, T. H. Hines, W. B. Cunningham, 
Miles Griffin, H. C. Ellis, J. B. Barker, C. G. Campbell, E. W. Terrell, Jno. Hunter, S. C. 
Mullens, E. T. Rochester, A. J. Bruner, J. L. N. Pickens, .J. W. Mitchell, B. A. Tracey. 

Siu-rjeons. Twigg, M. W. Standford, T. B. Lewis, D. Carter, A. M. Conn, D. C. 

Bedford, A. C. Raines, Rev. T. D. Moore. 

Lieutenants. Litzy, J. W. McMichael, J. H. Green, Ph. Price, A. A. Q. M.. W. P. 

Fogg, J. T. Sinclair, J. B. Talbott, J. P. Webb,R. W. Fenwiek, Robert Cunningham, K. 
F. Peddicore, M. M. Thomason, Tom. Moulard, F. Leathers, D. Care, T. B. Bridges, H. 



IN OHIO. 213 

T. Rucks, J. L. Williamson, T. B. Haines, Newton, Wellington, Thos. Palls, J. 

D. Morris, W. B. Ford, Jno. Parks, B. L. Drake, J. A. Middleton, A. B. Chinn, J. Old- 
ham, J. W. Gordon, C. M. Taylor, J. A. Fox, D. Tribble, W. S. Hickman, J. S. Hughes, 
Alfred Surber, T. S. Kemper, R. A. Webster, Munday. 

We found Colonel Duke's name headed the list, but from his appearance wo 
should not have taken him to be the head and front of the gang — a position that 
is now generally conceded to him more than to Morgan. He is a small man, not 
over thirty years old, we judge; weight about 130 pounds, spare of flesh, features 
angular, hair and eyes nearly, if not quite, black, the latter sparkling and pene- 
trating, and the former standing out from the head something like porcupine quills. 
Altogether, he called to mind our picture of a Spanish bandit on a small scale; 
nevertheless, he has a pleasant voice, and a gracious smile in his conversation, 
which is free and cordial. But there is nothing commanding in his appearance, 
his manners, or his words, and it is not strange that Morgan is the acknowledged 
leader of the horde, even though Duke may be the most quickwitted. 

Dick Morgan is about 32 years old, heavy set, inclined to be fleshy, round, 
plump face, bluish eyes, phlegmatic temperament, and not talkative. He yields 
to Duke the privilege of carrying on a conversation. 

Not one of the seventy officers before us had any indication of his rank in or 
on his dress. They were all, more or less, in citizen's dress; some of tliem hav- 
ing blue, and some of them gray pantaloons; some of them had military blouses, 
but the most of them had on citizen's vests and coats. What there was of mili- 
tary dress among them, was more of the federal style than the confederate. We 
asked why they dressed in this style — whether it was for convenience in passing 
themselves off as citizens, when they found it more convenient to be civilians than 
soldiers? They replied, that they kept flying round so, that they never saw the 
quartermaster's supplies, and that they found it handier just to take what they 
could find — whether it was from citizens or from union soldiers. 

They stated that most of Morgan's forces were Kentuckians, but that Colonel 
Ward's men were Tennesseans, and Colonel Hoffman's were Texans. And we 
learn that the privates, on tlie boats, improved the opportunity of inquiring of the 
few visitors who reached them, all about their friends ou the other side of the 
river. One Covingtonian got among them, to look for his son, but not finding 
him, distributed seventy-five dollars he had brought with him, among the rebel 
boys, who had been stealing money and horses on this side the river. 

John Moi'giin with the remainder of his followers succeeded in elud- 
ing his pursuers for nearly an hundred miles more of flight. They 
were caj^tured several days after the Buffington fight, in Columbiana 
county, near the Pennsylvania border. These were the closing scenes 
of the great chase through Indiana and Ohio. 

General Brooks, commanding the department, had gone to Wellsville and estab- 
lished his headquarters in the Cleveland and Pittsburg depot, where he was as- 
sisted by the managing officers of the road ; who had placed the transportation 
and telegraphic resources of the road at his disposal. Finding that there was a pro- 
bability that Morgan would cross the road in the vicinity of Salineville, a train 
of cars was sent up the road about six o clock, Sunday morning, July '23d, with a 
regiment of six months' Pennsylvania infantry, under command of Colonel Gal- 
lagher. These were embarked at Salineville, and marched to a point about two 
miles distant, where the rebels were expected to cross. The infantry were posted 
on some rising ground commanding the road, with orders to prevent Morgan's 
passage. 

At this time, the utmost alarm existed among the people of Salineville. The 
houses were closed, doors and windows locked and barred, and women and children 
stampeded into the country, with whatever portable property could be carried 
along. The man who had weapons and courage turned out to resist the progress 
of the dreaded rebel, while all the others fled with the women and children. 

in a slun't time the expected rebels made their appearance, coming around a 
bend in the road. On coming in sight of the infantry they halted, and turned 



214 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

their horses' head-s in another direction. Before they could zet out of the trap 
they found themselves in, Major Way, with 250 men of the 9th Michipin cavalry, 
dashed among them and commenced cutting right and left. The rel>els made liut 
a brief resistance. A few shots were fired by them, and then tlie whoh' party 
broke in utter confusion. The scene that followed was ludicrous, and could only 
be matched by the previous stampede at BufBngfon Island. Men dismounted, 
threw down their arms and begged for quarter, while others galloped wildly in 
search of a place of escape, and were "brought to time" by a pistol shot or a 
saber stroke. 

.Morgan himself was riding in a carriage drawn by two white horses. Major 
Way saw him, and, galloping up, reached for him. Morgan jumped out at the 
other side of the carriage, leaped over a fence, seized a horse, and galloped off as 
fast as horseflesh, spurred by frightened heels, could carry him. About a couple 
of hundred of his men succeeded in breaking away and followed their fugitive 
leader. In the buggy thus hastily "evacuated" by Morgan, were found his "ra- 
tions," consisting of a loaf of bread, some hard boiled eggs, and a bottle of 
■whisky. 

The number of killed in this fight was much less than at first reported, as we 
can not learn of more than five or six dead bodies having been found. There was 
a considerable number of wounded, and about 200 prisoners taken, together with 
horses and arms. A special train was sent to Wellsville in the afternoon with 
about 250 prisoners, captured in the fight or picked up in the neighborhood after- 
ward. 

A few of our cavalry were wounded, two or three seriously. Lieutenant Fiske 
was shot through the breast. His wound is dangerous, and he has telegraphed 
for his wife to come from Michigan. 

Morgan and the remainder of his scattered forces pressed three citizens of Sa- 
lineville into their service as guides, and continued their flight on the New Lisbon 
road. One of the impressed guides made his escape and rode back, conveying 
intelligence of the route taken, which, it was believed, was with the ultimate de- 
sign of reaching the Ohio river higher up. Forces were immediately dispatched 
from VV^ellsville to head him oS", while another force followed hotly in his rear, 
and a strong militia force from New Lisbon came down to meet him. 

Aliout two o'clock in the afternoon, these various detachments closed in around 
Moriran. in the vicinity of West Point, about midway between New Lisbon and 
Wellsville The rebels were driven to a bluff, from which there was no escape, 
except by fighting their way through, or leaping from a lofty and almost perpen- 
dicular precipice" Finding themselves thus cooped, Morgan concluded that " dis- 
cretion was the better part of valor." He, with the remainder of the gang, sur- 
rendered to Colonel Shackleford, who was well-acquainted with the redoubtable 
"John, ' and is said to be a distant relative. 

The prisoners were brought back to Wellsville, where their arrival caused great 
excitement. Morgan retained his side arms, and moved about freely, although al- 
ways accompanied by Colonel Shackleford. Last night (Sunday) Morgan and his 
staff slept at the Whittaker house, in Wellsville, and at three o'clock this morn- 
ing, they, accompanied by Colonel Shackleford and his staff, left on the regular 
train for Columbus. Later in the morning, a special train was to be sent to Co- 
lumbus with the remainder of the prisoners and their guards. 

The militia are constantly bringing in to the line of road stray prisoners, 
picked up in the country. The hills are swarming with armed men, hunting for 
fugitive rebels. Nine of Morgan's party were brought to Bayard Station this 
morning, who were captured in the neighborhood by the provost marshal's force. 
They \vere taken to Alliance, to be sent" from that place to Columbus. 

Morgan's men were poorly dressed, ragged, dirty, and very badly used up. Some 
of them wore remnants of gray uniforms, but most of them were attired in spoils 
gathered during their raid, 'rhey were much discouraged at the result of their 
raid, and the prospect of affairs generally. 

.Morgan himself appeared in good spirits, and quite unconcerned at his ill luck. 
He is a well-built man, of fresh complexion and sandy hair and beard. He, last 
night, enjoyed for the first time in a long while, the comforts of a sound sleep in 



IN OHIO. 215 

a good bed, which was some compensation for his otherwise bad luck. Morj^an 
was attired in a linen coat, black pants, white shirt and li^ht I'elt hat. No deco- 
rations were visible. He has rather a mild face, there being certainly nothing in 
it to indicate the possession of unusual intellectual qualities. 

Colonel Cluke is very tall, rising probably two inches over six feet. He was 
attired much after the manner of his chief He is slender, has sandy hair, and 
looks like a man of invincible determination. His countenance is not devoid of 
certain savage lines, which correspond well with his barbarities as a leader. 

On their arrival at Cincinnati a few days later, a large crowd was assembled at 
the depot, and as the prisoners moved, immense numbers were constantly added 
to it. When they marched down Ninth-street not less than 5,000 persons sur- 
rounded the famous guerrilla and his aids. Many of these lookers-on seemed ex- 
cited, and cried, " Hang the cut-throats," " bully for the horse-thieves." Several 
of the spectators were flourishing pistols, but the guard quickly drove them away_ 

The capture of Morgan occasioned great rejoicing; and Prentice, of 
the Louisville Journal, suggested that a salute of one gun be fired be- 
fore every stable door in the land. 

Morgan and a number of his officers were confined in the state 
prison, at Columbus, from which the great raider, with several com- 
panions made his escape, on the night of the 27th of November. The 
following particulars of the flight were detailed in a Eichmond paper. 

It had been previously determined that, on reaching the outer walls, the parties 
should separate, iMorgan and Hines together, and the others to sh ipe their course 
for themselves. Thus they parted, Hines and the general proceeded at once to 
the depot to purchase thoir tickets for Cincinnati. But, lo ! where was the money ? 
The inventive Hines had only to touch the magical wand of his ingenuity to be 
supplied. While in prison he had taken the precaution, after planning his escape, 
to write to a lady friend in a peculiar cypher, which, when handed to the author- 
ities to read through openly, contained nothing contraband, but which, on the 
young lady receiving, she, according to instructions, sent him some books, in the 
back of one of which she concealed some " greenbacks," and across the inside 
wrote her name to indicate the place where the money was deposited ! The books 
came safe to hand, and Hines was flush ! (Joing boldly up to the ticket office, 
while Morgan modestly stood back and adjusted a pair of green goggles over his 
eyes, which one of the men, having weak eyes, had worn in the prison. 

They took their seats in the cars without suspicion. How their hearts beat 
until the locomotive whistled to start I Slowly the wheels turn, and they are off! 
The cars were due in Cincinnati at 7 o'clock, a. m. At Xenia, they were detained 
one hour. What keen anguish of suspense did they not suffer? They knew at 
5 o'clock, A. M., the convicts would be called, and that their escape would then be 
discovered, when it would be telegraphed in every direction ; consequently, the 
guards would be ready to greet them on their arrival. They were rapidly near- 
ing the city of abolition hogdom. Jt was a cool, rainy morning. Just as the train 
entered the suburbs, about half a mile from the depot, the two escaped prisoners 
went out on the platform and put on the brakes, checking the cars sufficiently to 
let them jump off. Hines jumped off first, and fell, considerably stunned. Mor- 
gan followed, unhurt. They immediately made for the river. Here they found 
a boy with a skiff, who had just ferried across some ladies from the Kentucky side. 
They dared not turn their heads for fear of seeing the guards coming. " Hines," 
whispered the general, "look and see if any body is coming! " The boy was told 
they wanted to cross, but he desired to wait for more passengers. The general 
told him he was in a hurry, and promised to pay double fare. The skiff shot out 
into the stream — they soon reached the Kentucky shore, and breathed — free ! 

THE VALLANDIGHAM CAMPAIGN. 

From the outbreak of the rebellion the opposition of the Hon. Clem- 
ent L. Vallandigham, M. C. from the Daj'ton district, to the govern- 



216 TIMES OF THE RESELLION 

ment was so marked as to be generally considered as amounting to ac- 
tual sympathy with the south. 

On the 19th of April, 1863, Gen. Burnside, commanding department 
of the Ohio, issued his famous order No. 38, in which he said, " The 
habit of declaring sympathies for the enemy will no longer be toler- 
ated in this department. Persons committing such offenses will be at 
once arrested with a view to being tried as above stated, or sent be- 
yond our lines, into the lines of their friends." 

Mr. Vallandigham, in a speech at Mount Vernon, Knox county, on 
the 1st of May, commented with great bitterness on the above order, 
which resulted in his arrest at his residence in Dayton on the morn- 
ing of the 5th of the same month. He was taken to Cincinnati, tried 
by a military commission, found guilty, and sentenced to imprison- 
ment in Fort Warren during the war. This sentence was changed by 
the president, into banishment beyond the federal lines, which was 
carried into effect. 

Much sympathy was expressed for Yallandigham by his friends and 
the opposition press; but, on the other hand, there was a general aj)- 
proval of the course pursued by the chief magistrate of the nation. 
Prominent among the former was Governor Seymour, of New York, 
and the Freeman's Journal said, "Ohio has her exiled hero, Vallandig- 
ham." 

The sudden rise of the opposition party to the war following the 
unfortunate issue of McClellan's campaign in Vii-ginia, and Buell's in 
Kentucky, in the latter part of 1862, together with the issuing of Pres- 
ident Lincoln's proclamation, in January, 1863, had emboldened Mr. 
Vallandigham to urge his jDeculiar views. This had greatly excited 
the soldiers in the field, and in their numerous addresses and letters 
they appealed to the people at home to stand by the union. General 
Eosecrans, whose signal victory at Stone Eiver, and whose genei-osity 
of spirit and fatherly care of his men had endeared him to the people 
of Ohio, wrote an eloquent, patriotic letter to the legislatui'e , and his 
Ohio soldiers an address to their friends at home: the latter we have 
pi-eserved as a part of the history of the times. 

The Battle-Fikld of Stone River 'Cli. 1, 1863. 

To the People of Ohio : The Ohio soldiers of the western army, your friends, 
brothers and sons, address you from this field of renown, in urgent entreaty, upon 
matters of such grave import to them and to the country, as to demand your calm 
and patient audience. Exiles from home for long weary months, away from the 
petty strife of local politics and the influence of selfish demagogues and party 
leaders, with the pure and steadfast faith in the holy cause of defending our gov- 
ernment which hrought us into the field, and has sustained us in perils, hardships, 
toils and exposures, which have scarcely <a parallel in history, we feel none of the 
acrimonious bitterness that now enters into the ignoble contentions of home poli- 
tics, and calmly view thje conditions of the country from the only true standpoint, 
the soldier's and patriot's devotion to the great repubUc — once blessed of all na- 
tions. 

We ask, what means this wild, shameless party strife at home? why any oppo- 
sition to this war of self-preservation? why any but political demagogues should 
wish a severance of the republic? wherefore a foolish cry for a cessation of hos- 
tilities on our part, to give time to the traitor-rebels to strengthen their defenses 
and dis<!ipline their armies ? why should the brave, true men of the gi-eat army o 
the United States, war-broken, toil-v\'orn and battle-stained, be left without sym- 



IN OHIO. 



217 



pathy from you, men of Ohio, now enjoyini»; the blessings of peace, careless of 
dangers of invasion, war's dread terrors, only because we, your brothers and 
8ons, stand " between your loved homes and war's desolation ?" 

Are we not in war? Is not the whole force of the government employed in de- 
fending the nation against a gigantic effort to destroy it ? Has not blood flowed 
like water, and treasure expended enough to make rich a nation? Is it not worth 
preserving? Can two or more states be carved out peacefully from the present 
loved republic ? Can we give away its rivei-s, lands and loyal people to its destroy- 
ers ? Can we afford to divide the republic into contending petty states, and be 
forever the victims of internecine wars between small principalities? Can we 
quietly, calmly, even complacently, sit by and see the grand republic of the world 
thus cut off and destroyed by innate weakness? No honest citizen of Ohio is 
willing that such should be our fate. 

What matters now the cause of the war? By whose fault, or by the adoption 
of what mistaken policy ? It exists ! It must be fought out, or ended liy giving 
up ail that it is waged for. For the sake of peace; for fear of the shedding of 
blood ; would any basely give up his nation and become the citizen of a ruined 
and dishonored land ? 

Then wherefore this opposition to the war? Because a particular party is in 
power? Because its policy is obnoxious? Because it has committed errors? 
Because it has thrown to its surfiice and given prominence to bad or incompetent 
men, or adopted political theories and sought to make them practical, which are 
condemned by many good men? No ! the remedy for all these evils, if they exist 
at all, may be sought in the quiet but powerful means of the ballot, which has 
power in our government to change dynasties, where the armies of the world 
would fail. 

Is it thought that peace and a voluntary restoration of the union may be effected 
by compromise ? All that has been tried. Disdainfully, the rebels flung back in our 
faces every proffered olive-branch, before peaceful men became armed soldiers 
and the booming of Fort Sumter's cannon, with its terrible alarm, called a nation 
to arms. And now, insolent and defiant, they laugh to scorn all thoughts of peace 
on any other terms than recognition of their false nationality. Tiiey are stronger 
now than then. The despots and money-changers of Europe have given them 
substantial aid to destroy a republic ; they have more powerful armies, abler gen- 
erals and a firmer determination than when the rebellion began. They know 
their strength and appeal to it — not to the poor demagogues of the north, who are 
their allies. They condemn and despise them. Read their proclamations, ad- 
dresses, army orders and newspapers. At no time have they ever spoken of north- 
ern friends, except as allies in the war! They deride the foolish appeals of their 
northern allies for peace and compromise, and preclude all hope of the restoration 
of the union on any terms. 

What incalculable mischief is being done by these northern allies — their 
speeches and newspapers,are quoted, and results of elections reported in southern 
papers, as evidence, not of any hope of restoring the union, but to show that the 
loyal people of the north are becoming willing to submit to any dishonorable and 
humiliating terms of peace, based even on a full recognition that this fiendish re- 
bellion was right, and that it was well to destroy this government. 

People of Ohio ! But one al/entative is left you. Yuu must pronounce this a 
just rebellion ; you must say that it was right and justijiahle to destroy this re- 
public ; that a republic is a weak, helpless yovernment, powerless to sustain itself, 
and to be destroyed lohenever conspirators enouyh can be allied for the purpose, or 
you must show to the wo-rld the power of self-preservation in the great example of 
confederated repuldics. That it has a q.uiet, dormant force, which, aroused, has 
gigantic strength and energy. That it not only can protect its citizens in all their 
rights and privileges, but can sustain itself as well against foreign attack as inter- 
nal treason. 

We are fighting for the republic — to it we have given our hearts, our arms, our 
lives. VN e intend to stand hetween you and the desolating hosts oi the rebels, 
whose most cherished hope and desire has been, and is, to take possession and 



218 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

ravage your own beautiful Ohio. Once already we have stood as a living wall be- 
tween you and this fate, and we may have to do it again. 

Men of Ohio! You know not what this western army has suffered. You know 
not now the hardships and sufferings of your soldiers in their chill tents, their 
shelterless bivouacs, their long, weary marches, and their battle-thinned ranks. 
Jf there be honesty and purity in human motives, it must be found among your 
long-enduring soldiers. Hear us, and for your country's sake, if not for ours, 
stop your wild, shameless political strifes, unite for the common cause, and never 
think or speak of peace and compromise until the now empty terms mean — the 
republic as it was, peaceably if it may be, but forcibly at all events. It is said 
war and force can not restore the union ! What can ? 

Is there anything else that has been left untried, short of national dishonor 
and shame? Nothing. Purely physical power has been invoked to destroy the 
government, and physical force must meet it. Conquer the rebellious armies, 
shut in by blockades and victorious armies the deluded people of the rebellious 
states, and let no peace, no happiness, no prosperity dwell in their land or homes, 
until they rise against their tyrants, until popular opinion with them overthrows 
their false government, and dooms their despotic leaders. Whip them and confine 
them, until '' Actaeon is devoured by his own dogs. " 

This is all that can be done, and it must be done with the determined energy 
of a united people. Thus feel and think the soldiers of the grand army of the 
United States. Are you with us, or will you now desert us, sell your national 
birthright for a mess of pottage, and for success in local politics, barter away 
your country, crawl at the feet and lick the hands of the perfidious, cruel and 
devilish conspirators, who have organized this rebellion, and who boast of their 
success in destroying your government, slaying your sons and wasting your trea- 
sure, contemned, derided and despised by them, while you are humbly craving 
their favor ? Not waiting or even hoping for returning loyalty in them, or for 
terms of peace to be tendered by them ? Can you thus dishonor yourselves, your 
soldiers or your state ? 

We ask you now to stay, support and uphold the hands of your soldiers. 

Give some of the wasted sympathy, so illy but freely bestowed upon the old poli- 
tical hacks and demagogues, who seek a blessed martyrdom in Lincoln bastiles, 
to the suffering but bravely-enduring soldiers who, in the camp, the field and the 
hospital, bear real hardships uncomplainingly. If treason must run riot in the 
north, keep it there — insult not your soldiers by sending to them the vile emana- 
tions of the traitors who are riding into office, place and power, over the ruins of 
the government, and making them their stepping-stones. Insult us not by letters, 
speeches and papers, which tell us we are engaged as hirelings in an unholy, abo- 
lition war, which make mob idols of the hour of those whose hypocritical dema- 
goguery takes shape in cowardly, covert treason — whose constant vocation is 
denunciation of their government and its armed defenders. 

The army of the west is in terrible earnest — earnest to conquer and destroy 
armed rebels — earnest to meet force with force — earnest in its hearty detestation 
of cowardly traitors at home — earnest in will and power to overcome all who de- 
sire the nation's rnin. 

Ohio's 100,000 soldiers in the field, citizens at home, potent in either capacity, 
ask their fathers, brethren and friends, by their firesides and in their peaceful 
homes, to hear and heed this appeal, and to put an end to covert treason at home, 
more dangerous now to our national existence than the presence of the armed 
hosts of misguided rebels in the field. 

On the hearing and adoption of this address by the 1st brigade, 3d division, 14th 
army corps, Colonel Walker also reported the following resolution, which was 
unanimously adopted: 

" Therefore, Resolved, For ourselves, we are resolved to maintain the honor 
and integrity of our government; from the St Lawrence to the gulf, and between 
the oceans, there shall be but one supreme political power. We are able to de- 
fend our birthright; the blood of our sires is not contaminated in our veins; we 
are neither to be insulted nor robbed with impunity ; the government we defend 
was formed for noble purposes; we are the executors of a living, a dying testa- 



IN OHIO. 



219 



ment written in the blood of our fathers, which we will re-write in our own ; to 
preserve our government, is, to us, a law unalterable in our hearts as the decrees 
of Heaven ; we stop not now to point the finger of scorn at petty traitors who 
vainly seek to immortalize themselves by acts of treason — too cowardly to sin 
with an uplifted hand, too dastardly to stake life for life, as more honorable trai- 
tors do — let them bear in mind that there is a time coming, when the honest in- 
dignation of a loyal people will hurl them headlong into an abyss as bottomless 
as the pit.' 

The banishment of Mr. Vallandigham a few months subsequent to 
this fermentation among the people,, but served to increase it. And 
so much sympathy was aroused for him that the opposition were con- 
strained to nominate him for governor, at the fall election. Mr. Val- 
landigham, who had been permitted to leave the southern lines by the 
rebel leaders, made his way to Canada; and there on the border 
watched the canvass. In the result, John C. Brough, the union can- 
didate, was elected by the largest majority of any previous candidate 
for the gubernatorial chair. His total majority was 101,099. Of this, 
the home majority was 61,920 and the soldiers' majority 39.179. Out 
of 43,755 soldiers' votes only 2,288 were given for Vallandigham : but 
of the citizens who remained at home, secure from war's alarms, over 
180,000 signified their preference for him ; many sincerely regarded 
him as the subject of oppression. In thousands of cases, the sons in 
the army voted one way while the fathers on the farms voted the 
other. The soldiers' votes was a signal illustration of the heaven- 
given principle that those who mostly do sacrifice for a cause, mostly 
do love it. The canvass was the most exciting ever known in any 
state : and honorable to the defeated minority that they submitted 
with such equanimity to the adverse verdict. 

THE GENERALS OF OHIO. 

Ohio is the Tiative state of more eminent generals than any other. 
Among these are Rosecrans, Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Gilmore, Mc- 
Pherson, Custer, Stanley, Granger, Steedman, Weitzell, Crooke, Gar- 
field, Lytic and others. Four of these names — Grant, Eosecrans, Sher- 
man and Sheridan — will forever live. 

Grant was born in 1822 at Point Pleasant, in Clermont county, a two 
hours' trij) by steamboat from, and above, Cincinnati, on the banks of 
the Ohio. The three others were born in the heart of the state ; Eose- 
crans, in 1819, in Kingston, Delaware county, twenty -five miles north 
of Columbus; Sherman, in 1818, in Lancastei", Fairfield county, 
twenty-eight miles southeast of Columbus: Sheridan, in 1831, in Som- 
erset, Perry county, eighteen miles east of Lancaster: all four gradu- 
ated at West Point. 

A vivid pen-picture of Grant and Sherman, drawn in a single frame, 
by one who saw them when together at Vicksburg, is in place here. 

First in rank, as well as notoriety, we have Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant — 
indifferently known as Grant, Ulysses S. Grant, United States Grant, Uncle Sam 
Grant, and " Unconditional Surrender" Grant; the same whose "move on the 
enemy's works" at Fort Donelson has become national property, and the same 
man under whose lead our armies have split the confederacy in two, and wrung 
from their grasp all, or the greater portion, of the Mississippi valley. 

Almost at any time, one can see a small but compactly-built man of about 
forty-two years of age, walking through the camps. He moves with his shoulders 



220 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

thrust a little forward of the perpendicular, his left hand in the pocket of liis pan- 
taloons, an unli;:;hted cii^ar in his nioutli, his eyes thrown straij^lit forward, which, 
from the haze of abstraction that veils theiu, and a countenance drawn into fur- 
rows of thought, would seem to indicate that he is intensely pre-occupied. The 
soldiers ()bserve him coming, and rise to their feet, gather on each side of the way 
to see him pass — they do not salute him, tiiey only watch him curiously, with a 
certain sort of familiar reverence. His abstracted air is not So great, while he is 
thus moving along, as to prevent his seeing everything without apparently looking 
tit it; you will see this in the fact that however dense the crowd in which you 
stand, if you are an acquaintance, his eye will for an instant rest on yours with a 
glance of, and with it a grave nod of, recognition. A plain blue suit, without 
scarf, sword or trappings of any sort, save the triple-starred shoulder-strap — an 
indifferently good "Kossuth '' hat, with the top battered in close to his head ; full 
beard, of a cross between "light" and " sandy;" a square cut face, whose lines 
and contour indicate extreme endurance and determination, complete the exter- 
nal appearance of this small man, aa one sees him passing along, turning and 
chewing restlessly the end of his unlighted cigar. 

His countenance, in rest, has the rigid immobility of cast-iron; and, while this 
indicates the unyielding tenacity of a bull-dog, one finds only in his gray eyes the 
smiles and other evidences of the possession of those other traits seen upon the 
lips .and over the faces of ordinary people. On horseback, he loses all the awk- 
wardness which distinguishes him as he moves about on foot. Erect and graceful, 
he seems a portion of his steed, without which the full effect would be incomplete. 
He held in early days the reputation of being the best rider in the Academy, and 
he seems to have lost none of his excellence in this respect. 

Along with the body guard of General Grant is his son Fred., a stout lad of 
some twelve summers. He endures all the marches, ft>llow"s his father under fire 
with all the coolness of an old soldier; and is, in short, a "chip of the old 
block." 

Of General Grant's ability I need say nothing — he has been so long before the 
public that all can judge for themselves. The south calls his successes ''luck; '' 
we in the west believe that he owes them mostly to the possession of a cautious 
military judgment, assisted by good advisers, and backed by invincible persever- 
ance, endurance and determination. 

Almost the exact opposite in every feature of our taciturn, unsmiling chief, is 
Major-General ^hurman. Tall, loosely-built, narrow chest, sandy hair and beard, 
light gray eyes, glancing incessantly in every direction, smiling mouth and rapid 
utterance, he forms a character as opposite Grant's as zenith to nadir. Grant 
goes about like a piece of marble, endowed with just sufficient vitality for pur- 
poses of locomotion, while Sherman, whether walking, talking or laughing, walks, 
talks and lauichs, "all over." Grant's soul is crusted over with rigidity — Sher- 
man's bursts out at every pour, every agitation of his inner man produces a cor- 
respcmding agitation of his physical machine. Soul and body seem attuned in 
such harmony, that a chord struck upon the former communicates its vibrations 
to one in the latter. 

Socially, he is a pleasant man, affable to his inferiors and engaging to his equals, 
with a mood that changes with the rapidity of the barometer in the tropics. With 
an utterance rapid almost to incoherenoy, he, at one instant, is relating some 
laughable incident, the next unfolding the details of some masterly plan, and the 
next hurling fierce imprecations upon the head of some offender. 

Like Grant, he has courage and endurance in abundance — like him, he will 
ride iiitct a storm of bullets, and sit there and watch and order as unconcernedly 
as if the air were filled with roses instead of hissing messengers of death. Of 
his ability, there is in the army but one opinion, and that is, that among the ablest 
men that this war has produced, he is entitled to no second rank. His ability is 
not confined to any specialty ; he is equally at home whether drilling a company 
ordivisicm, inspecting a quartermaster's accounts, arranging the details of a battle, 
making an advance or ordering <a retreat: in short, he seems to be, and is familiar 
not only with the practical details of war, but the principles which underlie this 
most intricate and comprehensive art. 



IN OHIO. 221 

"Phil. Sheridan," as his soldiers call him, is the Murat of the 
American army. One who knew him when his star was rapidly cul- 
minating, says: 

We have an enthusiastic admiration for " Phil." Sheridan — Brigadier-Oeneral 
Ph. Sheridan. We heard of him first at Corinth, Mississippi. He had been com- 
manding cavalry under Rosecrans — whose estimate of soldiers carries weight. 
He delighted more to talk of "Phil." Sheridan than of any man in the arm}' — 
General George H. Thomas excepted. Of him he always spoke reverentially — a 
man who reminded him of Washington. Rosecrans admired Sheridan's curt, de- 
cisive way of doing things. "Phil.," he said, "has no surplusage. He does 
things ; " and the general was happy in describing the grim, insinuating pleasantry 
with which Sheridan outwitted the enemy, or hung a spy. Language can't express 
it, because it lacks the e-^sentials of voice and manner. "Send Phil. Sheridan on 
an expedition," he was wont to say, "and he will accomplish it, if it is in the 
power of man — he is ready, fertile in resources, with large executive faculty, and 
he fights, ^^Aifs / — do you know what that means ? " 

Fighting was his forte, and yet he is the "mildest-mannered man" that ever 
slashed a rebel crown with saber. It is related of him, that he fought his way 
through West Point, and almost fought his way out. We have his own confession, 
that during his last year he had only "five points " to make to be permitted to re- 
tire without the honors of the institution. The management of those " five points " 
was a difficult and delicate operation. Nevertheless, he graduated with distinc- 
tion, and was one of the most popular men of the academy. 

Your first view of him disappoints 70U a little. Imagination always plays the 
mischief with your estimate of a hero whom you have not seen — heroic stature, 
handsome face, commanding presence, all seem associated with heroes. Slieridan 
is a quiet, wiry, strong little man, not over five feet seven, or a half inch more, 
but with broad shoulders and strongly-knit frame — weighing, perhaps, one hund- 
red and forty, or a trifle more; short, wiry, black hair, compact head and medium 
forehead, sharp, gray eyes, a composed and firm countenance — with somewhat 
Milesian features, and a brownish complexion, shaded with closely-cropped 
whiskers. 

He is only thirty-two, but his weather-beaten face advertises at least five years 
more. But his stature is soon forgotten in his presence. He grows wonderfully 
on a horse, and especially on a battle-field. On the dreadful morning of Stone 
river, when he emerged with his mangled division in solid phalanx from the fright- 
ful cedars, he loomed up like a very giant. He was grave, but firm, strong, and, 
as Rosecrans dashed up to him in the tumult of battle, his deportment seemed to 
express, " You see, general, it was not the fault of my division that we did not 
etay." He had lost his hat and fought bareheaded until a trooper handed him a 
hat picked up in the field — a dead soldier's no doubt. Sunday morning after- 
ward — the enemy had gone then — Sheridan, sitting upon an old stump, at general 
headquarters, told the story quietly, but graphically : "General, I lost 1,796 men, 
70 of them ofiieers, with my 3 brigade commanders." 

These were noble Sill, Roberts and ShaeflFer — than whom more gallant soldiers 
never fought under the flag. Stone river made Sheridan a major-general, and they 
always said in the army of the Cumberland, " Phil. Sheridan is the rising man of 
this army." When Grant put him in command of the cavalry on the Potomac 
those who knew him recognized the right man in the right place. 

At the beginning of the war, General Sheridan was a lieutenant of infantry. 
Governor Blair, of Michigan, commissioned him as colonel of a regiment of Mich- 
igan cavalry, and he was actively engaged in Tennessee and Mississippi, doing 
valuable service and hard fighting, until he was promoted to brigadier-general, 
soon after which he was assigned to the command of a division in McCook's corps, 
where he remained until assigned to the position of commander of the cavalry in 
the army of the Potomac. His parents are natives of Ireland, but he is a native 
of Ohio. 

In the history of war there is not a single instance of the mere per- 



222 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

sonal advent ot a general upon the field, unsiistained by a body of 
fresh troops, changing, by the simple magic of his presence, a defeat 
into a victory, excepting in the case of Sheridan at Cedar creek. Our 
men had given way everywhere, and when, as thus described : 

Suddenly there is a dust in the rear, on the Winchester road, and almost before 
we are aware, a fiery-looking, impetuous, dashing young man in full major-gen- 
eral's uniform, and riding furiously a magnificent black horse, literally " flecked 
with foam," and no poetic license about it, reins up and springs ofi" by General 
Crook's side. There is a perfect roar, as everybody recognized Sheridan. He 
talks with Crook a little while, cutting away at the tops of the weeds with his 
riding-whip. General Crook speaks half a dozen sentences, that sound a great 
deal like the whip, and by that time some of the staff are up. They are sent fly- 
ing in different directions. Sheridan and Crook lie down and seem to be talking, 
and all is quiet again, except the vicious shells of the different batteries, and the 
roar of artillery along the line. After a while, Colonel Forsyth comes down in 
our front and shouts to the general: "The 19th corps is closed up, sir." Sheridan 
jumps up, gives one more cut with his whip, whirls himself around once, jumps 
on his horse and starts up the line. Just as he starts he says to our men — " We 
are going to have a good thing on them now, hoys!" It don't sound like Cicero, 
or Daniel Webster, but it doubled the force at our end of the line. 

And so he rode off, a long wave of yells rolling up to the right with him. We 
took our posts, the line moved forward — and the balance of that day is already 
history. 

The descriptive poem of Buchanan Eead is as stirring as words can 
paint deeds. Genius in song illustrates genius in war, and the hearts 
of the nation beat in unison with the music. 

Sheridan's ride. 
Up from the south at break of day, 
Bringing to Winchester fresh dismay. 
The affrighted air with a shudder bore, 
Like a herald in haste to the chieftain's door, 
The terrible grumble and rumble and roar, 
Telling the battle was on once more, 
And Sheridan twenty miles away. 

And wilder still those billows of war 

Thundered along the horizon's bar, 

And louder yet into Winchester rolled 

The roar of that red sea uncontrolled. 

Making the blood of the listener cold 

As he thought of the stake in that fiery fray, 

And Sheridan twenty miles away. 

But there is a road from Winchester town, 

A good, broad highway leading down ; 

And there, through the flush of morning light, 

A steed, as black as the steeds of night, 

Was seen to pass as with eagle flight — 

As if he knew the terrible need 

He stretched away with his utmost speed; 

Hill rose and fell — but his heart was gay, 

With Sheridan fifteen miles away. 

Still sprung from those swift hoofs, thundering south. 
The dust, like the smoke from the cannon's mouth, 
Or the trail of a comet, sweeping faster and faster, 
Foreboding to traitors the doom of disaster; 



IN OHIO. 223 

The heart of the steed and the heart of the master 
Were beating like prisoners assaulting their walls, 
Impatient to be where the battle-field calls ; 
Every nerve of the charger was strained to full play, 
With Sheridan only ten miles away. 

Under his spurning feet, the road 

Like an arrowy Alpine river flowed, 

And the landscape sped away behind 

Like an ocean flying before the wind ; 

And the steed, like a bark fed with furnace ire, 

Swept on, with his wild eyes full of fire. 

But, lol he is nearing his heart's desire — 

He is snuffing the smoke of the roaring fray, 

With Sheridan only five miles away. 

The first that the general saw were the groups 
Of stragglers, and then the retreating troops ; — 
What was done — what to do — a glance told him both. 
Then striking his spurs with a terrible oath, 
He dashed down the line ' mid a storm of huzzas, 
And the wave of i-etreat checked its course there because 
The sight of the master compelled it to pause, 
With foam and with dust the black charger was gray; 
By the flash of his eye, and his red nostrils' play. 
He seemed to the whole great army to say: 
" I have brought you Sheridan all the way 
From Winchester down to save the day I " 

Hurrah, hurrah, for Sheridan ! 
Hurrah, hurrah, for horse and man ! 
And when their statutes are placed on high, 
Under the dome of the union sky. 
The American soldiers' temple of fame. 
There with the glorious general's name, 
Be it said in letters both bold and bright: 
" Here is the steed that saved the day. 
By carrying Sheridan into the fight, 
From Winchester — twenty miles away ! " 

The character of Eosecrans is indicated by the following anecdote, 
a soldier relates: 

On Wednesday, while we were stationed as guard to the ford, Gen. Rosecrans 
came up to Col. Price, commanding the brigade, and said : 

" You're Col. Price, commanding the 32d brigade, arc you ? 

"Yes, sir." 

" Well, Colonel, will you hold this ford ?" 

"Well, General, I will if 1 can." 

" That won't do, sir," said Rosecrans. " Will you hold this ford ?" 

" I'll die in the attempt," responded the cautious colonel. 

" That won't do, sir. Will you hold this ford ?" 

"I will," said the colonel, firmly, and General Rosecrans rode oflF without an- 
other word, and left the colonel to fulfill his promise. 

The last day of 1862 was a marked one in the history of Eosecrans. 
He was at Stone river; his army was encamped in line of battle. 
McCook's corps formed his right, in three divisions — Johnson's, Davis', 
Sheridan's. Secretly, with the stealthiness of savages, the rebels 
massed themselves at the extreme right, under cover of the woods. 



224 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

The unsuspecting soldiers were totally unprepared. Some of the ar- 
tillery horses Avere off for water. Advancing through the morning 
fog, they bounded on like an armj" of ravenous wolves, screaming, 
yelling as they ran. striking, first upon Johnson, then upon Davis, and 
at last upon Sheridan, rolling and crumbling them up, and hurling 
them, routed and flying, into the cedar thickets which skirt the Nash- 
ville turnpike. 

Eosecrans would send no help. He was fearful of weakeni]ig his left 
and center, which up to this had not been engaged, for the enemy lay 
in his front within sight, anxiously watching and ready to pounce 
upon him. If any part had been weakened they would have attacked, 
and, if successful, would have destroyed his army. His jDreparations 
were to halt the enemy on his defeated right, without exposing his 
left and center to imminent danger. For this purpose he massed his 
artillery and troops on the position occupied by the center, one of the 
most difficult of maneuvres, and changed his line of battle. There 
it was that the genius of Eosecrans was displayed. A more vivid 
description of battle is never seen than this which any eye-witness 
gives : 

Lines upon lines were piled upon each other with matchless skill. Columns 
were hurled in solid ranks from one side of the field to the other as if they were 
toys; the evolutions of the brigades as steady as the movements of a grand review. 
Thousands acquired an idea of the art of handling masses of which they never 
dreamed before. 

The rebels came nearer and nearer the Nashville turnpike, nearly two miles and 
a half; the right wing of our army had been driven in with a loss of twenty-eight 
pieces of artillerv and a thousand of our men. A faintness of heart came over me 
as the destruction of our whole army seemed to stare us in the face, but Rose- 
crans stood with the flower of his center and left wing in an array of imposing 
grandeur along the turnpike and facing the woods. The scene was as grand and 
awful at this time as anything 1 ever expect to witness until the day of judg- 
ment. Let the rebels ever obtain possession of the turnpike and of the immense 
train of waiions along it, its line of retreat would be cut off, and nothing could 
save the union army from utter rout and capture. Such sounds as proceeded from 
that gloomv forest of pines and cedars were enough to appal the stoutest heart. 
The roar of cannon, the crashing of the shot through the trees, the whizzing and 
busting of shells, the uninterrupted rattle of thirty thousandmuskets, ail mingled 
in one prolonged and tremendous volume of sounds; and above all could be 
heard the wild cheers of the traitorous troops as body after body of our men 
gave way and were pushed back toward the turnpike. Nearer and nearer came 
the storm, louder and louder resounded the tumult of battle. The immense train 
of wagons packed along the roads suddenly seemed instinct with struggling life, 
and every species of army vehicle, preceded by frightened mules and horses, rolled 
and rattled away pell-mell in an opposite direction from that in which the victori- 
ous foe were pressing onward. The shouts and cries of terrified teamsters urg- 
ing teams to the top of their speed, were now mingled with the billows of sounds 
which swayed and surged over the field. Suddenly the rout became visible, and 
crowds of ten thousand fugitives, presenting every possible phase of wild and un- 
controlled disorder, burst from the cedar thickets, and rushed into the open space 
between them and the turnpike. Amongst them all, perhaps not half a dozen 
members of the same regiment could have been found together. Thick and fast 
the bullets of the enemy fell amongst them, and some of them were shot down, 
but still the number constantly increased by reason of the thick crowds which 
every moment burst from the thickets. 

Awaiting the coming storm, conspicuous among all the rest, was the well built 
form of our Commanding General, his countenance unmoved by the tumult around 



IN OHIO. 225 

him, and his thoucrhtful and animated features expressina; a high and patriotic 
hope which acted like an inspiration on every one tliat beheld him. As he cast 
his eye over the grand army which he had mustered to repel the foe, he already 
felt master of the situation. 

At last the long lines of the enemy emerged from the wood rank behind rank, 
and with a demoniac yell, intended to strike terror into the souls of the Yankees 
who stood before them, charged with fearful yells to the very muzzle of the can- 
non, whose dark mouths yawned upon them. A dazzling sheet of flame hurst 
from the ranks of the union forces. An awful roar shook the earth, a crasii rent 
the atmosphere, and the foremost line of the rebel host was literally swept from 
the field. For ten minutes the thunder of battle burst from the clouds. When 
our batteries advanced they found no rebels between the turnpike and the wood, 
excepting the dead, dying and wounded. The roar of our artillery sounded farther 
and farther ofiF as our difierent batteries moved after the routed, flying foe, and 
we in turn again occupied a considerable portion of the lost ground of the morning. 

Since the annihilation of the old guard, in their charge at Waterloo, there pro- 
bably had not been an instance of so great slaughter in so short a time as in this 
rebel repulse at Murfreesboro. 

That eminent engineer Maj. Gen. Quincy Adams Gilmore was born 
in 1828, some thirty miles west of Cleveland, on the margin of Lake 
Erie, in Black river township, Lorrain county. 

His surprising skill in gunnery, shown in the reduction of Fort Pulaski, and in 
the siege of Charleston, has lastingly identified his name with the highest achieve- 
ments in military science. His "swamp angel," located on the flats, miles away 
from the doomed city, became a very fiend of destruction, as from its monster 
mouth huge fiery mis.siles shot forth, converting entire squares into shapeless ruins, 
and streets into untrodden, deserted wastes. There, where for thirty years trea- 
son had stalked in wicked effrontery, the demon of war meted out righteous ret- 
ribution. 

Ohio's dead ! they lay ujion every battle field. Tens of thousands 
mourn fathers, brothers, sons, who have died for us and ours. 
Beyond the sacred limits of their own homes, they mostly were un- 
known. But it matters not. The choicest spirits, the most noble na- 
tures that God has here created often live but to suffer and die, crushed 
and bleeding among the obscure of earth. They rise in etherial bright- 
ness, appreciated in the higher immortality. 

History groups them in masses, and holds up to the gaze of the liv- 
ing the heroism of their dead. Here and there one, who has been 
elevated by rank, combined with opportunity and capacity, is singled 
out tor an individual memorial. A few such among Ohio's dead come 
under our notice. 

Major-General James B. McPherson, who fell in the battle of Peach- 
tree creek, Jul}' 22, 1864, in the campaign against Atlanta, in his 36th 
year, was born in Sandusky, Ohio. He was educated at West Point. 
After the battle of Shiloh, he was chief engineer and had charge of 
all the fortifications erected in the siege of Corinth. He was subse- 
quentlj' assigned to the command of a division, and gained great 
credit at Vicksburg, as one of the chosen officers of Grant. 

His characteristics, as thus described, are beautiful. 

In few military men of our army were the qualities of a true gentleman so hap- 
pily blended with those of a real soldier, .lustly regarded as one of the most 
skillful soldiers in the western army, he was noted for a total absence of that 
roughness and uncouthness of manner, almost amounting to boorishness, which 
some officers seem to regard as a sme qua iion to the make-up of a good com- 
15 



226 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

inander. No subordinate, whatever his rank or station, whether private soldier or 
brigadier-general, ever received Iroin him an unkind answer or an uncivil word. 
He was as courteous to his body-servant as he was respectful to his superiors in 
rank and position. 'J'he writer recollects, on one occasion, an officer said to him, 
'■ Why don't you swear at the damned rascals?" alluding to some men who had 
been guilty of dereliction of duty. The general replied, " I have no more right to 
swear at them than at you. How would you like to have me damn you a little 
now and then?" It was a favorite expression of his that politeness was a coin 
that passed current everywhere, and was never at a discount. 

His courage was of a kind most valuable to an army, and to himself as a com- 
mander. He was stoical, but never impetuous — calm, cool and self-possessed, no 
mutter what the danger that might surround him. He never lost his presence of 
mind for a single moment, even in the most desperate situation, or during the pro- 
gress of the most hotly-contested engagement. His enthusiasm never got the bet- 
ter of his judgment, and he could give as good counsel and advice during the pro- 
gress of a bayonet charge, led by himself, as if he were enjoying a social tete a 
tete far removed from the scene of hostile operations. He would form his line of 
battle under the heaviest fire of the enemy, with as much indifference to rehel 
cannon and sharpshooters as if he were arranging a holiday dress-parade. We 
think we utter but the verdict of all who knew General McPherson, when we say 
he was a model soldier and a model gentleman. 

General McPherson was killed under the following circumstances : The battle 
of the 22(1 was fairly opened about 12 o'clock, M. After it had progressed some 
time, a gap appeared in our line between the 16th and I7th corps, which the reb- 
els sought to take advantage of and permanently divide the line. Gen. McPher- 
son, perceiving this situation and danger, at once rushed to the front, and, with 
two or three of his staff, was superintending the location of men to defeat the 
rebel plan. This brought him within fifty yards of the rebel advance, who fired 
a volley on him and his few companions. A ball struck him in the right side, and 
passing through, shattered the spinal column, causing instantaneous death. 

Major-General Logan was at once quietly notified of what had occurred, and 
without the troops knowing their terrible loss, the b.attle went on, and a victory 
won by McPherson's troops on the plan devised by him. It was about half an 
hour after his death before the corpse was fully in our possession, it, in the mean- 
time, lying on the disputed ground betwet-n the two armies. 

General McPherson rode, on this occasion, a favorite black horse, which he ob- 
tained of a surgeon after the battle of Corinth, and which had carried him safely 
through every battle in which he had since been engaged. So fortunate had both 
been, that he had come to feel a degree of safety on the back of his noble steed. 
But in this, their last association, the charm was broken with both of them — the 
rider was killed, and the charger received three balls, which, however, were not 
fatal. 

The correspondence that ensued between General Grant and the 
grandmother of McPherson, aged 87 years and 4 months, on the occa- 
sion of his death is a most touching souvenir. A good old lady, as 
her letter shows her to be, is very certain to be, as she was, blessed in 
the perpetuation of virtue to the second generation. 

Clyde, Ohio, August 3, 1864. 
To General Grnnt : 

Dear Sir — I hope you will pardon me for troubling you with the perusal of these few lines 
from the trembling hand of the aged grandma of our beloved General James B. McPher- 
son, who fell in battle. 

When it was announced at his funeral, from the public print, that when General Grant 
heard of his death, he went into his tent and wept like a child, my heart went out in 
thanks to you for the interest you manifested in him while he was with you. 

I have watched his progress from infancy up. In childhood, he was obedient and kind ; 
in manhood, interesting, noble and persevering, looking to the wants of others. Since he 
entered the war, others can appreciate his worth more than I can. When it was announced 
to us, by telegraph, that our loved one had fallen, our hearts were almost rent asunder; 



IN OHIO. 



227 



DUt when we heiirti the p<Mnmander-in chief cnuld weep with us too, we Mt, sir, thiit yon 
had been as a father to hitn, and this whole nation is mourning his early deiith, 

I wish to inform you that, his remains were conducted by a kind guard to the 
very parlor where he spent a cheerful evening, in IStil, with his widowed mother, two 
brothers, an only sister and his aged grandma, wh<) is now trying to write. In the morn- 
ing, he took his leave at 6 o'clock, little dreaming he should fall by a ball from the enmiy. 
His funeral srrvices were attended in his mother's orchard, where liis youihful feet had olt.-n 
pressed the soil to gather the falling fruit, and his remains are resting in the silent jrrsivi-. 
scarce half a mile from the place of his birth. His grave is on an eminence but a few rods 
from where the funeral services were attended, and near the grave of his father. The 
grave, no doubt, will be marked, so that passers by will often pause to drop a tear over 
the departed. 

And now, dear friend, a few lines from you would be gratefully received by the afflicted 
friends. I pray that the God of battles may be with you, and go forth with your armies 
till rebellion shall cease, the union be restored, and the old flag wave over our entiie coun- 
try. With much respect, I remain your friend, Lydia Slocum, 

Aged 87 years and 4 months. 

GENERAL GRANt's REPLY 

Headquarters Armies of thr United States, \ 
City Point, Va., August 10, 1864. j 
Mrs. Li/dia Slorum : 

My Dear Madam — Your very welcome letter of the 3d inst. has just reached me. I 
am glad to know the relatives of the lamented Major-General MePherson are aware of 
the more than friendship existing between him and myself. A nation grieves at the 
loss of one so dear to our nation's cause. It is a selfish grief, because the nation had 
more to expect from him than from almost any one living. I join in this selfish grief, 
and add the grief of personal love for the departed. He formed for some time one of 
my military family. I knew him well. To know him was but to love him. It may 
be some eons(dation to you, his aged grandmother, to know that every officer and every 
soldier who served under your grandson, felt the highest reverence for his patriotism, 
his zeal, his great, almost unequaled ability, his amiability, and all the many virtues 
that can adorn a commander. Your bereavement is great, but can not exceed mine. 

Yours truly, U. S. Grant, Lieut. -Gen. 

Brigadier-Gen. Robert L. McCook was a member of that heroic 
Ohio family, that has lost so many members in the war. One of them, 
a mere boy of seventeen, was killed at Bull Run, at the beginning of 
the rebellion. Being called upon to surrender, — he replied — "T never 
surrender to a rebel;" upon uttering which, he was shot. Another 
son, Brigadier-General Daniel McCook, was mortally wounded at Ken- 
esaw Mountain. The lather, a venerable old man, volunteered to as- 
sist in driving Morgans guerrillas from the state, and was killed in 
action: and Robert McCook himself was assassinated by rebels. A 
fourth brother is the Major-Gen eral Alexander McDowel McCook, an 
army corps commander at Perryville, Stone river and Chickamauga. 
Robert at the outbreak of the war, was a lawyer in Cincinnati. Within 
48 hours after the Pi-esident's first call he mustered into the service 
the 9th Ohio, and had them in camp. It was composed entirely of 
Germans, became one of the most effective of regiments, and had the 
distinguished honor of making at Mill S])rings the first bayonet chai'ge 
of the war. He was a large-hearted, impulsive man : and so hated 
all pretense and show of any kind, that he most unwillingl}- submitted 
to the requirement of wearing a military dress. He was murdered in 
the summer of 1862, while riding, sick and recumbent in a spring- 
wagon, attended by a small escort of half a dozen cavalrymen, who, 
all but one, cowardly galloped off' as the guerrillas appeared. The 
subsequent particulars are thus stated. 

Captain Hunter Firooke, was ridini^ with the general, who, owins!; to his feeble 
condition, was lyiniT in the bottom of the box. When the guerrillas opened the 
fire upon the conveyance, Gen. McCook at once exclaimed, "The bushwhackers 



228 TIMES OF THE REBELLION. 

are upon us," ordered the driver, his ne<:ro aervant John, to turn quickly around, 
and rose to his knees to assist him in holding the frightened horses. The team 
was just fairly started, when the murderer of the general came up and ordered 
it to halt. It heing impossible to check the spirited horses at once, the team ke|)t 
moving, when the guerrilla again ordered it to halt, but almost instantaneously 
fired the fatal shot from his carbine, although Captain Brooke begged him not to 
fire upon a sick man. Another rebel rode up at the same time and aimed his gun, 
when the general told him, reproachfully, " You need'nt shoot, 1 am already fa- 
tally wounded." The bullet passed entirely through his body, fatally tearing the 
intestines. 

The main body of the rebels pursued the flying escort, and but three or four 
remained with their victim. The general was driven to, and taken into, the house 
at which he died, by Captain Brooke and John. He stated afterward, that when 
the party came up to the house, the occvpan/s, women and cJiihiren, clapped their 
hands in approbation of the rebet achievement. In a few minutes, those that had 
gone in pursuit, came tearing back, and hurried off with Captain Brooke. John, 
upon the advice of the general, had previously managed to escape out of the 
house and through a corn-field. 

The general lived about twenty-four hours after being wounded. He was con- 
scious to the last, although frequently unable to speak from the dreadlul pain he 
was suffering. Whenever able he uttered words of advice, gratitude and con- 
solation to those around him. 

His dving moments showed the nobility of the man. In a lull of his parox- 
ysms of' anguish, he said to young Captain Burt, "Andy, the problem of life will 
soon be solved for me. My good friend, may your life be longer and to a Ijetter 
purpose than mine." In reply to Father Beatty, the brigade wagon-master, if he 
had any message for his brother, Alex., he answered: "Tell him and the rest, I 
have tried to live as a man, and die attempting to do my duty." Finally, clasping 
his hands in the death struggle, the dying man exclaimed : " i am done with life ; 
yes, this ends all. You and 1 part now, but the loss of ten thousand such lives as 
yours and mine would be nothing, if their sacrifice would but save such a govern- 
ment as ours." 

The whole brigade arrived at the house about an hour after he was wounded. 
The men came up in double quick, panting and shouting for vengeance. The ef- 
fect of the sad sight of their mortally-wounded general upon them was most dis- 
tressing. All day and night the faithful soldiery were grouped about the house, 
waiting their turn to bid a last farewell to their commander. Neither among the 
ofiicers nor the men was there a dry eye, or a lip, not quivering with anguish. A 
more moving scene, it is said, was never beheld. The brigade did not resume its 
march until the general had breathed his last. 

Ketribution — terrible retribution was dealt by the 9th Ohio. With fire, and 
Bword, and bayonet, the scene of the foul assassination was reduced to a state of 
desolation. Every house in the neighborhood, and over 70 of rebel citizens, men, 
were shot or hung. 

Major Gren. O. M. Mitchell was born in Kentucky in 1810; but 
when a boy removed to Ohio, and from that time was identified with 
this state. At fifteen years of age he received a cadet warrant; and, 
being poor, earned the money that paid his expenses to West Point. 
But his manner of traveling was humble ; for, bearing his knapsack, 
he footed it all the way from home, in Lebenon, Warren county, Ohio, 
and arrived there in June, 1825, with only twenty -five cents in his 
pocket. Soon after graduating he settled in Cincinnati, founding in 
1845, the first Astronomical Observatory ever erected on the globe by 
the contributions of the people. When the war broke out, he said : 
" He was ready to fight in the ranks, or out of it ; and he only asked 
permission from his country to have something to do.'' This sentence 
was the key note to his character — patriotism and intense activity. 



IN OHIO. 



229 



In Auo:ust, 1861, he was created general. After the occupation of Nashvill-^, 
he was given command of an independent expedition; when, with incredible 
celerity, he marched across the country and took possession of the whole of the 
railroad running across north Alabama, and at the same time guarding that from 
Nashville to IStevenson, making in all 352 miles of railroad, besides 120 miles of 
river patroling, to prevent the rebels getting up ferries and crossing the Tennes- 
see; with his pickets extending over hundreds of miles, he knew almost every hour 
what was transpiring in that large district. From Corinth, on the West, to Cliat- 
tanooga, on the east, he kept the rebels in continual excitement by his rapid move- 
ments. No sooner had he planned and started an expedition in one direction than 
be followed it by the instant execution of a new one in another. One day he was 
threatening the rebel general at Chattanooga, and had him telegraphing all over 
the South for help. Another, he was on the left wing of the (.'orinth army, driving 
their guerrillas across the Tennessee. The moving force of Mitchell, aside from 
those left to guard the railroads was less than 3,000 men, and but one regiment 
of cavalry, — John Kennett's 4th Ohio. These were always in advance, scattered 
over a territory of 300 miles, and so continually moving, that Kirby Smith, at 
Chattanooga, could not refrain from asking, " How many thousand of the 4th Ohio 
cavalry are there? We can't put our foot down anywhere but we find them." 
So active and daring was Mitchell, and so much was accomplished, that the en- 
emy fancied he must have had thirty thousand men ! 

In all his operations, Mitchell never threw up a single spadeful of earth, unless 
it was to hold a railroad bridge ; and he never allowed the enemy to attack him 
in any position or in any single instance, while he harassed them continually by 
skirmishes and assaults. Sleeping but four hours out of the twenty-four, with ail 
the energies of a most ardent temperament enlisted in the cause, he formed a con- 
trast to the slow-moving Buell. This officer, after the evacuation of ('orintli, 
marched with his army corps of nearly 40,000 men, and took chief command. 

In the fall (1862) Mitchell was put in command of the department of the south; 
and was preparing for a vigorous campaign against Charleston when he was 
seized with yellow fever, and died on the 30th of October. 

Greneral Mitchell was the author of several valuable astronomical 
works ; and as a lecturer on astronomy, so far surpassed all others, as 
to have been pronounced the only lecturer on the subject the country 
ever had. His religious instincts were very strong; he was all alive 
with feeling; he possessed great fluency and command of language, 
and he electrified his audiences with this most sublime, elevating topic, 
as probably no man living or dead had ever done before. 

His " Words for Poor Boys,'' show what were his early struggles, 
and the spirit that enabled him to rise above obstacles. Poor boys, 
some of them, we trust, will read these pages. Here is encouragement 
from the lij)S of a good and eminent man. 

When I was a boy of twelve years, I was working for twenty-five cents a week, with 
an old lady, and I had my hands full, but I did my work faithfully. I used to cut 
wood, fetch water, mnke fires, scrub and scour in the mornings, for her, before the real 
work of the day commenced ; my clothes were bad, and I had no means of buying shoes, 
so was often barefooted. 

One morning I got through my work early, and the old lady, who thought I had not 
done it, or was especially ill-humored then, was displeased, scolded me, and said I was 
idle and had not worked. I said I had ; she called me a " liar." I felt my spirit rise in- 
dignantly against this, and standing erect I told her that she could never have the chance 
of applying that word to me again. I walked out of the house, to re-enter it no more. 

I had not a cent in my pocket when I stepped into the world. What do you think I did 
then, boys ? I met a countryman with a team, I addressed him boldly and earnestly, and 
offered to drive the leader, if he would only take me on. He looked at me in surprise, 
but said he did not think I'd be of any use to him. " yes, I will," said I ; " I can 
rub down and watch your horses, and do many things for you, if you will only let me 
try." He no longer objected. I got on the horse's back. It was hard traveling, for 
the roads were deep, and we could only get on at the rate of twenty miles per day. 
This was, however, my starting-point. I went ahead after this. An independent spirit. 



230 



TIMES OF THE REBELLION 



and a steady, honest conduct, with what capacity God has given me — as he has given 
you — have carried me successfully through the world. 

Don't be down-hearted at being poor, or having no friends. Try, and try nguin. 
You '•on cut your way through, if you live, so please God. I know it's a hiird time for 
some of you. You are often hungry and wet with the rain or snow, and it seems dreary 
to have no one in the city to care for you. But trust in Christ, and he will be your 
friend. Keep up good heart, and be deternained to make your own way, honestly and 
truly, through the world. As I said, I feel for you, because I have gone through it 
»ll— I know what it is. God bless you. 

General Wm. H. Lytle was born in Cincinnati, on the 2d of Nov. 
1S2G, and bred to the law. He served in the Mexican war; and at the 
breaking out of the rebellion was chosen colonel of the 10th Ohio vol- 
unteer inflmtry, almost entii'ely composed of Irishmen, — a fighting 
regiment, of courae. He was wounded at Carnifex Ferry, also at the 
battle of Chaplin's hills, Ky.; and finally, killed while leading a charge 
at Chickamauga, September, 20, 1863. He was a man singularly 
gifted, and sincerely mourned. The following is a faithful tribute to 
his memory. 

LINKS TO THE MEMORY OP WM. H. LYTLK. 



The flag was draped with funeral hues — 

The flag he loved so well ; 
' Neath wiiich he marched to battle oft — 

'NpMth which he proudly fell. 
Its L'lorioiis f >lds were wound arouud 

The iiohln warrior's breiist ; 
Tiiiji-thcr l.liey were in the fight. 

Together let them rest. 

Dead marches on the mjifBed drums 

For soldier true and tried, 
Tor poet sweet, bring lyre imd sword. 

And lay them by his side. 
Though strong of hand, of gentle heart, 

If prayers and si^hs could save, 
Wh hud iiol followed him in tears. 

To his untimely grave. 



Untimely! No — his country called, 

For herht-shed his blood ; 
But left these glorious names behind. 

The Gallant and the Gooil ! 
Gallant and Good, yes — Gifted, too; 

Ohio's crown of pride 
Ne'er lost a briffhter star, than when 

The noble L>tle died. 

Tet long npon the storicl page. 

His honored name shall stand. 
Not last and least among the great 

And worthy of our land. 
As be remembers Lytle's sword. 

The patriot shall be strong ; 
And bards shall inspiration catch 

From Lytie's fervid song. 



But Lytle needed no lines fi-ora stranger-pen to perpetuate his fame. 
The poet's own does that in these sad strains, as plaintive as those of 
an Eolian. 



ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 



I am dying, Egypt, dying, 

Elilis the crimson life-tide fast, 
And the dark Plutonian shadows 

Gather on the evening Hast ; 
Xet thine arm, O Queen, enfold me. 

Hush thy sobs and bow thine ear, 
Listen to the great heart secrets 

Tliou, and thou alone must bear.. 

Though my scarred and veteran legions 

Bear their eagles high no more, 
And my wrecked and scattered galleys 

Strew dark Actium's fatal shore ; 
Though no glittering guards surround me. 

Prompt to do their master's will, 
I mu!-t perish like a Roman, 

Die the great Triumvir still. 

liCt Caesar's servile mininns 

Mark tlie lion thus laid low ; 
' Twas no foeman's arm that felled him, 
Twas his own that struck the blow- 
llis who. pillowed on thy bosom. 

Turned aside from glory's ray — 
His who. drunk with thy caresses. 

Madly threw a world away. 



Shonld the base plebian rabble 

Dare assail my name at Rome, 
Where the noble spouse. Octavia, 

Weeps within her widowed home. 
Seek her ; say the gods bear witness. 

Altars, augurs, circling wings. 
That her blood, with mine commingled. 

Yet shall mount the thi-ones of kings. 

And for thee, star-eyed Egyptian ! 

Glorious sorceress of the Nile, 
Light the path to stygian horrors 

With the splendors of thy smile ; 
Give the C«far crowns and arches. 

Let his brow the laurel twine. 
I can scorn the senate's triumphs. 

Triumphing in love like thine. 

I am dying. Egypt, dying; 

Hark ! the insulting foeman's cry. 
They are coming ; quick, my falchion. 

Let me front them ere I die. 
Ah, no more amid the battle 

Shall my heart exulting swell, 
Isis and Osiris guard thee, 

Cleopatra, Rome, farewell ! 



INDIANA 




Indiana was originally included in the limits of "New France," and 
afterward in the " North-west Territory." Its territory was traversed by the 

French traders and Catholic mission- 
aries at an early period. According 
to some historians, Vincennes was 
occupied as a French military post in 
1710, and as a missionary station as 
early as 1700. The first original 
settlers were, probably, mostly, or en- 
tirely, French soldiers from Canada, 
belonging to the army of Louis XIV. 
Their descendants remained an almost 
isolated community, increasing very 
slowly for nearly one hundred years, 
and in the mean time they imbibed a 
taste for savage lii'e, from habits of 
v^* «. " '^"*»«^1fffi^^H^^ intercourse with their Indian neigh- 

bors exclusively, with whom they 
often intermarried. In consequence 
of this fraternization with the In- 
dians, they became somewhat degenerated as a civilized community. 

By the treaty of peace between France and Great Britain in 17(J3, all the 
French possessions in this region were transferred to Great Britain, but the 
settlers still retained their original rights. During the revolutionary war, 
the French settlers displayed their hereditary animosity against the English. 
In 1778, a Spanish resident gave such information respecting the strength 
and position of the British force at Vincennes, that by his directions, Gen. 
Clark, of Virginia, easily obtained possession. By the treaty of 1783, the 
territory comprised in the limits of Indiana came into the possession of the 
United States. 

In the Indian war which succeeded the first settlement of what is now the 
state of Ohio, several military expeditions were sent into the present limits 
of Indiana. The first, in order of time, was that of Gen. Harmar, who 
marched, in the autumn of 1790, with a large body of troops from Fort 
Washington, at Cincinnati, against the Indian towns on the Maumee, on or 
near the site of Fort Wayne. The towns were destroyed, but detached par- 
ties of the army were defeated in two separate engagements. 
(231) 



Abms of Indiana. 



232 INDIANA. 

In May, of the next year, 750 Kentuckians, under Gen. Charles Scott, 
rendezvoused at the mouth of the Kentucky River, and, crossino; tlie Ohio 
on the 23d, marched northward with great rapidity. In about three weeks 
the expedition returned to Kentucky, without the loss of a man, after hav- 
ing surprised and destroyed several towns on the Wabash and Eel Kivers, 
killed 32 of the enemy in skirmishes, and taken 58 prisoners. 

In the succeeding August, Col. James Wilkinson left Fort Washington 
with 550 mounted Kentucky volunteers, to complete the work which had 
been so successfully begun by Gen. Scott, against the Indians on the Wabash 
and its tributaries. The expedition was successful. Several towns were de- 
stroyed, the corn was cut up and 34 prisoners taken. 

By the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, the United States obtained valuable 
tracts of land, for which they paid the Indians money and goods. Other 
tracts were obtained, afterward, in the same manner. But, notwithstanding 
this, a part of the Indians still remained hostile, and being excited by the 
eloquence of Tecumseh, the celebrated Shawnee warrior, several of the Indian 
tribes united in resistance to the progress of the whites at the west. 

Although by the ordinance of 1787, slavery was forever prohibited in the 
territory north-west of the Ohio, strong and repeated efforts were made to es- 
tablish the institution temporarily within the Indiana Territory. The first 
of these was made in 1802-3, through the instrumentality of a convention 
presided over by the territorial governor, William Henry Harrison which 
petitioned congress to temporarily suspend the operation of the anti-slavery 
clause of the ordinance. These attempts were repeated through a succession 
of years, until the winter of 1806-7, when a final effort was made by the ter- 
ritorial legislature to this end. All were without avail, although some of the 
committees of congress, to whom the subject was referred, reported in favor of 
the measure. * 

Just previous to the war of 1812, with Great Britain, Indiana was ha- 
rassed by the hostile movements of the Shawnees, led on by Tecumseh and 
his brother the Prophet. To oppose these proceedings, bodies of regular 
troops and militia were concentrated at Vincennes, and placed under the 
conunand of William Henry Harrison, then governor. On Nov. 7, 1811, the 
governor appeared before Prophet's town, or Tippecanoe^ on the Wabash,^ 
and demanded restitution of the property which the Indians had carried off. 
After a conference it was agreed that hostilities should not commence until 

*The arguments by which this policy was advocated, are thus set forth in the following 
extract of a report of a congressional committee, made in favor of the prayer of the peti- 
tioners on the 14th of February, 1806. " That, having attentively considered the facts 
stated in the said petitions and memorials, they are of opinion that a qualified suspension, 
for a limited time, of the sixth article of compact between the original states, and the peo- 
ple and states west of the River Ohio, would be beneficial to the people of the Indiana Ter- 
ritory. The suspension of this article is an object almost universally desired in that terri- 
tory. 

It Appears to your committee to be a question entirely diSerent from that between slavery 
and freedom ; inasmuch as it would merely occasion the removal of persons, already slaves, 
from one part of the country to another. The good effects of this suspension, in the pres- 
ent instance, would be to accelerate the population of that territory, hitherto retarded by 
the operation of that article of compact, as slave-holders emigrating into the western coun- 
try might then indulge any preference which they might feel for a settlement in the Indiana 
Territory, instead of seeking, as they are now compelled to do, settlements in other states 
or countries permitting the introduction of slaves. The condition of the slaves themselves 
would be much ameliorated by it, as it is evident, from experience, that the more they are 
separated and diffused, the more care and attention are bestowed on them by their masters, 
each proprietor having it in his power to increase their comforts and conveniences, in pro- 
portion to the smallness of their numbers." 



INDIANA. 233 

next morning. The enemy, however, attempted to take Harrison by sur- 
prise the night after the conference. The governor knowing the character of 
his wily foe, arranged his troops in battle order as they encamped. Just be- 
fore day they were attacked by the Indians, but the Americans being pre- 
pared for the onset, they successfully repelled the savages. The conflict, 
though short, was unusually severe; the Indians fought with desperate cour- 
age, but the fate of the battle was soon decided, and the Indians fled in every 
direction, having lost, it is supposed, about 150 of their number. Harrison 
now laid waste their country, and soon afteward the tribes sued for peace. 

The war of 1812, with Great Britain, gave a fresh impetus to Indian hos- 
tilities. Seduced into the British service, the Indians, after committing 
great cruelties, received full retribution from the Americans; their villages 
were destroyed and their country laid waste. 

The outline of the military events which occurred within the present boun- 
daries of the state, are as follows; 

Fort Harrison, situated on the Wabash, 60 miles above Vincennes, was attacked 
on the night of the 4th of September, 1812, by several hundred Indians from the 
Prophet's town. In the evening previous, 30 or 40 Indians appeared before the 
fort with a flag, under the pretense of obtaining provisions. The commander, 
Capt. Zachary Taylor (since president), made preparations for the expected at- 
tack. In the night, about 11 o'clock, the Indians cummenced the attack by firing 
on the sentinel Almost immediately, the lower block-huuse was discovered to 
have been set on fire. As this building joined the barracks which made part of 
the fortifications, most of the men panic stricken, gave themselves up for lost. In 
the mean time, the yells of several hundred savages, the cries of the women and 
children, and the despondency of the soldiers, rendered it a scene of confusion. 
But the presence of mind of the captain, did not forsake him. By the most stren- 
uous exertions on his part, the fire was prevented from spreading, and before day 
the men had erected a temporary breast-work seven feet high, within the spot 
where the building was consumed. The Indians kept up the attack until morning, 
when, finding their efforts ineffectual, they retired. At this "time, there were not 
more tlian 20 men in the garrison fit for duty. 

Shortly after, Gen. Hopkins, with a large force, engaged in two different expe- 
ditions against the Indians on the head waters of the Wabash and the Illinois. 
The first was in October. With 4,000 mounted volunteers from Kentucky, Illi- 
nois and Indiana, he left Vincennes early in the month, relieved Fort Harrison on 
the 10th, and from thence, marched for the Kickapoo villages, and the Peoria 
towns — the first 100, and the last 160 miles distant. But his men mutinizing, he 
was obliged to return before reaching the hostile towns. On the 11th of Novem- 
ber, he marched from Fort Harrison, on his second expedition, with a detachment 
of regular troops and volunteers. On the 20th, he ari'ived at the Prophet's toA^n, 
at which place and vicinity, he destroyed 300 wigwams, and large quantities of 
Indian corn. Several other expeditions were successfully accomplished, against 
the Indians on the Wabash, the Illinois, and their tributaries, by which the se- 
curity of that frontier was effected. 

Immediately after the massacre at Chicago, Fort Wayne was closely besieged 
by several hundred Miami and Pottawatomie Indians. The garrison numbered 
only some 60 or 70 effective men. The siege continued until near the middle of 
September, when Gen. Harrison marched to its relief with 2,500 men, upon which 
the Indians fled. 

From Franklinton, in Central Ohio, Harrison, in November, sent Col. Camp- 
bell, with 600 men, against the Indian towns on the Missininneway, a braneli of 
the VVabash. 'fhey destroyed several of their towns, and defeated the Indians in 
a hard fought battle, but the severity of the weather compelled them to return. 

Until 1800, the territory now included in Indiana, remained a portion of 
the North-west Territory. In this year it was, including the present state 



23-i INDIANA. 

of Illinois, organized under the name of Indiana Ta-ritory. In 1809, the 
western part of the territory was set off as " Illinois Territory." In 1816, 
Indiana was admitted into the Union as a sovereign state. In 1851, a new 
constitution was adopted by the people. 

Until 1818, the central part of Indiana was an unbroken wilderness, in- 
habited by the Miami, Delaware, and Shawnee Indians. By a treaty at St. 
i\I;iry's, Ohio, October 2, 1818, between Lewis Cass, Jonathan Jennines, 
and Benjamin Park, commissioners, and the Delaware Indians, the latter 
ceded all their territory in Indiana to the United States, covenanting to de- 
liver the possession in 1821. This region was afterward called "the New 
Purchase." Its reported fertility and beauty attracted settlers, who imme- 
diately entered the country and made settlements at various points. 

Indiana is bounded N. by Michigan and Lake Michigan, W. by Illinois, 
E. by Ohio, and S. by the Ohio River. It lies between 37° 45' and 41° 52' 
N. Lat., and 85° 49' 30" and 88° 2' 30" W. Long. Its extreme length from 
north to south is 276 miles, and its greatest width 176, containing 33,809 
square miles, or 21, 637,760 acres. The soil of the state is generally good, 
and much of it highly fertile. The richest lands are found in the river bot- 
toms, where the soil is very deep. This is especially the case in the valleys 
of the Wabash and its tributaries, and in some parts of the Ohio valley. 

There are no mountains in Indiana, but the country bordering on the Ohio, 
and in some other parts is hilly and broken. It is estimated that about two 
thirds of the state is level, or at most slightly undulating. Bordering on all 
the principal streams, except the Ohio, are strips of bottom and prairie land 
from three to five miles in width. Remote from the rivers, the country is 
broken and the soil light. Between the Wabash and Lake Michigan, the 
surface is generally level, interspersed with woodlands, prairies and swamps. 
On the shores of Lake Michigan are sand hills 210 feet high, back of which 
are sandy hillocks with a growth of pine. The prairies bordering on the 
Wabash have a soil from two to five leet in depth. 

The principal agricultural production of Indiana is Indian corn : great 
quantities of pork and flour are annually exported. It is stated that Indiana 
has beds of coal within her limits covering 7,700 square miles, capable of 
yielding 50,000,000 bushels to the square mile. The population of Indiana 
in 1800 was 4,875; in 1820, 147,178; in 1840, 685,886; in 1850, 988,393 ; 
and in 1860, 1,359,802. 



ViNCENNES, the county seat of Knox county, is pleasantly situated on the 
left bank of Wabash Iliver, 120 miles S.W. of Indianapolis, 192 from Cin- 
cinnati, 147 from St. Louis, and 56 N.' of Evansville, on the Ohio. It is on 
the line of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, and is connected with Evans- 
ville at the south, and with Terra Haute and other places at the north, by 
railroad. The town is regularly laid out on a fertile level prairie. The 
Wabash is navigable for steamboats to this point. Vincennes contains eight 
churches. It is the seat of a Catholic bishopric, and a large, spacious Cathe- 
dral is erected here. Considerable attention is paid to education, and of the 
principal institutions, several are Catholic, viz: an ecclesiastical seminary, 
female academy, and two orphan asylums. The Vincennes University has 
125 students. Population about 6,000. 

Vincennes is the oldest town in the state: it was settled by a colony of 
French emigrants from Canada, in 1735. Some historians claim that it was 
occupied as a French post as early as 1720. It received its present name in 



INDIANA. 



235 



1735, from M. de Viiicennes, a French officer who was killed that year among 
the Chickasaws. For a long period nothing of much moment seems to have 
occurred in the history of St. Vincent, as Vincennes was sometimes called. 
At the commencement of the American Revolution, most of the old French 




Sovth view of the Harrison House, Vincennes. 

Tho house hpi-e represented was erected by Gen. Harrison, when governor of the territory. Tt stands 
on the banks of the Wabash, a few rods e.isterly from the railroad bridge. Tlie grove in wliich Teciinis.-h 
met the council is ininiediatt-ly in front of the house, two tret^s of whidi, seen on the left, are the only onea 
remaining. The track of the Ubio and Mississijipi Railroad appearb in the foreground. 

posts were garrisoned with British troops, who incited the Indian tribes in 
tlieir vicinity to take up arms against the Americans. In 1778, Col. George 
Rogers Clark was sent by the legislature of Virginia, with a small_ force, to 
take possession of the British posts on the western frontiers. By his address 
he succeeded in obtaining possession of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Vincennes, 
without bloodshed. 

Ill Dec, 177S, Hamilton, the British governor at Detroit, came down upon 
St. Vincent, or Vincennes, with a large body of troops in an unexpected 
manner. At this time. Post Vincennes was garrisoned by two men only, 
Capt. Helm, of Virginia, and one Henry. '' Helm, however, was not dis- 
posed to yield, absolutely, to any odds; so, loading his single cannon, he 
stood by it with a lighted match. v\ hen the British came nigh he bade 
them stand, and demanded to know what terms would be granted the garri- 
son, as otherwise he should not surrender. The governor, unwilling to lose 
time and men, offered the usual honors of war, and could scarcely believe 
his eyes when he saw the threatening garrison to be only one officer and one 
private." On the 24th of Feb., 1779, Col. Clark, with a force of one hun- 
dred and seventy men, including pack-horsemen, etc., re-appeared before 
Vincennes, and demanded its surrender. It was garrisoned at this time by 
seventy-nine men, under the command of Lieut. Gov. Hamilton, who was 
called the ''hdir bin/er,'' for his offering the Indians a certain sum for each 
scalp they brought in. He was compelled to give up '-Fort Sackville," and 
with some others, was sent prisoner to Virginin. 

With the c:ipture of Vincennes and the other British posts, of Kaskaskia, 



236 



INDIANA. 



Cahokia, etc., in the Illinois country, by Clark, Virginia acquired the coun- 
try then known as the North-west Territory, which she ceded to the gen- 
eral government, in 1789. When the Indiana Territory was organized ia 
1800,^Vincennes was made the capital, and so remained until 1S13, when 
Corydon became the capital of the Territory and in 1816 of the state. In 
1825, Indianapolis, within the " New Purchase," became the state capital. 



The following account of the celebrated interview between Tecumseh and 
Gen. Harrison, in front of the Harrison House, now standing in Vincennes, 
is from Judge Law's " Colonial History of Post Vincennes, etc.:" 

In the spring of 1810, Gen. Harrison, being governor of the North-western Ter- 
ritory, and residing at Vincennes — the seat of government — had learned from va- 
rious quarters that Tecumseh had been visiting the different Indian tribes, scat- 
tered along the valleys of the Wabash and Illinois, with a view of forming an alli- 
ance and making common cause against the whites, and that there was great prob- 
ability that his mission had been successful. Aware, as he was, that if this was 
the case, and that if the combination had been formed, such as was represented, 
the settlements in the southern portion of Indiana and Illinois were in great dan- 
ger; that Vincennes itself would be the first object of attack, and that, with a 
handful of troops in the territory, a successful resistance might not be made ; and 
not probably fully aware of the extent of the organization attempted by Tecumseh, 
and desirous of avoiding, if he could, the necessity of a call to arms, he senta 
message to him, then i-esiding at the "Prophet's Town," inviting him to a council, 
to be held at as early a period as possible, for the purpose of talking over and 
amicably settling all difficulties which might exist between the whites and the 
Shawnees. It was not until the month of August of the same year, that Tecum- 
seh, accompanied by about seventy of his warriors made his appearance. They 
encamped on the banks of the Wabash, just above the town, and Tecumseh gave 
notice to the governor that, in pursuance of his invitation, he had come to hold a. 
talk " with him and his braves." The succeeding day was appointed for the meet- 
ino-. The governor made all suitable preparations for it. The officers of the ter- 
ritory and the leading citizens of the town were invited to be present, while a por- 
tion of a company of militia was detailed as a guard — fully armed and equipped 
for anv emergency. Notice had been sent to Tecumseh, previous to the meeting, 
that it" was expected that himself and a portion of his principal warriors would be 
present at the council. The council was held in the open lawn before the gov- 
ernor's house, in a grove of trees which then surrounded it. But two of these, I 
regret to say, are now remaining. At the time appointed. Tecumseh and sorae 
fifreen or twenty of his warriors made their appearance. With a firm and elastic 
step, and with a proud and somewhat defiant look, he advanced to the place where 
the governor and those who had been invited to attend the conference were sitting. 
This place had been fenced in, with a view of preventing the crowd from encroach- 
ing upon the council during its deliberations. As he stepped forward he seemed 
to "scan the preparations which had been made for his reception, particularly the 
military part of it, with an eye of suspicion — by no means, however, of fear. As he 
came in front of the dais, a.n elevated portion of the place upon which the governor 
and the officers of the territory were seated, the governor invited him, through his 
interpreter, to come forward and take a seat with him and his counsellors, premis- 
ing the invitation by saying: "That it was the wish of their 'Great Father,' the 
President of the United States, that he should do so." The chief paused for a 
moment, as the words were uttered and the sentence finished, and raising his tall 
form to its greatest hight, surveyed the troops and the crowd around him. Then 
with his keen eyes fixed upon the governor for a single moment, and turning them 
to tlie skv above, with his sinewy arm pointing toward the heavens, and with a tone 
and manner indicative of supreme contempt for the paternity assigned him, said, 
in a voice whose clarion tone was heard throughout the whole assembly : 

"Jfy Fatherf — The sun is my father — the earth is my mother — and on her bosom 



INDIANA. 



237 



/ will reclined Having finished, he stretched himself with his warriors on the 
green sward. The effect, it is said, was electrical, and for some moments there was 
perfect silence. 

The governor, through the interpreter, then informed him, " that he had under- 
stood he had complaints to make and redress to ask for certain wrongs which he, 
Tecumseh, supposed had been done his tribe, as well as the others; that he felt 
disposed to listen to the one and make satisfaction for the other, if it was proper 
he should do so. That in all his intercourse and negotiations with the Indians, he 
had endeavored to act justly and honorably with them, and believed he had done 
so, and had learned of no complaint of his conduct until he learned that Tecumseh 
was endeavoring to create dissatisfaction toward the government, not only among 
the Shawnees, but among the other tribes dwelling on the Wabash and Illinois; 
and had, in so doing, produced a great deal of trouble between them and the 
whites, by averring that the tribes whose land the government had lately purchased, 
had no right to sell, nor their chiefs any authority to convey. That he, the gov- 
ernor, had invited him to attend the council, with a view of learning from his own 
lips, whether there was any truth in the reports which he had heard, and to learn 
whether he, or his tribe, had any just cause of complaint against the whites, and, 
if so, as a man and a warrior, openly to avow it. That as between himself and as 
great a ■warrior as Tecumseh, there should be no concealment — all should be done 
by them under a clear sky, and in an open path, and with these feelings on his own 
part, he was glad to meet him in council." Tecumseh arose as soon as the gov- 
ernor had finished. Those who knew him speak of him as one of the most splen- 
did specimens of his tribe — celebrated for their physical proportions and fine forms, 
even among the nations who surrounded them. Tall, athletic and manly, digni- 
fied, but graceful, he seemed the beau ideal of an Indian chieftain. In a voice 
first low, but with all its indistinctness, musical, he commenced his reply. As he 
warmed with his subject, his clear tones might be heard, as if " trumpet-tongued," 
to the utmost limits of the assembled crowd Avho surrounded him. The most per- 
fect silence prevailed, except when the warriors who surrounded him gave their 
gutteral assent to some eloquent recital of the red man's wrong and the white 
man's injustice. Well instructed in the traditions of his tribe, fully acquainted 
with their history, the councils, treaties, and battles of the two races for half a 
century, he recapitulated the wrongs of the red man from the massacre of the Mo- 
ravian Indians, during the revolutionary war, down to the period he had met the 
governor in council. He told him " he did not know how he could ever again be 
the friend of the white man." In reference to the public domain, he asserted 
"that the (Jreat Spirit had given all the country from the Miami to the Mississippi, 
from the lakes to the Ohio, as a common property to all the tribes that dwelt within 
those borders, and that the land could not, and should not be sold without the con- 
sent of all. That all the tribes on the continent formed but one nation. That if 
the United States would not give up the lands they had bought of the Miamis, the 
Delawares, the Pottovvatomies, and other tribes, that those united with him were 
determined to fall on those tribes and annihilate them. That they were deter- 
mined to have no more chiefs, but in future to be governed by their warriors. 
That their tribes had been driven toward the setting sun, like a galloping horse 
(Ne-kat-acush-e Ka-topo-lin-to.) That for himself and his warriors, he had de- 
termined to resist all further aggressions of the whites, and that with his consent, 
or that of the Shawnees, they should never acquire another foot of land. 'I'o those 
who have never heard of the Shawnee language, I may here remark it is the 
most musical and euphonious of all the Indian languages of the west. When 
spoken rapidly by a fluent speaker, it sounds more like the scanning of Greek and 
Latin verse, than anything I can compare it to. The effect of this address, of 
which I have simply given the outline, and which occupied an hour in the delivery, 
may be readily imagined. 

William Henry Harrison was as brave a man as ever lived. All who knew him 
will acknowledge his courage, moral and physical, but he was wholly unprepared 
for such a speech as this. There was a coolness, an independence, a deKanco in 
the whole manner and matter of the chieftain's speech which astonished even him. 
He knew Tecumseh well. He had learned to appreciate his high qualities as a 



238 INDIANA. 

man and warrior. He knew his power, his skill, his influence, not only over his 
own tribe, but over those who dwelt on the waters of the Wabash and Illinois. He 
knew he was no bragjiart — that what he said he meant — what he promised he in- 
tended to perform. He was fully aware that he was a foe not to be treated light — • 
an enemy to be conciliated not scorned — one to be met with kindness not contempt, 
'inhere was a stillness throughout the assembly when Tecumseh had done speaking 
which was painful. Not a whisper was to be heard — all eyes were turned from 
tiie speaker to the governor. The unwan-anted and unwarrantable pretensions of 
the chief, and the bold and defiant tone in which he had announced them, stag- 
gered even him. It was some moments before he arose. Addressing Tecumseh, 
who had taken his seat with his warriors, he said : '" That the charges of bad faith 
made against the government, .and the assertion that injustice had been done the 
Indians in any treaty ever made, or any council ever held with them by the United 
States, had no foundation in fact. That in all their dealings with the red man, 
they had ever been governed by the strictest rules of right and justice. That 
while other civilized nations had treated them with contumely and contempt, ours 
had always acted in good faith with them. That so far as he individually was con- 
cerned, he could say in the presence of the 'Great Spirit,' who was watching over 
their deliberations, that his conduct, even with the most insignificant tribe, had 
been marked with kindness, and all his acts governed by honor, integrity and fair 
dealing. That he had uniformly been the friend of the red man, and that it was 
the first time in his life that his motives had been questioned or his actions im- 
peached. It was the first time in his life that he had ever heard such unfounded 
claims put forth, as Tecumseh had set up, by any chief, or any Indian, having the 
least regard for truth, or the slightest knowledge of the intercourse between the 
Indian and the white man, from the time this continent was first discovered." 
What the governor had said thus far had been interpreted by Barron, the inter- 
preter to the Shawnees, and he was about interpreting it to the Miamis and Potta- 
watomies, who formed part of the cavalcade, when Tecumseh, addressing the in- 
terpreter in Shawnee, said, '' he h'es !" Barron, who had, as all subordinates (es- 
pecially in the Indian department) have, a great reverence and respect for the 
"powers .that be," commenced interpreting the language of Tecumseh to the 
governor, but not exactly in the terms made use of, when Tecumseh, who under- 
stood but little English, perceived from his embarrassment and awkwardness, that 
he was not giving his words, interrupted him and again addressing him in Shaw- 
nee, said: "No, no; tell him he lies." The gutteral assent of his party showed 
they coincided with their chief's opinion. Gen. Gibson, secretary of the territory, 
who understood Shawnee, had not been an inattentive spectator of the scene, and 
understanding the import of the language made use of, and from the excited state 
of 'I'ecumseh and his party, was apprehensive of violence, made a signal to the 
troops in attendance to shoulder their arms and advance. They did so. The 
speech of Tecumseh was literally translated to the governor. He directed Barron 
to say to him, "Ae would hold no further council with him," and the meeting broke 
up. 

One can hardly imagine a more exciting scene — one which would be a finer sub- 
ject for an " historical painting," to adorn the rotunda of the capitol, around which 
not a single picture commemorative of western history is to be found.^ On the 
succeeding day, Tecumseh requested another interview with the governor, which 
was granted on condition that he should make an apology to the governor for his 
language the day before. This he made through the interpreter. Measures for 
defense and protection were however taken, lest there should be another outbreak. 
Two companies of militia were ordered from the country, and the one in town 
added to them, while the governor and his friends went into council fully armed 
and prepared for any contingency. The conduct of Tecumseh upon this occasion 
Avas entirely different from that of the day before. Firm and intrepid, showing 
not tlie slightest fear or alarm, surrounded as he was with the military force quad- 
rupling his own, he preserved the utmost composure and equanimity. No one 
could have discerned from his looks, although he must have fully understood the 
0>>iect of calling in the troops, that he was in the slightest degree disconcerted. 
He was cautious in his bearing, dignified in his manner, and no one from observ 



INDIAI^A. 



239 



ins him would for a moment have supposed he was the principal actor in the 
thrilling scene of the previous day- 

In the interval between the sessions of the first and second council, Tecumseh 
had told Barron, the interpreter, "that he had been informed by the whites, that 
the people of the territory were almost equally divided, half in favor of Tecumseh, 
and the other a4bering to the governor." The same statement he made in council. 
He said '' that I'wo Americans had made him a visit, one in the course of the pre- 
ceding winter, the other lately, and informed him that Governor Harrison had pur- 
chased land from the Indians without any authority from the government, and that 
one half of the people were opposed to the purchase. He also told the governor 
that he, Harrison, had but two years more to remain in office, and if he, Tecumseh, 
could prevail upon the Indians who sold the lands not to receive their annuities 
for that time, that when the governor was displaced, as he would be, and a good 
man appointed as his successor, he would restore to the Indians all the lands pur- 
chased from them." After Tecumseh had concluded his speech, a Wyandot, a 
Kickapoo, a Pottawatomie, an Ottowa, and a Winnebago chief, severally spoke, and 
declared that their tribes had entered into the "Shawnee Confederacy," and would 
support the principles laid down by Tecumseh, whom they had appointed their 
leader. 

At the conclusion of the council, the governor informed Tecumseh " that he 
would immediately transmit his speech to the president, and as soon as his answer 
was received would send it to him; but as a person had been appointed to run the 
boundary line of the new purchase, he wished to know whether there would be 
danger in his proceeding to run the line." Tecumseh replied, " that he and his 
allies were determined that the old boundary line should continue, and that if the 
whites crossed it, it would be at their peril." The governor replied, "that since 
Tecumseh had been thus candid in stating his determination, he would lie equally 
so with him. The president, he was convinced, would never allow that the lands 
on the Wabash were the property of any other tribes than those who had occupied 
them, and lived on them since the white people came to America. And as the title 
to the lands lately purchased was derived from those tribes by fair purchase, he 
might rest assured that the right of the United States would be supported by the 
sword." 

"So be it," was the stern and haughty reply of the "Shawnee chieftain," as he 
and his braves took leave of the governor and wended their way in Indian file to 
their camping ground. And thus ended the last conference on earth between the 
chivalrous and gallant Tecumseh, the Shawnee chief, and he who since the period 
alluded to has ruled the destinies of the nation as its chief magistrate. The bones 
of the first lie bleaching on the battle-field of the Thames— those of the last aria 
deposited in the mausoleum that covers them on the banks of the Ohio. 



Indianapolis, the capital of Indiana, and seat of justice for Marion 
county, is on the west fork of White River, at the crossing of the National 
Road, 109 miles N.W. from Cincinnati, 86 N.N.W. from Madison, on the 
Ohio, and 573 W. by N. from Washington. The city is located on a fertile 
and extensive plain, two miles N.W. of the geographical center of the state, 
which was formerly covered with a dense growth of timber. The original town 
plat was a mile square, but it has extended itself on all sides. Washington- 
street through which the National Road passes, the principal street in the city, is 
120 feet wide. Circle-street 80 feet, the others 90 feet. On the 1st of Jan., 
1825, the public offices of the state were removed from Corydon, the former 
capital, to Indianapolis, and the seat of government established here ; but 
the legislature held its sessions in the comity court house, until Dec, 183-i, 
when the state house was completed. This showy structure, 180 feet long 
by SO wide, is on the model of the Parthenon at Athens, and was built at a 
cost of about $60,000. 



240 



INDIANA. 



Indianapolis is one of the greatest railroad centers in the world, nearly 
one hundred different trains pass in and out of the city daily, and from 3,0UU 
to 5,000 persons visit the place in twenty-four hours. It is stated that the 
citizens of 80 of the 91 counties in the state, can come to Indianapolis, attend 




View of the State House, from Washington-street, IndiannpoUs. 

to business, and return the same day. The completion of the Midison and 
Indianapolis Railroad gave a great impetus to the growth of the jdace : then 
the population was about 4,000, in 1860, 18,612. 

The streets of the city are broad, laid out at right angles, well shaded and 
adorned with a number of very superior buildings. The benevolent institu- 
tions of the state, for the insane, deaf and dumb, and the blind, are located 
at this place, and are an ornament to the city and state. The city has 16 
churches, a system of free graded schools, and is the seat of the North-west- 
ern Christian University, a flourishing institution under the patronage of 
the Christian Church. The university building is an elegant edifice in the 
Gothic style. 



The following historical items are extracted from Howard's Historical 
Sketch of Indianapolis, in the city directory for 1857: 

In IS 18, Dr. Dou'2;la33 ascended White River from the lower counties, tarrying 
at the bluflFs for a short time, and Col. James Paxton descended it from its head- 
waters, reaching this place in January or February, 1819. He again returned in 
1S20, and made some preparations for settlement, but never completed them. The 
honor due to the 'first settler,' belongs to John Pogue, who came from White- 
water and settled here on the 2d day of March, 1819. His cabin stood by a large 
spring, close to the east bank of 'Pogue's Run,' near the present residence of W. 
P. Noble. Its ruins were visible until within a few years, and perhaps exist at 
this time. Pogue was killed by the Indians in April, 1821. His horses were 
uiissing one morning in that month, and as some disturbance had been heard 
among them during the night, he concluded the Indians had stolen them, and 
armed himself for pursuit. When last seen he was near the Indian camp, and as 
his horses and clothes were afterward seen in their possession, little doubt re- 



INDIANA. 



241 



mained as to his fate. His death greatly excited the settlers, but their numerical 
we.ikness prevented an effort to avenge it. The little stream which once pursued 
a very torturous course through the south-east part of the city, alarming the few 
inhabitants of that section by its high floods, but which is now so changed that its 
old character is utterly lost, was named after Pogue, and will be a memorial of 
him as 'the first settler' of Indianapolis. 




Main Passenger Railroad StaHon, Union Depot, Indianapolis. 

Showing the appearance of the Station as it is entered from the west. 

In February, 1820, John and James ]\IcCnrmick built a cabin near the present 
river bridge. In the early part of Mnrcli, John Maxwell and John Cowen built 
cabins in the north-west corner of the donation, near the Michigan road. Fall 
creek })ridge. In April, 1821, Mr. Maxwell was appointed a justice of the pe;tce 
by Gov. Jennings, and was the first judicial officer in ' tlie New Purchase.' He 
retained the office until June, and then resigned. The citizens held an informal 
election, and selected James Mcllvaine, who was thereupon appointed a justice by 
Gov. Jennin<j:s, in Oct., 1S21. 

In the latter part of March, and in April and May of 1820, a number of emi- 
grants arrived, and at the end of the latter month there were 15 families on the 
donation. Among them were Messrs. Davis, Bainhill, Corbley, Wilson, Van Blari- 
cum and Harding. Emigrants now began to turn their faces toward the infant 
settlement, and it slowly and steadily increased for a year afterwcard. 

The eagerness of the settlers to appropriate lands in the New Purchase, found 
its counterpart in the action of the state, concerning the location of the new sent 
of government. The act of Congress, of April 19, 1816, authorizing the formntion 
of a state government, donated four sections of the unsold public lands to the 
state, for a permanent seat of government, giving the privilege of selection. The 
subject was considered immediately after the treaty at St. Marys, and on the 11th 
of January, 1820, the legislature, by law, appointed George Hunt, John Conner. 
John Gilliland, Stephen Ludlow, Joseph Bartholomew, John Tipton, Jesse B. Dun- 
ham, Frederick Rapp, Wm. Prince, and Thomas Emerson, commissioners to select 
a location for a permanent .seat of government. * * * The present site was selected, 
which gave the place instant reputation, and in the spring, and summer, and fall 
of 1819, it rapidly increased in population. Morris Morris, Dr. S. G. Jlitchell, J. 
and J. Given, Wm. Reagan, M. Nowland, J. M. Ray, James Blake, Nathaniel Cos, 
Thomas A»ders()n, John Hawkins, Dr. Dunlap, David Wood, D. Yandes, Col. Ru>i- 
aell, N. M. Clearty, Dr. Coe, D. Maguire, and .many others arrived, and the cabins 

16 



242 



INDIANA. 



rapidly increased alon": the river bank. On January 6, 1821, the legislature con- 
firmed the selection of the site and named it Indianapolis. 

The settlement afterward moved east, the unparalleled sickness of 1821 con- 
vincing the settlers that a residence avsray from the river was the best for them. A 
fine grove of tall straight sugar trees stood on the 'Governor's Circle.' On Sun- 
days the early settlers assembled there to hear preaching by Rev. John McClung. 
'I'liey sat on the logs and grass about him in Indian style. This gentleman waa 
probably f.ie first preacher in the place, and preached the first sermon on this spot 
in the summer or fall of 1821. Other authorities say that the first sermon was 
preached this year where the state house now stands, by Rev. Risen Hammond. 

Calvin Fletcher, Esq., who now lives just north of the city, was then the only 
attoniey-at-law in the new settlement, and the ultimate judge in all knotty cases. 
There was no jail nearer than Connersville, ahd the culprit sentenced to imprison- 
ment, had to be conveyed by the constable and his posse, on horseback through 
the woods to that place. This involved much time, trouble and expense, and the 
shorter plan was afterward adopted to scare them away. An instance occurred on 
Christmas day, 1821. Four Kentucky boatmen, who had 'whipped their weight 
in wild-cats,' came from 'the bluffs' to 'Naples' (as they called the town), to have 
a jolly Christmas spree. The 'spree' began early, and the settlers were aroused 
before the dawn, by a terrible racket at Daniel Larken's grocery. A hasty recon- 
noissance revealed the four heroes busily engaged in the laudable work of ' taking 
it down.' A request to desist provoked strong expletives, attended by a display of 
large knives, which demonstration caused the citizens to 'retire' to consult. They 
were interested in the grocery, and besides that, such lawless proceedings could 
not be tolerated. They therefore determined to conquer at all hazards. James 
Blake volunteered to grapple the ring leader, a man of herculean size and strength, 
if the rest would take the three others. The attack was made at once, the party 
conquered, and marched under guard through the woods to Justice Mcllvaine's 
cabin. They were tried and heavily fined, and in default of payment ordered to 
jail. They could not pay, and it was deemed impossible to take them through the 
woods to Connersville at that season of the year. A guard was, therefore, placed 
over them, with the requisite instructions, and during the night the doughty he- 
roes escaped to more congenial climes. 

Toward the end of the summer [1821], and during the fall, epidemic, remittent, 
and intermittent fevers and .agues assailed the people, and scarcely a person was 
left untouched. Although several hundred cases occurred, not more than five ter- 
iliinated fatally. 

After escaping death by disease, the people were threatened with starvation. 
In consequence of sickness, the influx of people and the small amount of grain 
raised, the supply of provisions in the settlement became very meager in the fall 
and winter of 1821. No roads had been opened to the town, and all goods and 
provisions had to be packed on horseback, 50 or 60 miles through the woods, or 
brought up the river in keel boats. The latter method was adopted in 1822, and 
the arrival of each boat was greeted by a concourse of ' the whole people,' and duly 
announced in the ' Indianapolis Gazette.' Coffee was worth 50 cents a pound, 
tea, $2 00; corn,$l 00 per bushel; flour, $4 00 to $5 00 per hundred; coarse 
muslin, 45 cents per yard, and other goods in proportion. "To relieve the people 
and prevent starvation, flour and other articles were brought from the White- 
water Valley, and corn was purchased at the Indian villages up the river and 
boated down to the town. The nearest mill was Goodlandin on Whitewater River, 
and the arrival of a cargo of meal and flour, or of other articles from that quarter, 
produced general joy in the settlement. The settlers generously relieved each 
other's distress in this case, as in the preceding sickness, and many pecks of meal, 
sacks of flour, parcels of fish, meat, and other articles of food, were distributed to 
some more destitute neighbor. 

After the October sale of lots, the weather, which, during the summer, had been 
very wet and changeable, and in the fall cold and gloomy, changed, and a long and 
beautiful Indian summer began. The sick quickly recovered their health, strength 
and spirits. The settlement rapidly tended to the east, for the sickness had been 
worse near the river, and the new comers and older settlers built their cabins 



INDIANA. 



24' 



alon,2; "WashinLcton street much farther from it than before. The dreary appear- 
ance of the settlement during the fall, no longer clung to it, and notwithstandina; 
the threatened famine, the hopes of the settlers rose higher than ever. Washini:- 
ton-street was the first street cleared, and during the fall of 18'2I, was completely 
blocked up by felled trees and prickly ash bushes. John Hawkins built a lariie 
log tavern where the Capitol House now stands, using logs cut from the site and 
adjoining sti-eet in its erection. The main settlement was still west of the canal, 
near the spot now occupied by the Carlisle House-. A group of cabins in this vi- 
cinity, was dignified by ' Wilmot's Row,' from a man of that name who kept a store 
in the vicinity, and who was one of the first merchants of the place. The first 
merchant was a man named Nicholas Shafier. He had a little store on the high 
ground, south of Pogue's Run, commencing in the spring of 1821. He was the 
first person who died on the donation. He died in May or June, 1821, and was 
buried in Pogue's Run Valley, near the present site of the sixth ward school 
house. 

The first marriage, the first birth, and the first death, occurred in 1821. The 
first wedding was between Miss Reagan and Jeremiah Johnson. He walked to 
Connersville and back, 120 miles, for his marriage license; and others did the 

same until the county was organized The first Presbyterian minister was 

O. P. Gaines, Avho came in Aug. 1821 : the first Baptist minister was John Water, 
who came in the fall of 1821 : the first Methodist minister was James Scott, who 
came in Oct. 1822. The first physician was Isaac Coe, who came in 1821. The 
first attorney was Calvin Fletcher, who came in Sept., 1821. Joseph C. Reed, who 
came in 1821, was the first school teacher: the first school house stood just north 
of the State Bank, near a large pond. The first market house was built in 1822, 
in the maple grove on the Governor's Circle. The first brick house was built in 
1822, by John Johnson, on the lot east of Robert's Chapel: the first frame house 
\^as built by James Blake, in 1821-2, on the lot east of the Masonic Hall, it was 

also the first plastered house On Jan. 28, 1822, the first number of the 

' Indiana Gazette' was published in a cabin south-east of the Carlisle House, and west 
of the canal. This paper, the first in the toAvn or in the ' New Purchase,' was edited 
and printed by George Smith and Nathaniel Botton. In 1823, the Presbyterians 
erected the first church on the lot just north of Maj. A. F. Morrison's residence. 
It cost, with the lot, about $1,200, and was regarded as a very fine and expensive 
one for the town. It now forms part of a carriage manufactory. 



The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in the grave-yard 
in this place : 

Noah Noble, born in Virginia, Jan. 15, A. D., 1794. Governor of Indiana from 1831 to 
1837. Died at Indianapolis Feb. A. D. 1844. 



Andrew Kennedy, late a Representative to Congress from Indiana, born July 24, 1810. 
Died Dee. 31, 1847. This stone is erected to his memory by his friends, in token of their 
love of the man, and their respect for his ability and integrity as a Statesman. 



James Whitcomb, a native of Vermont, Born Dec. 1795, brought to Ohio when 11 years 
old. Self-taught, commenced practice of Law 1822, at Bloomington, Indiana, was State 
and Circuit Attorney ; State Senator ; Commissioner of General Land Office ; twice Governor 
of Indiana. Died Oct. 1852, at the City of New York, while Senator of the United States. 
Eminent in learning, Devoted to Country and God. 



Isaac Coe, M.D., born July 25, 1782, died July 30, 1855, the founder of Sabbath Schools 
in Indianapolis. 



Terre Haute, city, and the county seat for Vigo county, is situated on 
the left or eastern bank of the Wabash River, 73 miles west of Indianapolis: 
109 N. from Evansville; 69 N. from Vincennes, and 187 E. from St. Louis 



244 



INDIANA. 



The town site is elevated about 60 feet above low water, and somewlvji above 
the contiguous prairie which is about 10 miles long and two wide. It is on 
the line of the Wabash and Erie Canal. The National Road here crosses 
the river on a fine bridge. Being situated in a fertile district, having steam- 
boat and railroad communication in various directions. Terra Haute is the 




Court Ilovse and other haildings, Terre Haute. 

As seen from the north-west corner of thp PuWic Square. The State Bunk and the spire of the Afefho- 
dist Church appear on the riglit; thu Mayor's office, or Town Hall, and the tower of the Universalist 
Ohurch on the left. A grove of Locust trees formerly surrounded the Court House. 

center of large business operations, among which pork packing is extensively 
carried on. Several fine educational establishments are also in operation, 
among which are two female colleges. In the vicinity, some three or four 
miles distant, is the nunnery and highly popular Catholic Female College, 
named " St. Mary of the Woods." Great taste is displayed here in the 
grounds, shrubbery and lawns surrounding the private dwellings. Its early 
settlers made their homes attractive by a generous attention to the planting 
of shade trees on the streets, and throughout the public grounds. 

Terre Haute off"ers great inducements for all kinds of manufacturing busi- 
ness; fuel and labor are cheap and abundant. It is surrounded by extensive 
coal fields; good quarries of building stone lie near; iron ores of superior 
quality are in close proximity, and with every fiicility for transportation by 
canal, river and railroad. The city contains 10 churches, and about 10,000 
inhabitants. 

Terre HiTute (French words for high land), was founded in 1816; in 1830 
it contained 600 inhabitants: in 1840, about 2,000. The first settlement 
was made on the river bank. Fort Harrison was situated about three miles 
to the north : and in the war of 1812, was successfully defended by Capt. 
Zaehary Taylor, from an attack by the Indians as related on page 1017. 

The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in the grave yard 
jit this place : 

William C. Linton, born in 1795, died Jan. 31, 1835. He was one of the earliest settlers 



INDIANA. 



245 



of Terra Haute, one of the most successful merchants. The Friend and Patron of the youno'. 
Hundreds yet survive to revere his memory, and their children rise up to call it blessed. 
Tlie impress of his genius and his enterprise, will long survive all that is mortal of the up- 
right citizen, the kind friend and the public benefactor. 



Here lie the remains of Thomas H. Blake, born in Calvert Co., Md., July 25, 1792, dic-d 
in Cincinnati Nov. 28, 1849. He was one of the earliest settlers of this place; had boin 
Presiding Judge of a circuit ; a Representative in Congress; Commissioner of the General 
Land Office ; filled other offices of responsibility under the State and General Governaients, 
and was, at the time of his death, the President Trustee of the Wabash and Erie Canal. 
For honor, frankness, and integrity, as a firm and generous friend, he was extensively 
known, and died without reproach upon his name, leaving a memory for noble manly vir- 
tues that will long be cherished. 



Richmond, in Wayne county, is situated 4 miles from the eastern bound- 
ary of the state, on the east fork of Whitewater River, where it is crossed 

by the National Road and Cen- 
tral Railroad, 68 miles from In- 
dianapolis, 40 from Dayton, O., 
and 64 N.N.W. from Cincin- 
nati. It is the center of an ac- 
tive trade, possesses railroad 
communications in various di- 
rections, and has flourishing 
manufactories of cotton, wool, 
flour, iron, paper, etc., for which 
the river affords abundant mo- 
tive power. In the vicinity are 
22 flourint;- mills and 24 saw 
mills. A large number of agri- 
cultural implements are manu- 
factured here. The principal 
street is the old National Road, 
running east and west, which is 
thickly built upon for about a 
mile. There is a fine bridge 
erected here, with stone abut- 
ments, over which the National Road passes, containing tablets or monu- 
ments erected by the citizens, on which are engraved the names of the con- 
tractors and builders of the bridge. The Friends' Boarding School, about a 
mile from the post-office, is the principal literary institution, and has about 
100 students of both sexes. Population about 7,000. 

The first emigrants to the neighborhood were principally from Kentucky, North 
Carolina, and Ohio. Richmond was laid out in IS 16, and the lands patented to 
John Smith and .Jeremiah Cox. In 1818, Ezra Boswell, Thomas ISwain, Koljert 
Morrison, and John McLane were elected trustees, the number of voters at the 
time beint!; twenty-four. The town was first called Smithjield, from the name of 
the proprietor. 

Until 1817, the early emigrants procured their flour at Germantown, or soino 
other distant settlement in the Miami valley. In the year named a " tub mill " wns 
erected by Jeremiah Cox, where the present oil mill stands. The first opening in 
the forest was made by Woodkirk, on the land now owned by C. W. Starr, near 
where J. Cox built his brick house. The making of the National Road through 
Richmond, in 1S28, gave an impulse to the place. Dr. J. T. Plummer, in his His- 
torical Sketch of Hichmond, states, " I hold in distinct remembrance the old l(»g 
meeting house of 1823, standing near the site of the present large brick one. 1 re- 




Friends' Boaeding School, 



246 INDIANA. 

member its leaky roof, letting the rain througli upon the slab benches with throe 
pair of legs and no backs; its charcoal fires, kept in sugar kettles (for as yet no 
stoves were procured), and the toes pinched with cold of the young wlio sat re- 
mote from the kettles," etc. 

'J'he first post office was established in 1818, Robert Morrison being the first post- 
master. The first tavern stood at the north-east corner of Main and Pearl streets, 
with the sign of a green tree : it was kept by Jonathan Bayles. The first lawyer, 
i^ays Dr. Fluramer, •' was one Hardy, who boarded at Ephraim Lacey's tavern, and 
walked the pavement (such as it was) with his thumbs stuck in the arm-holes of 
his vest, and his head pompously thrown back spouting the phrase ^ Qui facit per 
(ilium, facit per se:' but still no business came, and he concluded to go further 
south where merit was better rewarded." A Dr. Cushman came here in 1820, who 
afterward returned to Fort Wayne, where he was an associate judge. He opened 
a distillery at the south part of the town, on the side of the hill on Front-street, 
near a spring. A large portion of the inhabitants at that time being Friends (com- 
monly called Quakers), this enterprize did not succeed, and the establishment 
passed into the hands of Dr. Ithamer Warner, who also soon abiindoned it, and it 
went down to rise no more. Dr. Warner was the principal physician for many 
years. He came into the county about 1815, and died in March, 1835. Dr. Thos. 
Carroll, now of Cincinnati, settled in Richmond in 1819, and left in 1823; he was 
probably the first regular physician in Richmond. 

The first newspaper published in Richmond was the Richmond Weekly Inielli- 
ffenoer. This was in 1821. The printing office was on Front-street; the editor 
was Elijah Lacy. The second was the Public Ledger, ^vst issued in 1(S24; the 
liichmond Palladium was first issued in 1831. The Jeffersonian was established 
in 1836, by a democratic association, under the title of "Hickory Club," and was 
principally edited by 8. K. Perkins, now a judge of the supreme court. The In- 
diana Farmer was commenced in 1851 : the Broad Axe of Freedom was first 
issued by Jamison Si Johnson, in 1855. The Richmond Library was incorporated 
and established in 1826. In 1853 a railroad communication was opened to Cin- 
cinnati, by way of Dayton. 

Most of the earliest residents of Wayne county, were members of the Society 
of Friends. The first meeting of the society was held in 1807, in a log building 
vacated by Jeremiah Cox. Jesse Bond, John Morrow and Wm. Williams were 
among their earliest ministers. The next religious society was the Methodist Epis- 
cdpal, wiio held their first meeting in 1819, in a small log house on Front-street. 
I>aniel Fraley was, perhaps, the first Methodist preacher in this section. John W. 
Sullivan was the first stationed minister in Richmond. The first Presbyterian 
church was established in 1837, by T. E. Hughes and P. H. Golliday, with 28 
members; their first preacher was Charles Sturdevant. The English Evangelical 
Lutheran congregation was orjxanized in 1853. The Catholic church was organized 
in 1846. St. Paul's Episcopal church was organized in 1838. George Fiske was 
their first minister. The German Evangelical Lutheran was organized in 1845. 
The African Methodist Episcopal church was organized in 1836. The gas works 
were built in 1855. 



EvANSVlLLE, the county seat of Vanderburgh county, is situated on the 
high northern bank of the Ohio River, 200 miles from its entrance into the 
Mississippi, 200 miles below Louisville, Ky., and 144 S.S.W. of Indianapo- 
lis. The Wabash and Erie Canal, 402 miles in extent, the longest on the 
continent, terminates here. It is a place of much trade, being the chief 
mnrt of the rich valley of Green River, in Kentucky. The annual exports 
of the city exceed seven millions of dollars in value, of which pork, lard 
and tobacco are the principal articles. It has four extensive iron founderies, 
several large flour mills, a brass foundery, and upward of sixty steam engines 
are employed in the various manufactories. The Bodian coal mine, about a 
mile from the court house, supplies the work-shops with fuel. It contains 
14 churches, in about half of which the German language is used. The 



INDIANA. 



247 



Marine Hospital here is a fine building, erected at a cost of $75,000. Popu- 
lation about 13,000. 

Evansville received its name from Robert Morgan Evans, a native of Virginia, 
who, with James W. Jones, of Kentucky, and Hugh McGary, were the three orig- 
inal proprietors of the place. The plat of the city was laid out in 1836, by those 
proprietors, and was originally covered by a dense forest. The first house in 




South-wesfern view of Evansville. 

As it ap])ears from the Kentucky sirie nf the Ohio River. The ?itle-\valk in front of the line of houses, 
seen in tlie view, is 21 inches above tlie highest rise of water ever known. 

Evansville was built by Hugh McGary, the patentee of the land. It was a log 
structure, occupying the site of the Pavilion House, shown in the view; the second 
house was built by Jonathan Robinson, on the river bank, between Mulberry and 
Green-streets. David Hart, of Fayette county, Ky., Isaac Blackford, now judne 
of the court of claims, in Washington, and Elisha Harrison, from Ohio, were among 
the first settlers of the place. 

The first school house was erected, in 1831, by joint stock, and stood directly in 
the rear of the Washington House, opposite the court house. The New School 
Presbyterian church, now standing, was erected in 1832, and was the first house 
of worship built in the place. It was used at first as a kind of union house, where 
ministers of various denominations preached. Rev. Calvin Butler, a Congrega 
tional clergyman from the east, was the first regular preacher who occupied the 
pulpit. The Freewill Baptists, in or about 1837, erected the next church build- 
ing; Rev. Benoni Stinson was their first minister. The German Lutheran and 
Catholic churches were established at or about the same period. The court house 

was erected in 1856. The first tavern was kept by Wood, on Main, between 

Second and Third-streets. 

The city limits extend to Pigeon creek, the village of Lamasco being included. 
The name La-mas-co is compounded of the names of Law, McCall and Scott, the 
original proprietors of the tract on both sides of Pigeon creek. Tho villaire was 
laid out in 18.56, and the Bodian coal mine opened the same year. This mine re- 
ceived its appellation from the maiden name of Mrs. Kerstemnn, the wife of the 
superintendent. It is opened 280 feet below the surface, about 200 feet lower 
than the bed of the river. The vein is .5 feet thick. The coal is delivered to the 
iniiabitants of the city at ten cents per bushel, fixed by law at 75 pounds to the 
bushel 



2i8 



INDIANA. 




Rapp's Chuech. 

From a pencil elietch, made 
about the year 18:!0, by Prof. 
Richard Owen. The church is 
cruciform in shape, about 110 by 
10(1 feet, and is yet standiug, 
though divested of the cupola. 



New Harmony is a village of about 800 inhabitants, in Posey county, in 
that part of Indiana called " the Pocket^ It stands on the Wabash, about 
1(10 miles from its mouth, following its meanders, but only 15 from the Ohio 
at Mount Vernon, its nearest point, and the south-westernmost town )f the 
state. The place has acquired a wide reputation 
from two socialistic experivients — the first by George 
Rapp, of Germany, and the last by Kobert Owen, 
of Scotland. 

The Rappites, or, as they are sometimes called, 
Harmonites, first emigrated from Wirtemburg, in 
Germany, about the year 1803, having left their 
country, as they asserted, on account of persecution 
for their religious opinions, and first built a town 
in western Pennsylvania, which they called Har- 
mony. But having the cultivation of the grape 
very much at heart, which did not appear to thrive 
as well as they wished, they sold out their estab- 
lishment at Harmony, and in 1814, under the 
guidance of their pastor, Rev. George Rapp, moved 
to the Wabash, where the climate was supposed to 
be more congenial to their wishes. There they 
cleared the land, built a beautiful village, which 
they called New Harmony, containing about 150 
houses, planted orchards and vineyards, erected 
mills and factories of various kinds, and made "the 
wilderness blossom like the rose." According to their system, all property 
was held in common, there being no such thing known to them as an indi- 
vidual owning any. After remaining some eight or ten years, the Rappites 
discovered that the unhealthiness of this then new country, called for a 
change of climate, so they beat a speedy retreat. The society, therefore, re- 
turned to Pennsylvania in 1825, and selecting a site on the Ohio, 18 miles 
below Pittsburg, cleared the land, and built the present handsome town of 
Economy, which contains some 500 inhabitants. It is yet a thriving com- 
munity, and since the death of its founder, is governed by nine trustees. 
The Duke of Saxe Weimer, who visited Economy about the year 1826, has 
left some interesting facts, upon the peculiarities of the Rappites : 

At the inn, a fine large' frame house, we were received by Mr. Rapp, the princi- 
pal, ut the head of the community. He is a gray-headed and venerable old man; 
most of the members emigrated 21 years ago from Wirtemburg along with him. 

Tlie elder Rapp is a large man of 7U years old, whose powei-s age seems not to 
have diminished ; his hair is gray, but his blue eyes, overshadowed by strong 
brows, are full of life and tire. Rapp's system is nearly the same as Owen's com- 
inuiiity of goods, and all members of the society work together for the common in- 
terest, by which the welfare of each individual is secured. Rapp does not hold 
his society toiicther y>y these hopes alone, but also by the tie of religion, which is 
entirely wanting in Owen's community; and results declare that Rapp's system is 
the better. No .ureat results can be expected from Owen's plan; and a sight of it 
is very little in its favor. What is most striking and wonderful of all is, that so 
plain a man as Rapp (>an so successfully bring and keep together a society of 
nearly 700 persons, who, in a manner, honor him as a prophet. Equally so for 
e.Kample is his power of government, which can suspend the intercoitrse of the 
Hcxes. lie found that the society was becoming too numerous, wherefore the mem- 
bers airreed to llee with their icices as sisters. All nearer intercourse is forbidden, 
as well as marriage; both are discouraiied. However, some marriages c(mstantly 
oceur, and children are born every year, for whom there is provided a school and 



INDIANA. 



249 



a teacher. The raembei's of the community manifest the very highest degree of 
veneration for the elder Kapp, whom they address and treat as a father. Mr. 
Frederick Rapp is a hxrge, gooddooking personage, of 40 years of age. lie pos- 
sesses profound mercantile knowledge, and is the temporal, as his father is tho 
spiritual chief of the community. All business passes through his hands ; he re- 
presents the society, which, notwithstanding the change in the name of residence, 
is called the Harmony Society, in all their dealings with the world. They found 
that the farming and cattle raising, to which the society exclusively attended in 
both their former places of residence, were not sufficiently productive for their in- 
dustry, they therefore have established factories. 

The warehouse was shown to us, where the articles made here for sale or use 
are preserved, and I admired the excellence of all. The articles for the use of the 
society are kept by themselves, as the members have no private possessions, and 
everything is in common ; so must they in relation to all their personal wants be 
supplied from the common stock. The clothing and food they make use of is of 
the best quality. Of the latter, flour, salt meat, and all long keeping articles, are 
served out monthly; fresh meat, on the contrary, and whatever spoils readily, is 
distributed whenever it is killed, according to the size of the family, etc. As every 
house has a garden, each family raises its own vegetables, and some poultry, and 
each family has its own bake oven. For such things as are not raised in Economy, 
there is a store provided, from which the members, with the knowledge of the di- 
rectors, may purchase what is necessary, and the people of the vicinity may also 
do the same. 

Mr. Rapp finally conducted us into the factory again, and said that the girls had 
especially requested this visit, that I might hear them sing. When their work is 
done, they collect in one of the hictory rooms, to the number of 60 or 70, to sing 
spiritual and other songs. They have a peculiar hymn book, containing hymns 
from the Wirtemburg psalm book, and others written by the elder Rapp. A chair 
was placed for the old patriarch, who sat amidst the girls, and they commenced a 
hymn in a very delightful manner. It was naturally symphoniousand exceedingly 
well arranged. The girls sang four pieces, at first sacred, but afterward, by Mr. 
Rapp's desire, of a gay character. With real emotion did I witness this interest- 
ing scene. The factories and workshops are warmed during winter by means of 
pipes connected with the steam-engine. All the workmen, and especially the fe- 
males, had very healthy complexions, and moved me deeply by the warm4iearted 
friendliness with which they saluted the elder Rapp. I was also much gratified to 
see vessels containing fresh sweet-smelling flowers standing on all the machines. 
The neatness which universally reigns here is in every respect worthy of praise. 

The second socialistic experiment here, proved less successful than the 
first. We give its history in the annexed communication from a corres- 
pondent familiar with the details : 

In 1824, the village of the Rappites, including 20,000 acres of land, was pur- 
chased by Mr. Robert Owen, of New Lanark, Scotland, who, after a most success- 
ful experiment in ameliorating the physical and moral condition of the laboring 
classes in that manufacturing village, believed that New Harmony would be a 
highly suitable place for testing his "social system," as explained in his "New 
Views of Society." As soon, therefore, as the Harmonites had removed, to estab- 
lish themselves at Economy, Pennsylvania, he gave a general invitation for those 
favorable to the community, in opposition to the competitive system, to give its 
practicability a fair trial at New Harmony. The call was responded to by about 
seven or eight hundred persons, and Mr. Owen was also joined by another wealthy 
gentleman from Scotland, Mr. William Maclure, who purchased from Mr. Owen 
part of the property; and for one year the community progressed, in some respects, 
rather favorably, but chiefly at their expense, under the name of "The Prelimina- 
ry Society." As all institutions, however, to be permanent, must be selfsustain- 
ing, unless largely endowed, the above society, hoping better to effect the desired 
object by a division into departments having more immediately similar views and 
interests, formed agricultural, educational, and other similar subdivisions, or com- 
munities, which sustained themselves, at the furthest, two years more; being 



250 INDIANA. 

broken up partly by designing individuals, who joined the society only from selfish 
motives; partly also from inexpei'ience in so novel an experiment; and partly, 
doubtless, from the difficulty of any large number of persons ever having views 
sufficiently similar to enable them to co-operate successfully for the common good. 

Since that social experiment, a period to which (although a failure as regards its 
pecuniary sustaining power) many of the older inhabitants still look back with 
jileasure, as a promotive of benevolent, unselfish feeling, the houses, lots and ad- 
joining lands have passed into the hands of individuals; and New Harmony pro- 
grosses gradually, on the old system, being a quiet, orderlycountry town, geograph- 
ically out of the great commercial thoroughfare. 

The entire surviving family of the late Robert Owen, comprising three sons, one 
daughter, and numerous grandchildren, still resides there. The eldest son, Robert 
Dale Owen, represented the first district in congress, and has since been minister 
to Naples ; the second son, William, died there some years since. The third son. 
Dr. D. D. Owen, has conducted two geological surveys for the United States, and 
is state geologist for three western states; he possesses, in New Harmony, one of 
the best scientific collections in the west, and a well-appointed laboratory. The 
fourth son. Dr. Richard Owen, wa.s for nearly ten years professor of geology in the 
Western Military Institute (latterly the literary department of the University of 
Nashville, Tennessee), and later connected with the geological survey of Indiana. 
The daughter, Mrs. Fauntleroy, is widow of the late R. H. Fauntleroy, who lost 
his life in the service of the U. S. coast survey. 

New Harmony was, at one period, the home of various distinguished individu- 
als, who united in the social experiment, such as : Dr. G. Troost, the celebrated 
mineralogist, afterward state geologist of Tennessee, and professor in the Univer- 
sity of Nashville; of Wm. P. D'Arusmont, who married Miss Frances Wright; of 
Thomas Say, the naturalist, to whose memory a fine monument was erected in 
New Harmony ; of Joseph Neef, formerly an associate with Pestalozzi ; of C. A. 
liesneur, the ichthyologist, who was naturalist in the voyage of La Perouse to New 
Holland, afterward curator of the Havre museum ; and the town is still the resi- 
dence of several scientific persons, and the seat of the Indiana School of Pi-actical 
Sciences. 

As noted above, the celebrated Fanny Wright was connected with the 
social scheme of Mr. Owen, at New Harmony. Thirty years ago her name 
was in the public papers of the day, as the most prominent of " the strong 
minded" of her sex in all the land. She was gifted with mental powers 
which impressed every one who approached her. The annexed sketch of 
this extraordinary woman is from a published source : 

She was born at Dundee, in Scotland, it is believed, in 1796, and was better 
known by her maiden name, Fanny Wright, than by that of her husband, Darus- 
mont. Her father, Mr. Wright, was intimate with Dr. Adam Smith, Dr. Cullen, 
and other men of literary and scientific eminence in his day. Hence, probably, 
his daughter, Fanny, became tinctured with an ambition to distinguish herself as 
a propagandist of social and political novelties. At the age of eighteen she wrote 
a little book, called " A Few Days in Athens," in which she defended the opinions 
and character of Epicurus. 

In 1818 she visited America, where she remained three years, and soon after pub- 
lished her observations under the title of " Views on Society and Manners in Amer- 
ica." She afterward visited Paris in compliance with an invitation from La Fayette. 
After her return to America, about the year 1825, she purchased 2,000 acres of 
land in Tennessee, subsequently the site of Memphis, and peopled it with a num 
ber of slave families whom she had redeemed. 

In 1833, she appeared as a public lecturer. Her deep soprano voice, her com- 
manding figure, and marvelous eloquence, combined with her zealous attacks on 
negro slavery, and some other prominent features in American institutions, soon 
made her famous throughout our country. Her powers of oratory drew crowds of 
listeners, especially in New York : Fanny Wright Societies were formed, resemb- 
ling those of the French Communists. 

Elated by her powers of oratory, she visited all the principal cities of the Amer- 



INDIANA. 



251 



ican Union; but as she too frequently made the philosophy of her "Few Days in 
Athens " the groundwork of her discourses, she aroused tiie hostility of the press 
and the clergy. During two years she battled, as it were single-handed, by means 
of her pen and verbally, with her powerful foes, and kept her name ringing through- 
out the country. Meanwhile she had her redeemed slaves taught agricultural pur- 
suits, and educated in general knowledge; but although for a time promising well, 
from some cause not generally known, the experiment failed, and the slaves were 
sent to Hayti. 

She then joined Robert Owen in his Communist scheme at New Harmony, edit- 
ing the Gazette, and lecturing in behalf of the enterprise, in some of the large 
cities and towns of the western states, but with a success which did not equal her 
expectations. Subsequently, Miss Wright married M. A'Drusmont, aman who pro- 
fessed her own system of philosophy; but they soon separated, and she resided 
during the remainder of her life in America, with an only daughter, the fruit of 
her marriage. Her husband's suit at law, to obtain possession of her property, 
added still further to her notoriety. 

This circumstance, and her ill health, tended to cool her political enthusiasm, if 
not to modify her opinions. Her experience did not, on the whole, aflbrd much 
cause for self-gratulation, or furnish encouragement to others to embark in any sim- 
ilar enterprises for the reformation of society. She died at Cincinnati, January 
13, 1853, aged 57 years. 




Southeastern view in Calhoitn-streei, Fort Wayne. 

Fort Wayne, the county seat of Allen county, is situated on the line of 
the Wabash and Erie Canal, at the confluence of the St. Joseph's and St. 
Mary's Rivers, which here unite and form the Maumee, 112 miles N.E. from 
Indianapolis, 110 E.N.E. from Lafayette, and 96 W. from Toledo. It is a 
flourishin<2j place, and by means of its railroad, canal and plank road com- 
munications, is quite a center of business. It is regularly laid out on level 
and fertile prairie land. About half the population are of recent foreign de- 
scent. Four newspapers are published in this place, one of which is in the 
German language. Population in IStiO, 10,388. 

The Twightees, a branch of the Miami tribe, had a village at Fort Wayne, 
in their language called Ke-ki-o-que. At one time it was called " French 
Store," as it was for a long time a trading post of that nation, and the site 
of a military post. About the year 1764 the English built a fort here. 
Old Fort Wayne was erected here in 1794, and was continued a military post 
until 1819, until the removal of the Miamis and Pottawatomies, in 1841: it 
was resorted to by them for the disposal of their furs, and to spend their 



252 



INDIANA. 



aniiaities. It was against the Indian villages in this vicinity, that Hariuar's 
expedition was directed, the particulars of which we annex: 

" In the autumn of 1790, about 1,300 troops, of whom less than one fourth were 
i-egulars, marched from Cincinnati, under General Harmer, against the Indian 
t<t\vus on the Maumee, near the site of Fort Wayne. When within a short dis- 
tance of their point of destination. Col. Hardin was detached with six hundred and 
fifty men. This advance, on reaching the Indian villages found them deserted. 
The next day, the main body having arrived, their towns, containing three hun- 
dred wigwams, were burnt, the fruit trees girdled, and 20,000 bushels of corn de- 
stroyed." While the troops were at the villages, a detachment ot one hundred and 
hftv Kentucky militia and thirty regulars, under Col. Hardin, were sent on an In- 
dian trail, when they fell into an ambush of seven hundred warriors under Little 
Turtle. At the first fire the militia fled without firing a shot, but the thirty regu- 
lars resisted with the greatest obstinacy until all were killed, except two officers 
and two or three privates. Ensign Armstrong was saved by falling behind a log 
while on the retreat, which screened him from his pursuers ; while Captain Arm- 
stronii; was preserved by plunging up to his neck in a swamp. There he remained 
all night a spectator of the war dance over the bodies of the dead and wounded 
soldiers, and the shrieks of the latter, as they were tortured, mingling with the 
yells of the savages. 

When the army had proceeded one day on the return march. Col. Hardin and 
Maj. Willis were sent back with four hundred men, of whom sixty were regulars, 
to surprise the Indians, whom it was supposed would return. On entering the 
town a few of the enemy were seen, who immediately fled, and decoyed the militia 
into an irregular pjirsuit in different directions. This being accomplished, Little 
Turtle fell, with his main body, upon the regulars with great fury. They threw 
down their guns, and with their tomahawks, rushed upon the bayonets of the sol- 
diers. While a soldier was engat^ed in the use of his bayonet upon one Indian, 
two others would sink their tomahawks in his head. The result was that every 
regular fell, together with their gallant major. Ere the conflict was over, a part 
of the militia who had returned from the pursuit, joined in the contest, but were 
compelled to retreat, leaving the dead and wounded in the hands of the enemy. 

The expedition, in destroying the Indian villages, had accomplished the great 
object of its mission, although under circumstances of misfortune. It was suc- 
ceeded by such vigorous exertions, on the part of the savages, that they must have 
succeeded in bi-eaking up the American settlements, were it not for the total de- 
8tructi(m of their property and provisions just at the approach of winter." 

The siege of Fort Wayne, in the war of 1812, was a memorable event in 
the history of this region, the particulars of which we derive from Howe's 
"Great West:" 

In August, 1812, immediately after the disgraceful surrender of Hull, about five 
hundred'lndian warriors laid siege to Fort Wayne, a dilapidated structure of wood 
which had been built in Wayne's campaign, near the north-eastern corner of In- 
diana, at the junction of the St. Joseph s and St Mary's Rivers, main branches of 
the Maumee. The garrison, amounting to less than one seventh of their number, 
WMis commanded by Capt. Rhea, an old officer broken down by intemperance, and 
of a timid disposition. As at that period the whole surrounding region was a wil- 
derness, and they were far from succor, their danger was imminent. 

They were finally saved from the horrors of an Indian massacre, by the daring 
bravery and address of a young Virginian, named William Oliver. This young 
man, scai'ce twenty-one years of age, to a slender and delicate, though active figure, 
united in a high degree the qualities of undaunted courage, enthusiasm, firmness, 
and sagacity. A resident of Fort Wayne, he was at this time, temporarily absent 
at Cincinnati, and learning on his return route that the Indians had appeared be- 
f(ire the fort, he voluntarily hurried back to the city to urge the troops stationed 
at that point to hasten to its relief This being accomplished, he set out again with 
all speed toward the fort, intending to reach it, and penetrate through its swarm 
of surrounding savages in advance of the relief, for the purpose of encouraging 
the garrison to persevere in its defense until their arrival. 



INDIANA. 



253 



At St Mary's River he came to an encampment of Ohio militia, with whom was 
Thomas Worthin^ton, of Chillicothe (afterward governor of Oliio), then on t e 
frontier as Indian commissioner, to whom Oliver commnnicated his intention ( f 
entering the fort, or of perisliing in the attempt. Worthington had been originally 
opposed to the policy of declaring war ; but now that it had been commenced, was 
zealous for its vigorous prosecution ; yet this did not save him from the taunt of an 
ill-bred brother officer, who accused him of a want of patriotism. Being a high 




View of old Fort Wayne. 

[Copied from E. P. Abbott's Map of the city of Fort Wayne, published in 1855.] 

spirited man of the keenest sense of honor, this accusation stung Worthington to 
the quick, and he felt eager to embark in any enterprise, howsoever desperate, to 
show the unjustness of the charge, and his willingness to peril his .all for his coun- 
try. In him Oliver found a zealous confederate, notwithstanding old experienced 
frontiersmen endeavored to dissuade him from the dangerous undertaking. United- 
ly, they induced sixty-eight of the militia, and sixteen Shawnee Indians, to acccmi- 
pany them. 

On the second day's march, thirty-six of the party, consulting their fears, secret- 
ly deserted their companions, and returned to the main body. The remainder con- 
tinued their route, and at sunset in their camp, heai-d the evening gun from the 
fort, through an intervening forest of twenty-four miles. As the reduced party was 
not strong enough to encounter the enemy, Worthington was very reluctantly in- 
duced to remain at this point with his men, while Oliver, with three friendly In- 
dians, pushed on. Being well armed and mounted, they started at day-break the 
next morning, proceeding with grent caution. When within five miles of the fort, 
they perceived holes which the Indians had dug on each side of the road for con- 
cealment, and to cut off all who should approach toward the place. Upon observ- 
ing these, they abandoned the main road, struck off across the country, and reached 
the Maumee one and a half miles below the fort. Tying their horses in a thicket, 
they stole cautiously along through the forest to ascertain if the Indians had ob- 
tained possession. Oliver at length discovered, with feelings of joy, the American 
flag waving above the fort; but not deeming even this as conclusive, he approached 
on the east side so near as not only to discern the blue uniform of a sentinel, but 
to recognize in his countenance that of an acquaintance. 

Having satisfied himself on this point, they returned, remounted their horses, 
and taking the main road, moved rapidly onward. Upon reaching the gate of the 
esphinade, they found it locked, and were thus compelled to pass down the river 
liank, and then ascend it at the northern gate. They were favored in doing so, by 
tiie withdrawal of the savages from this point, in carrying out a plan, then on the 
point of consummation, for takinu; the fort by an ingenious stratagem. 

For several days previous to this time, the hostile chiefs, under a flag of truce, 
had been holding intercourse with the garrison. In their interviews with Captain 
llliea, that officer had shown such a spirit of timidity, that they felt persuaded that 



254 INDIANA. 

it could be made available at the proper moment, to put him and his men in their 
power. They had, accordingly, arranged their warriors in a semicircle on the west 
and south sides of the fort, and at a short distance from it. P^ive of the chiefs, un- 
der pretense of treating with the officers of the garrison, were to pass into the 
fort, and gain admittance into the council-room with scalping-knives and pistols se- 
creted under their blankets. Then, at a certain signal, they were to assassinate 
tlie two subaltern officers, seize Captain Rhea, and with threats of instant death, 
if he did not comply, and promises of safety, if he did, compel him to order the 
gates to be thrown open for the admission of their warriors. 

The plan, thus arranged, was in the act of being carried into execution, at the 
moment when Oliver and his companions reached the gate. Their safe arrival at 
that particular moment, may be justly considered as miraculous. One hour sooner 
or one hour later would have, no doubt, been inevitable destruction both to himself 
and escort ; the parties of Indians who had kept close guard, for eight days previ- 
ous, upon the roads and passes in different directions, having all, at that moment, 
been called in to aid in carrying the fort. 

Winnemac, Five Medals, and three other hostile chiefs, bearing the flag of truce, 
under which they were to gain admittance to carry out their treacherous intentions, 
were surprised by suddenly meeting at the gate Oliver and his companions. Com- 
ing from different directions, and screened by the angles of the fort, they were not 
visible to each other until that moment. Winnemac showed great chagrin, uttered 
an ejaculation of disappointment, and hastily returning to the Indian camp, in- 
formed the chiefs and warriors that the stratagem was defeated. 

Oliver immediately upon his arrival, wrote a hasty letter to Worthington, de- 
scribing the situation of the fort, which he sent by the Indians. Luckily their 
movements were not observed, until they had actually started from the garrison 
gate. They now put spurs to their horses, and dashed off at full speed. The hos- 
tile Indians were instantly in motion to intercept them ; the race was a severe and 
perilous one, but they cleared the enemy's line in safety, and then their loud shout 
of triumph rose high in the air, and fell like music upon the ears of the beleaguered 
garrison. They safely delivered the letter, and a few days after Gen. Harrison ar- 
rived with reinforcements, the enemy having continued the siege until within a 
few hours of his arrival, and that, too, with such perseverance, that the vigilance 
of the garrison alone saved them from a general conflagration from the burning 
arrows of the savages.* 

In the year 1830, Fort Wayne contained about 100 inhabitants. The old 
fort was situated in the north-eastern section of the city ; the Wabash and 
Erie Canal passes through a part of its site. The first church erected was 
built by the Old School Presbyterians; this house is still standing, and is 
now occupied by the English Lutherans. The Methodists erected the second 
church, the Baptists the third. The Catholics erected their first house of 
worship on Calhoun-street, and it is now standing. The first regular Pro- 
testant clergyman was Rev. James Chute, from Columbus, Ohio. The Rev. 
Stephen R. Ball and N. B. Griffiths were the first Methodist preachers ; they 
preached at first in the north-west part of the place, in a brick school-house, 
long since taken down. This school-house was the first built. Benjamin 
Cushman and Lewis C Thompson were among the early physicians. David 
H. Colerick and Henry P. Cooper were among the early lawyers. The "Fort 
Wayne Sentinel" was established about 1833, by Noel & Tigar; their office 
stood at the east end of the canal basin, near or on the spot where the ware- 
house of Messrs. Hill & Orbison now stands. The " Fort Wayne Weekly 
Times" was established as a whig journal, in 1840. 

Little Turtle, the celebrated Indian chieftain, died at this place in 1812, 
his grave, near Fort Wayne, used to be shown to visitors, and was formerly 

*01iver was postmaster at Cincinnati, in Taylor's administration. He died there a few 
years since. 



INDIANA. 255 

much visited by the Indians, who cherished his memory with great respect 
and veneration. He commanded the Indians at the defeat of St. Clair The 
following notice appeared in the public prints at the time of hisde-ith- 
"Fort Wayne July 21 1812.-On the 14th inst., the celebrated Miami 
chief, the Little Turtle, died at this place, at the age of 65 years. Perhaps 
there is not left on this continent one of his color so distinguished in coun- 
cil and in war. His disorder was the gout. He died in a camp, because he 
chose to be in the open air. He met death with great firmness. The a^rgnt 
for Indian affairs had him buried with the honors of war, and other marks 
of distinction suited to his character." 



Atti 
Sta 



The following inscriptions are from monuments in the graveyard at Fort 
Wayne: "" 

Sacred to the memory of Col. Alexander Ewing, one of the bravest soldiers of the Rev- 
olution : from the year 1780 to the peace of 1783, he was actively engaged in the Raneir 
service on the frontiers of New York and Pennsylvania. He was a volunteer a the battle 
of the Thames in 1813, and among the first who broke the British lines on thit occasion 
so glorious to the arms of his country. Died at Fort Wayne, Jan. 1, 1827, aged 60 yeaT' 

Sacred to the memory of Charles W. Ewing, eldest son of Col. A. and Mrs. C. Ewing 
^torneyand Counsellor at Law and President Judge of the 9th Judicial Circuit oT the 
ate of Indiana. Died at Fort Wayne, Jan. 9, 1843, aged 45 years. 

• ^^^^^}: Bigger, late Governor of this State, died Sept. 9, 1846. A patriot and a Christ 
lan, he died in the full hope of a glorious immortality ^ 

I would not live always, no, welcome the tomb : 
_ ^ ^ Since Jesus has been there, I dread not its gloom 

Optatum, meum suavium, quod. Te in terram retnuevit, condonato. 

Rev Samuel Brenton, A.M., died March 29, 1857, aged 46 yrs. 4 mo. 7 da He was a 
devoted minister of the M E. church, and 4 years a member of Congress. He was faTthful 
to his Country the Church, and his God. Mark the perfect man, and behold the up 'ht 
for the end of that man is peace. Rejoice in the Lord always. "P"»nt, 

«n?t-f ffl""^'^' ^.'"■° "^""^ ^^' ^^^^' ^'^"^ •^■'^°- 2» 1843. He filled with distinction import- 
ant civil offices, and was eminent aa a Christian. ui»iiuouon impori- 

In memory of Mary, wife of Rev. A. T. Rankin, Pastor of the First Presbyterian 
Church, Fort Wayne, la., who departed this life July 19, 1841, aged 31 vears Here rpff^ 
all that can die of a Home Missio'nary. Her work is done. She deeps fnJesus "^ 

Rev. Jesse Hoover, died May 24, 1838, aged 28 years. Oreanizer of the fir^t r«r,r„„ 
SreThlrLom:"' '' ^"'^ '''''''' ^"^ '""^ ^'^' ''''''^' wasTtrMtirpaSfr SuZl 
Mir nach spricht Christus unser Held. 



Hier ruhe in Gott Adam H. Wepel, geb, am 7 Jum 1802, gett am Mai, 1852 Sammt 
feinen 6 vereits vor ihm entfchlenen kindern harret er nun der seligen und froehlichenZ 
ferstedung der Todten Wenn Gottes Mort nicht ware mein Troft gewesen «o ware ich 
vergangen meinen elende. gcweseu so ware icn 

Lafayette the capital of Tippecanoe county, is next to Indianapolis, 
the most important city of Central Indiana. It is on the Wabash River, and 
on the Wabash and hne Canal, with three or four important railroad lines 
passing through it, and distant 64 miles north-west of Indianapolis. By 
river, canal, and railroad, it is united with 78 counties of the state. Im- 
mediately around the city for miles, lie some of the richest portions of In- 



256 



INDIANA. 



diana. It also possesses all the elements necessary to a flourishing; manu- 
facturing city. By river, canal and creeks, sites for machinery propelled by 
water can be obtained of any amount of power, while by railroad and c;inal 
it is brought into the immediate neighborhood of inexhaustible mines of 




^"V^--^*' -ij(«^g<^''vr«>- 



Sovthern View of Lafayette from near the Valley Railroad, 

The WaVjash River, canal, etc., pass by the distant buildings whii^h are i>n the extreme left. Ohio-street, 
passing the two principal Hotels and the Court House, appears in t)ie central part. The Presbyterian and 
other churches on the right. 

coal, iron and clay, and other materials necessary to carry on successfully all 
kinds of manufactures. Lafayette was laid out, on government land. May 
17, 1825, by William Digby : it has 14 churches and in 18G0, 9,426 inhab- 
itants. 

In the heart of the city on the public square, a few years since, while bor- 
ing for pure water at the depth of 230 feet, a stream of medicinal water was 
struck. A careful analysis proves it of immense value, and to compare fa- 
vorably with the most celebrated mineral waters of Europe. It is similar to 
the Blue Lick Springs of Kentucky, and is a salt sulphur water. It is ap- 
plicable to numerous diseases, viz : bronchitis, rheumatism, dyspepsia, dis- 
eases of the liver, kidneys, sexual organs, and in general for disturbances of 
the secretive organs or surfaces. The stream is constant and ample for all 
bathing and drinking purposes. 

Seven miles north of Lafayette, on the line of the railroad to Chicago, is 
the Battle Field of Tippecanoe, where, just before the gray of morning, Nov. 
7, 1811, Gen. William Henry Harrison, then governor of the territory of 
Indiana, at the head of 900 men, principally militia and volunteers, defeated 
an equal body of Indians under the Prophet, Tenskwautawa, the brother of 
Tecumseh. The town of the Prophet. Kefh-trp-e-ca-nunk, corrupted in mod- 
ern orthography, to Tippecanoe, stood over a mile distant, on the Wabash : it 
extended along the stream from the site of Davis' Ferry to the mouth of 
the Tippecanoe. Tecumseh was not present in the action, being absent at 
the south among the Creeks and Seminoles, to unite them with the northern 



INDIANA. 



257 



tribes in his grand confederacy against the whites. The subjoined narra- 
tive of the battle is from Drake's Tecumseh : 

On the 5th of November, 1811, Gov. Harrison, with about 900 effective troops, 
composed of 250 of the 4th rejiiment United States infantry, 130 volunteers, and a 
body of militia, encamped within 10 miles of the Prophet's town. On the next 




Eastern Vietc of the Battle Field of Tippecanoe. 

The place of Harrison's encampment is shown hy the inclosefl fence, within which is six or eight acres of 
ground. The main body of tlie savages were in tiie wheat field in front, this side of the railroad. It waa 
then a marsh, covered with tall grass, in which they were concealed. 

day, when the army was within five miles of the village, reconnoitering parties of 
the Indians were seen, but they refused to hold any conversation with the inter- 
preters sent forward by the governor to open a communication with them. When 
within a mile and a half of the town, a halt was made, for the purpose of encamp- 
ing for the night. Several of the field officers urged the governor to make an im- 
mediate assault on the village ; but this he declined, as his instructions from the 
president were positive, not to attack the Indians, as long as there was a proba- 
bility of their complying with the demands of government. Upon ascertaining, 
however, that the ground continued favorable for the disposition of his troops, quite 
up to the town, he determined to approach still nearer to it. In the meantime, 
Capt. Dubois, with an interpreter, was sent forward to ascertain whether the 
Prophet would comply with the terms proposed by the governor. The Indiuns, 
however, would make no reply to these inquiries, but endeavored to cut off the 
messengers from the army. When, this fact was reported to the governor, he de- 
termined to consider the Indians as enemies, and at once march upon their town. 
He had proceeded but a short distance, however, before he was met by three In- 
dians, one of them a principal counselor to the Prophet, who stated that they were 
sent to know why the army was marching upon their town — that the Prophet was 
desirous of avoiding hostilities — that he had sent a pacific message to Gov. Harri- 
son by the Miami and Potawatomie chiefs, but that those chiefs had unfortunately 
gone down on the south side of the Wabash, and had thus failed to meet him. 
Accordingly, a suspension of hostilities was agreed upon, and the terms of peace 

17 



258 INDIANA. 

were to be settled on the following morning by the governor and the chiefs. In 
moving the army toward the Wabash, to encamp for the night, the Indians became 
again alarmed, supposing that an attack was about to be made on the town, not- 
withstanding the armistice which had just been concluded. They accordingly be- 
gan to prepare for defense, and some of them sallied out, calling upon the advanced 
corps to halt. The governor immediately rode forward, and assured the Indians 
that it was not his intention to attack them, but that he was only in search of a 
suitable piece of ground on which to encamp his troops. He inquired if there 
was anv other water convenient, beside that which the river afforded ; and an In- 
dian -with whom he was well acquainted, answered, that the creek which had been 
crossed two miles back, ran through the prairie to the north of the village. A 
halt was then ordered, and Majors Piatt, Clark and Taylor, were sent to examine 
this creek as well as the river above the town, to ascertain the correctness of the 
information, and decide on the best ground for an encampment. In the course of 
half an hour, the two latter reported that they had found, on the creek, everything 
that could be desirable in an encampment — an elevated spot, nearly surrounded 
by an open prairie, with water convenient, and a sufficiency of wood for fuel. * 
The army was now marched to this spot, and encamped " on a dry piece of ground, 
which rose about 10 feet above the level of a marshy prairie in front toward the 
town; and, about twice as high above a similar prairie in the rear; through which, 
near the foot of the hill, ran a small stream clothed with willows and brushwood. 
On the left of the encampment, this bench of land became wider; on the right, 
it gradually narrowed, and terminated in an abrupt point, about 150 yards from 

the right bank." f ., /• i r. l > 

The encampment was about three fourths of a mile from the Prophet s town ; 
and orders were given, in the event of a night attack, for each corps to maintain its 
position, at all hazards, until relieved or further orders were given to it. The 
whole army was kept, during the night, in the military position, which is called, 
lyino- on their arms. The regular troops lay in their tents, with their accoutre- 
ments on and their arms by their sides. The militia had no tents, but slept with 
their clothes and pouches on, and their guns under them, to keep them dry. The 
order of the encampment was the order of battle, for a night attack; and as every 
man slept opposite to his post in the line, there was nothing for the troops to do, 
in case of an assault, but to rise and take their positions a few steps in the rear of 
the fires around which they had reposed. The guard of the night consisted of two 
captain's commands of 42 men, and four non-commissioned officers each; and two 
subaltern's guards of 20 men and non-commissioned officers each — the whole 
amounting to about 130 men, under the command of a field officer of the day. 
The night was dark and cloudy, and after midnight there was a drizzling rain. It 
was not anticipated by the governor or his officers, that an attack would be made 
during the night: it was supposed that if the Indians had intended to act oflen- 
sively, it would have been done on the march of the army, where situations pre- 
sented themselves that would have given the Indians a great advantage. Indeed, 
within three miles of the town, the army had passed over ground so broken and 
unfavorable to its march, that the position of the troops was necessarily changed 
several times, in the course of a mile. The enemy, moreover, had fortified their 
town with care and great labor, as if they intended to act alone on the defensive. 
It was a favorite spot with the Indians, having long been the scene of those myste- 
rious rites, performed by their Prophet, and by which they had been taught to be- 
lieve that it was impregnable to the assaults of the white man. 

At four o'clock in the morning of the 7th, Gov. Harrison, according to his prac- 
tice, had risen, preparatory to the calling up the troops; and was engaged, while 
drawincf on his boots by the fire, in conversation with Gen. Wells, Col. Owen, and 
Majors^Iaylor and Hurst. The orderly-drum had been roused for the purpose of 
eivinc the signal for the troops to turn out, when the attack of the Indians sud- 
denly^ commenced upon the left flank of the camp. The whole army was instantly 
on its feet; the camp-fires were extinguished; the governor mounted his horse and 



* M'Afee'a History of tha Late War. f ^^^^- 



INDIANA. 259 

proceeded to the point of attack. Several of the companies had taken their places 
in the line within forty seconds from the report of the first gun ; and the whole of 
the troops were prepared for action in the course of two minutes; a fact as credit- 
able to their own activity and bravery, as to the skill and energy of their officers. 
The battle soon became general, and was maintained on both sides with signal and 
even desperate valor. The Indians advanced and retreated by the aid of a rattling 
noise, made with deer hoofs, and persevered in their treacherous attack with an ap- 
parent determination to conquer or die upon the spot. The battle raged with un- 
abated fury and mutual slaughter, until daylight, when a gallant and successful 
charge by our troops, drove the enemy into the swamp, and put an end to the 
conflict. 

Prior to the assault, the Prophet had given assurances to his followers, that in 
the coming contest, the Great Spirit would render the arms of the Americans una- 
vailing; that their bullets would fall harmless at the feet of the Indians; that the 
latter should have light in abundance, while the former would be involved in thick 
darkness. Availing himself of the privilege conferred by his peculiar ofl&ce, and, 
perhaps, unwilling in his own person to attest at once the rival powers of a sham 
prophecy and a real American bullet, he prudently took a position on an adjacent 
eminence; and, when the action began, he entered upon the performance of 
certain mystic rites, at the same time singing a war-song. In the course of 
the engagement, he was informed that his men were falling: he told them to 
fight on, it would soon be as he had predicted ; and then, in louder and wilder strains, 
his inspiring battle-song was heard commingling with the sharp crack of the rifle 
and the shrill war-hoop of his brave but deluded followers. 

Throughout the action, the Indians manifested more boldness and perseverance 
than had, perhaps, ever been exhibited by them on any former occasion. This 
was owing, it is supposed, to the influence of the Prophet, who, by the aid of his 
incantations, had inspired them with a belief that they would certainly overcome 
their enemy: the supposition, likewise, that they had taken the governor's army 
by surprise, doubtless contributed to the desperate character of their assaults. They 
were commanded by some daring chiefs, and although their spiritual leader was 
not actually in the battle, he did much to encourage his followers in their gallant 
attack. Of the force of the Indians engaged, there is no certain account. The 
ordinary number at the Prophet's town during the preceding summer, was 450; 
but a few days before the action, they had been joined by all the Kickapoos of the 
prairie, and by several bands of the Pottawatomies, from the Illinois River, and 
the St. Joseph^ 8, of Lake Michigan. Their number on the night of the engage- 
ment was probably between 800 and 1,000. Some of the Indians who were in the 
action, subsequently informed the agent at Fort Wayne, that there were more than 
1,000 warriors in the battle, and that the number of wounded was unusually great. 
In the precipitation of their retreat, they left 38 on the field ; some were buried 
during the engagement in their town, others, no doubt, died subsequently of their 
wounds. The whole number of their killed, was probably not less than 50. 

Of the army under Gov. Harrison, 35 were killed in the action, and 25 died sub- 
sequently of their wounds: the total number of killed and wounded was one hun- 
dred and eighty-eight. 

Both officers and men behaved with much coolness and bravery — qualities 
which, in an eminent degree, marked the conduct of Gov. Harrison throughout the 
engagement. The peril to which he was subjected may be inferred from the fact 
that a ball passed through his stock, slightly bruising his neck; another struck 
his saddle, and glancing hit his thigh; and a third wounded the horse on which 
he was riding. 

Peace on the frontiers was one of the happy results of this severe and brilliant 
action. The tribes which had already joined in the confederacy were dismayed ; 
and those which had remained neutral, now decided against it 

During the two succeeding days, the victorious army remained in camp, for the 
purpose of burying the dead and taking care of the wounded. In the meantime, 
CoL Wells, with the mounted riflemen, visited the Prophet's town, and found it 
deserted by all the Indians except one, whose leg had been broken in the action. 



260 INDIANA. 

The houses were mostly burnt, and the corn around the village destroyed. * On 
the 9th, the army commenced its return to Vincennes, having broken up or com- 
mitted to the flames all their unnecessary baggage, in order that the wagons might 
be used for the transportation of the wounded. 

The defeated Indians were greatly exasperated with the Prophet: they re- 
proached him in bitter terms for the calamity he had brought upon them, and ac- 
cused him of the murder of their friends who had fallen in the action. It seems, 
that after pronouncing some incantations over a certain composition, which he 
had prepared on the night preceding the action, he assured his followers, that by 
the power of his art, half of the invading army was already dead, and the other 
half in a state of distraction ; and that the Indians would have little to do but 
rush into their camp, and complete the work of destruction with their toma- 
hawks. '^You are a liar^" said one of the surviving Winnebagoes to him, after 
the action, " for you told us that the white people were dead or crazy, when they 
were all in their senses and fought like the devil." The Prophet appeared de- 
jected, and sought to excuse himself on the plea that the virtue of his composition 
had been lost by a circumstance of which he had no knowledge, until after the bat- 
tle was over. His sacred character, however, was so far forfeited, that the In- 
dians actually bound him with cords, and threatened to put him to death. After 
leaving the Prophet's town, they marched about 20 miles and encamped on the 
bank of Wild Cat creek. 

With the battle of Tippecanoe, the Prophet lost his popularity and power among 
the Indians. His magic wand was broken, and the mysterious charm, by means 
of which he had for years, played upon the superstitious minds of this wild people, 
scattered through a vast extent of country, was dissipated forever. It was not alone 
to the character of his prophetic office that he was indebted for his influence over 
his followers. The position which he maintained in regard to the Indian lands, 
and the encroachments of the white people upon their hunting grounds, increased 
his popularity, which was likewise greatly strengthened by the respect and defer- 
ence with which the politic Tecumseh — the master spirit of his day — uniformly 
treated him. He had, moreover, nimble wit, quickness of apprehension, much 
cunning and a captivating eloquence of speech. These qualities fitted him for 
playing his part with great success; and sustaining for a series of years, the char- 
acter of one inspired by the Great Spirit. He was, however, rash, presumptuous 
and deficient in judgment. And no sooner was he left without the sagacious 
counsel and positive control of Tecumseh, than he foolishly annihilated his own 
power, and suddenly crushed the grand confederacy upon which he and his broth- 
er had expended years of labor, and in the organization of which they had incurred 
much personal peril and endured great privation. 

Tecumseh returned from the south through Missouri, visited the tribes on the 
Des Moines, and crossing the head-waters of the Illinois, reached the Wabash a few 
days after the disastrous battle of Tippecanoe. It is believed that he made a strong 
impression upon all the tribes visited by him in his extended mission; and that 
he had laid the foundation of numerous accessions to his confederacy. He reached 
the banks of the Tippecanoe, Justin time to witness the dispersion of his followers, 
the disgrace of his brother, and the final overthrow o^ the great object of his am- 
bition, a union of all the Indian tribes against the United States : and all this, the 
result of a disregard to his positive commands. His mortification was extreme ; 
and it is related on good authority, that when he first met the Prophet, he re- 
proached him in bitter terms for having departed from his instructions to preserve 
peace with the United States at all hazards. The attempt of the Prophet to pal- 
liate his own conduct, excited the haughty chieftain still more, and seizing him 
by the hair and shaking him violently, he threatened to take his life. 

* The village had been destroyed in 1791, by Gen. Charles Scott, of Kentucky. In his 
report of the expedition, he says that "many of the inhabitants of the village were French, 
and lived in a state of civilization. By the books, letters, and other documents found there, 
it is evident that the place was in close connection with, and dependent on, Detroit : " the 
Tillage "consisted of about 70 houses, many of them well finished." In November, 1812, 
the village was destroyed the third time in the second expedition of Gen. Hopkins. 



INDIANA. 



261 




[^Explanations. — a, point from whence the engraved view was drawn ; h h, 
line of railroad to Chicago; c, position of Battle Ground Institute; d, place 
where the Indians first began the attack ; e e, front line where occurred the 

main conflict ; /, Gen. Harri- 
son's marquee ; h, point where 
Maj. Daviess is said to have 
been slain ; y, grave of Daviess. 
The black lines indicate the 
fence now inclosing the battle 
ground.] 

The highest officers among 
the Americans slain at Tippe- 
canoe, were two Kentucky 
majors — Abraham Owen and 
Joseph Hamilton Daviess. 
The particulars of the death 
of Abraham Owen we give 
below, from Smith's Indiana 

Battle Field op Tippecanoe. Sketches : 

Gen. Harrison rode a beautiful fleet gray mare, that he had tied with the saddle 
on, to a stake near his marquee, to be ready at a moment in case of alarm. 
Maj. Owen, of Kentucky, rode a bay horse. After the gray mare was hitched, it 
became necessary, in order to pass a baggage wagon, to remove her and tie her at 
another place; without the knowledge of Gen. Harrison, the bay horse of Maj. 
Oweu was afterward tied to the post where the gray mare had been. 

The moment the alarm was given, every soldier was upon his feet, and the 
mounted officers in their saddles. Gen. Harrison ran to the post where he left his 
gray mare; finding Maj. Owen's bay horse he mounted, leaving the gray for the 
major if he could find her. The general dashed down to where he heard the fir- 
ing, rode up to Capt. Spencer's position, at the point of the high ground around 
which the prairies meet; there the enemy had made the first main attack — deadly 
in efieet. There stood the brave ensign John Tipton, and a few of the survivin;;; 
men of the company. Gen. Harrison. " Where is the captain of this company ?" 
EnsigH Tipton. "Dead." " Where are the lieutenants?" "Dead." "Where is the 
ensign?" "I am here." "Stand fast, my brave fellow, and I will relieve you in a 
minute." Gen. Tipton told me, in after years, that a cooler and braver man, on 
the field of battle, than Gen. Harrison, never lived. It was a deadly night, the In- 
dians with rifles in their hands, concealed from view, in the darkness of the night, 
fighting to desperation, under the inspiration of their superstition — being the at- 
tacking party, and knowing where their enemy lay, had great advantages, which 
nothing but the indomitable courage of our brave men could have met and finally 
repelled. The moment the alarm was given, the brave Maj. Owen ran to his stake, 
but his horse was gone; near by he found and mounted the gray mare of the Gen- 
eral. He was scarcely in the saddle, before he fell mortally wounded, pierced 
with rifle balls, which were intended, no doubt, for Gen. Harrison, as the Indians 
knew he rode a gray, and must have been in ambush near. The men and officers 
that fell that dreadful night were the bravest of the brave. 

I visited the common grave of these brave dead, who fell in that terrible battle only 
a few years since. You will find it in a grove of white oak trees perforated by 
balls, standing near the center of the inclosed grounds. 

Maj. Daviess was a colleague of Henry Clay at the Kentucky bar, where 
he stood very high as an advocate. At the time of his death he was 37 
years of age. It is the tradition that he was killed in the marsh at the point 
indicated on the map ; but from Gen. Harrison's report of the action, we in- 
fer that this event took place on high ground, on or near where the railroad 
line lays ; that states that it was during the execution of an order to dislodge 



262 



INDIANA. 



some Indians from trees 15 or 20 paces in front of the left line, that Daviess 
became outflanked, and fell mortally wounded. , , n t i. 

The land on which the battle was fought, was purchased bytren. John 
Tipton and presented to the state of Indiana, as a burial place for his fallen 
comrades. Tipton was the brave ensign of Capt. Spencer's company noticed 
above His name is most honorably identified with the history of the state. 
He was a senator in congress from 1832 to 1839, and chairman of the Com- 
mitte of Indian Affairs, an office for which he was peculiarly well qualihed, 
having been, for many years, Indian agent, and well acquainted with most 
of the Indian tribes. He was a warm hearted man, and possessed uncommon 
force of character: he was one of the original projectors of the Wabash and 
Erie Canal, and also one of the founders of Logansport, where he died m 

1839 

The reader will notice the building on the right of the view. This is the 
Battle Ground Institute, under the charge of Rev. E. H. Staley. it is a 
flourishing seminary for both sexes. A number of small neat houses stand 
above it, erected, some of them, by the parents of the children, many of the 
latter brothers and sisters, who here live together, obtaining, away from 
their homes, a double education, that of house keeping, with that derived 
from books. 




South-eastern view of Madison. 

As seen from the Kentucky side of the Ohio, near Milton ferry. The terminus of the Railroad is seen 
on the left, the Court House on the right. q o "p 

Madison, the county seat of Jefferson county, is situated 86 miles S.S.E. 
from Indianapolis, 50 above Louisville, and 100 below Cincinnati. It is lo- 
cated in a beautiful and picturesque valley, which, with the hills on the Ken- 
tucky shore and those of Indiana, and the bold curve and broad sweep ot 
the Ohio River, affords a panorama rarely equaled. The valley in which the 
citv is situated, is nearly three miles long, which is inclosed on the north by 
steep and ru-ged hills about 400 feet high. This place has very superior 
advantages for trade, and the navigation is usually open in ordinary seasons 
Great quantities of breadstuffs are exported, and a large amount ot capital 
is employed in founderies, machine shops, etc., and the establishments for 



INDIANA. 263 



packing pork are very extensive. Madison has gas and water works, the lat- 
ter of which is owned by the city. The annual value of sales of 'produce 
and merchandise, and industrial products, is eight millions of dollars. With- 
in five miles of the city is the well known Hanover Colleg-e. Population is 
about 12,000. ^ 

The site of Madison was originally a dense growth of poplars, beech and 
walnut, and the present landing was covered with a growth of Cottonwood, 
the water's edge being fringed with willows. The original proprietors were 
John Paul and Jonathan Lyon. A few families had settled here on Mount 
Glad, now a part of North Madison, in 1807-8. Col. John Vawter first 
came to Madison in 1806, and moved into the country in March, 1807 • he 
held the first public sale of lots in Feb., 1811. The first white child bora 
in Madison was Dawson Blackmore, Jr. His father came here from western 
Pennsylvania, in the fall of 1809, and located himself in a framed log-house 
now standing in Walnut-street. The first sermon preached in Madison is 
said to have been delivered in Mr. Blackmore's house, by a Methodist 
Itinerant preacher. The first regular house of worship was built on East- 
street, on the site of the present St. John's church. 

The following are the names of a number of the earlier settlers of Madison pre- 
vious to 1820: Miltou Stapp, Jeremiah Sullivan, C. P. J. Arvin, Daniel Wilson 
Thomas Brown, Nicholas D. Grover, Geo. W. Leonard, Moody Park, Victor Kino- 
ChasW.Basnett, William Brown, D. Blackmore, sen., D. Blackmore, ir Silas 
Kitchie, John bering, John G. Sering, William G. Wharton, W. J. McClure John 
Kitcnie, SO. Stephens, Howard Watts, John Haney, Kufus Gale, William Randall. 
Gamaliel laylor, E^H Whitney, M. Shannon, Edward Shannon, Jesse D. Brioht 
Michael G. Bright, David Bright, Jacob Wildman, George Wagoner, Andrew Wood- 
fill, Alexander Washer, Wilhamson Dunn, Wm. McKee Dunn, James Vawter Jno 
Hunt, Simeon Hunt, Cornelius Vaile, Geo. Short, and David McClure. ' 

One of the first sermons ever preached in Madison, was by that celebrated 
and eccentric itinerant, Lorenzo Dow, who "held forth" standing on a poplar 
log, near the site of the court house. He was born in Coventry Connecti- 
cut, in , and died at Washington City, in , aged — years', where his 

grave is now to be seen. He traveled through the United States from fifteen 
to twenty times, visiting the wilderness parts, often preachin-^ where a ser- 
mon was never heard before. Occasionally he went to Canada, and made 
three voyages to England and Ireland, where, as elsewhere, he drew crowds 
around him, attracted by his long flowing beard and hair, singularly wi'd 
demeanor, and pungency of speech. During the thirty years of his public 
hie, he must have traveled nearly two hundred thousand miles. 

Pickett, in his History of Alabama, avers that he was the earliest Protestant 
preacher in that state; says he: "Down to this period (in 1803), no Pro- 
testant preacher had ever raised his voice, to remind the Tombio-bee'and Ten 
saw settlers of their duty to the Most High. Hundreds, born and bred in 
the wilderness, and now adult men and women, had never even seen a 
preacher. The mysterious and eccentric Lorenzo Dow, one day, suddenly ap- 
peared at the Boat Yard. He came from Georgia, across the Creek nation 
encountering its dangers almost alone. He proclaimed the truths of the 
gospel here, to a large audience, crossed over the Alabama, and preached two 
sermons to the 'Bigbee settlers,' and went from thence to the Natchez set- 
tlements, where he also exhorted the people to 'turn from the error of their 
ways.' He then visited the Cumberland region and Kentucky, and came 
back to the Tombigbee, filling his appointments to the very day. Ao-ain 



2G4 



INDIANA. 



plunging into the Creek nation, this holy man of God once more appeared 
among the people of Georgia." 

When Dow was in Indiana, Judge 0. H. Smith had the pleasure of listen- 
ing to a discourse from him, some items of which he has thus preserved 
among his Sketches: "In the year 1819," states the judge, "I was one of a 
congregation assembled in the woods back of Rising Sun, anxiously await- 




Sozith-westeni view of New Albany. 

The view shows the appearance of the city, as seen from the high bluff which rises immediately south of it. 
The. Ohio River appears on the right, with Portland, a station for steamboats, on the Kentucky side of th« 
Ohio, at the foot of the Canal around the Falls, three miles from Louisville. 

ing the arrival of Lorenzo Dow. Time passed away, we had all become im- 
patient, when in the distance we saw him approaching at a rapid rate through 
the trees on his pacing pony. He rode up to the log on which I was sitting, 
threw the reins over the neck of the pony, and stepped upon the log, took 
off bis hat, bis hair parted in tbe middle of his head, and flowing on either 
side to bis sboulders, bis beard resting on his breast. In a minute, at the 
top of his voice, he said : 

' Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me.' My subject is repentance. 
We sintf, 'while the lamp holds out to burn, the vilest sinner may return.' That 
idea has done much harm, and should be received with many grains of allowance. 
There are cases where it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a 
needle than for a man to repent unto salvation. Let me illustrate: Do you sup- 
pose that the man among you who went out last fall to kill his deer and bear for 
winter meat, and instead killed his neighbor's hogs, salted them down, and is now 
living on the meat^ can repent while it is impaid for? I tell you nay. Except he 
restores a just compensation, hia attempt at repentance will be the basest hypo- 
crisy. Except ye repent^ truly ye shall all likewise perish.' 

He preached some thirty minutes. Down he stepped, mounted his pony, 
and in a few minutes was moving on through the woods at a rapid pace to 
meet another appointment." 



INDIANA. 



265 



New Albany, the county seat of Floyd county, is beautifully situated on 
the right bank of the Ohio River, at the termination of the New Albany and 
Salem Railroad, 2 miles below the falls of the Ohio, 3 miles below Louisville, 
about 140 below Cincinnati, and 100 S. by E. from Indianapolis. The city 
has wide straight streets, running parallel with the river, and crossed at right 
angles by others. A large business is done here in building and repairing 
steamboats, etc. There are also large iron foundries, machine shops and 
factories. It has two seminaries, a theological college under the patronage 
of the Presbyterians, and about 10,000 inhabitants. 



The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in the grave yard 
in New Albany : 

" The citizens of Floyd county have erected this monument in memory 

of their Honored Dead. 

* Glory is the soldier's prize, 
The soldier's wealth is honor.' 

Here rest the bodies of Francis Bailey, 
aged 35; Apollos J. Stephens, 27; Warren 
B. Robinson, 24; Charles H. Goff, 23; 
members of the '■Spencer Grcya,^ company 
A, 2d Reg't Indiana Volunteers, who fell 
at the battle of Buena Vista, Mexico, 
Feb. 22 and 23, 1847. 

' The soldier is his country's stay 
In day and hour of danger.' 

' How sleep the brave who sink to rest, 
By all their country's wishes blest?' 

John T. Lewis, aged 21 ; Martin How- 
ard, 18; Joseph Morgan, 19; Laiken Cun- 
ningham, 22; members of the 'Spencer 
Greys,' died in the Mexican campaign, 
184G-7; also Henry W. Walker, aged 37; 
Thos. J. Tyler, aged 19, of the same com- 
pany, who returned home and died of disease contracted in the service." 

Rev. John Matthews, D.D., Professor of Theology in the Presbyterian Theological Sem- 
inary at New Albany, la. Born in Guilford county, N. C, Jan. 19, 1772; died in New Al- 
bany, May 18, 1848, astat 76 years and 4 mo. " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord 
from henceforth ; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors ; and their 
works do follow them." 




1(1 i... 



:~S>"vr^<^,:.. 



Military Monument, New Albany. 



Leonidas Shackelford, of Glasgow, Missouri, born Jan. 7, 1833, died Aug. 5, 1852. In 
whose memory this monument is erected by his brothers and sisters. Without earthly 
friends, he died in a strange land, realizing in full a sainted mother's prayer, that a pre- 
cious Bible which she had given him would be his guide through life, and in death his con- 
solation. Prov. verses 17 to 23. 



Logansport^ the county seat of Cass county, is situated on the Wabash 
River and Canal, at the mouth of Eel River, and is intersected by the Toledo, 
Wabash and Western and the Cincinnati, Logansport and Chicago Railroads, 
70 miles N. by W. from Indianapolis, 166 W. of Toledo, and 42 N.E. from 
Lafayette. It is at the head of steamboat navigation, and just below the 
falls, which furnish immense water power, and has a large trade by river, 
canal and plank roads with the fertile region on every side, the products of 
which are sent to the eastern and southern markets. Logansport has a city 



266 INDIANA. 

charter, 3 banks, 6 churches, and a fine court house of hewn stone. West 
Logansport, on the west bank of Eel River, is included in the corporate 
limits. Population, in 1860, 3,690. 

Jeffenonville is a flourishing town. Opposite Louisville, Ky., on the Ohio 
River, which is here about three fourths of a mile wide, 1 08 miles S. by E. 
of Indianapolis, and 48 below Madison. It is at the terminus of the Jeffer- 
sonville and Indianapolis Railroad, and on the site of old Fort Steuben, and 
is beautifully situated just above the falls in the Ohio, which descend 22 
feet in two miles, producing a rapid current, which, in time, by the immense 
"water power it afibrds, will, if a canal is made around the falls on the In- 
diana side, render this a large and prosperous manufacturing city. Jeffer- 
sonville has great facilities for doing business, and is said to possess the best 
landing place on the Ohio River. The state penitentiary is located here. 
Population about 3,500. 

Lawreiicehury^ city and county seat of Dearborn, is on the Ohio, 22 miles 
below Cincinnati, and two miles below the mouth of the Big Miami, the line 
of separation between Ohio and Indiana. The Ohio and Mississippi, and 
Indianapolis and Cincinnati Railroads, intersect at this point. Population 
about 4,000. 

A few miles below Lawrenceburg, is a small stream emptying into the 
Ohio, known as Laughery's creek. It derived its name from the calamitous 
defeat of Col. Archibald Laughery by the Indians. This took place in the 
spring of 1782, and was the most disastrous military event that ever occur- 
red upon the soil of Indiana. The annexed account is from Day's Hist. Col- 
lections, of Pa. : 

Col. Laughery had been requested, by Col. Clark, to raise 100 volunteers in 
the county of AVestmoreland, Pa., to aid him against the Ohio Indians. The com- 
pany was raised principally at his own expense, and he also provided the outfit 
and munitions for the expedition. In this he was aided by the late Robert Orr, by 
birth an Irishman, but who manifested a deep and generous interest in his adopted 
country. Mr. Orr was one of the officers, and next in command under Col. 
Laughery. 

There were 107 men in the expedition, who proceeded in boats down the Ohio, 
to meet Gen. Clark, at the Falls. At the mouth of a creek in the south-eastern part 
of Indiana, that bears the name of the commander, the boats were attacked by the 
Indians. Of the whole detachment, not one escaped. Col. Laughery was killed, 
and most of his officers. Capt. Orr, who commanded a company, had his arm 
broken with a ball. The wounded, who were unable to travel, were dispatched 
with the tomahawk, and the few who escaped with their lives, were driven through 
the wilderness to Sandusky. Capt. Orr was taken to Detroit, where he lay in the 
hospital for several months, and, with the remnant who lived, was exchanged, in 
the spring of 1 783. 

South Bend, the county seat of St. Joseph, is on the Michigan Southern and 
Northern Indiana Railroad, 85 miles easterly from Chicago ; also on St. Jo- 
seph River, which furnishes, by means of a dam at this point, a vast water 
power. It has some 30 stores, 6 churches, 2 Catholic Female Seminaries, 
and in 1860, 4,013 inhabitants. 

Michigan City is on Lake Michigan, in La Porte county, 54 miles by rail- 
road from Chicago, and 154 from Indianapolis. It has communication by 
the Michigan Central, and New Albany and Salem Railroads, and the lake 
with all parts of the country. It is noted for the manufacture of railroad 
cars, and has about 4,000 inhabitants. 

Laporte, the county seat of Laporte county, in the north-western part of 
the state, is at the junction of the Cincinnati, Peru and Chicago, with the 



INDIANA. 



267 




Uniteesitt of Indiana, Bloomington. 



Michigan Southern and Northern Kailroads, 58 miles from Chicago, on the 
northern margin of the beautiful and fertile Door Prairie, so named from an 
Indian chief. ' It was first organized as a city in 1853, is a very flourishing 
business place, and has 9 churches and 6,000 inhabitants. 

Bloomington, the county seat of Monroe county, is on the line of the New 
Albany and Salem Railroad, 96 miles north from New Albany. It was 

laid out in 1818, by Benjamin 
Park, agent for the county com- 
missioners. Its public build- 
ings are substantial, and the 
public square pleasantly orna- 
mented with shade trees and 
shrubbery. It is noted as a 
place of education. It has two 
female seminaries, and is the 
seat of the State University, 
founded in 1835. Greencastle, 
capital of the neighboring coun- 
ty of Putnam, 40 miles by rail- 
road west of Indianapolis, is 
the seat of the Indiana Asbury 
University, founded in 1837, and which is not excelled by any institution in 
the state. Unusual attention is given in this vicinity to the cultivation of 
fruit, the apple, pear, peach and grape, for which the soil is well adapted. 
Crawfordsville, the county seat of Montgomery, which adjoins Putnam on 
the north, is on the New Albany and Salem Railroad, and 45 miles north- 
west of Indianapolis. It is in a rich country, and is the seat of Wabash Col- 
lege, founded in 1835, an institution of excellent repute. Bloomington, 
Greencastle, and Crawfordsville, have each about 2,500 inhabitants. 

Corydon, the county seat of Harrison county, in southern Indiana, is a 
town of about 1,200 inhabitants. In 1813, the seat of government of the 
Territory of Indiana was removed from Vin- 
cennes to this place. When, in 1816, Indiana 
was erected into a state, Corydon was made the 
capital, and so remained until 1825, when it was 
removed to Indianapolis. The court house here, 
built of stone, was the original state house, and 
the edifice in which was formed the first consti- 
tution of Indiana. 

Vevay, the county seat of Switzerland county, 
is a small town on the Ohio River, about half 
way between Cincinnati and Louisville. The 
place is of note, from its having been one of the 
first settlements in the state, and for the attempt 
made there to cultivate the grape for the pur- 
pose of manufacturing wine. 

It was laid out in the year 1813, by John 
Francis Denfour and Daniel Denfour, emigrants 
from Switzerland, who, in remembrance of their native town, gave it its 
present name. Part of the land was entered by John James Denfour and 
his associates, in the beginning of the present century, and an extended 
credit given, by an act of congress, with a view of encouraging the culture 
of the grape. 




The Old State House. 

Situated in Corydon, the original 
capital of Indiana. 



268 



INDIANA. 




The Juq Kock, 
About seventy feet high. 



In the south part of Indiana are some curiosities of nature. Eleven miles from 
Corydon, and in Crawford county, is the Wyandot Cave, which is considered by 
many to equal the celebrated Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. It has been explored 
for several miles, and found to contain magnificent chambers and galleries, rich in 

stalactites and other lime concretions. Two other 
curiosities, which are near the line of the Ohio 
and Mississippi railroad, have only come into no- 
tice since the construction of that work. The 
Jng Rock is at Shoal Station, in Martin county, 
150 miles west of Cincinnati, and derives its 
name from its resemblance in form to a homely 
and useful utensil. It is a lone standing pillar 
of sandstone, of about seventy feet in hight, in 
the midst of a forest of beach and sugar trees. 
It is an unusual object for this region ; but in 
the valley of the Upper Missouri and on the high 
table lands farther west such formations abound. 
Lieut. Simpson, in his explorations in New Mex- 
ico, found at one spot " high sandstone rocks 
of almost every shape and character imaginable. 
There were to be seen at once, domes, pillars, 
turrets, pinnacles, spires, castles, vases, tables, 
pitched roiifs, and a number of other objects of 
a well defined figurative character." 

Near Mitchell's Station, in Lawrence county, 
28 miles east of the above, is Earner's Mill Stream Cave. Water flows out at all 
seasons suificient to furnish motive power for a saw mill, grist mill, and a distillery 
located about a quarter of a mile from the opening. It is owned by Mr. Hugh 
Hamer. The source of the stream has never been ascertained. At the time of 
the construction of the railroad, two of 
the surveyors attempted to explore it to 
its source. They entered it in a canoe, 
and were absent two days and the in- 
tervening night, penetrating it, as they 
judged, about nine miles, and without 
reaching its termination. No particular 
change was found in the dimensions of 
the cavity, excepting an occasional open- 
ing out into large chambers. Such an 
exploration in certain seasons would be 
perilous. Often, after a hai'd shower of 
rain, the water suddenly rises and pours 
out in such a volume as to completely fill 
up the mouth of the cavern, issuing from 
it like water from the pipe of a fire en- 
gine. In 1856, Capt. John Pope, of the 
corps of U. S. topographical engineers, 
discovered a similar curiosity near the 
base of the Rocky Mountains, in about 
lat. 32 deg. and long. 105 deg., which he 
named Phantom River. A stream of 
some 60 feet in width came out of one 
cave, ran 150 feet in daylight, and then 
plunging into another by a cascade of a great but unknown depth, was seen no 
more. 




Hameh's Mill Stream Cave. 

It has been explored about nine miles in a canoe. 
It furnishes motive power for two mills and a dis- 
tillery. 



Beside the towns described, Indiana contains numerous others of from 
1,500 to 2,500 each. These are mostly county seats, some of them on rail- 
road lines, and places of active business. They are, Attica, in Fountain 



INDIANA. 2fi9 

county; Aurora, in Dearborn county; Cambridge City, in Wayne county; 
Carmelton, in Perry county ; Columbus, in Bartholomew county ; Connersville 
in Fayette county; Delphi, in Carroll county; Franklin, in Johnson county; 
Goshen, in Elkhart county; Greensburg, in Decatur county; Huntington, in 
Huntington county; Mishawaha, in St. Joseph county; Mt. Vernon, in 
Posey county; Muncie, in Delaware county; Peru, in Miami county; Prince- 
ton, in Gibson county; Rising Sun, in Ohio county; Rockville, in Parke 
county; and Shelbyville, in Shelby county. 




Volunteers of Indiana, at the State Caintol, on tKeir departure far the War, 
Hioear'm^i to ^'^ Rcmernhcr Buena Festo." 



THE TIMES 

OF 

THE REBELLIOI^ 

IS 

IISTI ANA. 



Indiana has been most prominent in her endeavors to preserve the 
integrity of the union, the proof of this is found in the fact that up 
to January 1, 1865, she had furnished 165,314 men for the suppression 
of the rebellion. 

A stigma of cowardice cast upon Indiana troops by Jeff. Davis dur- 
ing the Mexican war, has been eifectually avenged by their conduct 
on many a bloody field. More than one regiment on departing from 
the state capital for the seat of war, on bended knees, with unbared 
heads and raised hands, took an oath to "Eemember Buena Vista." 
How that vow was kept was learned in sorrow wherever the enemies 
of the union met the heroic men of Indiana. Her patriotic and ener- 
getic governor thus truly speaks of them: 

"It affords me great gratification to state that the Indiana officers, 
as a body, have been found equal to those of any other state; that 
they have, upon every battle-field, nobly sustained the great cause, 
and shed luster upon the flag under which they fought. Many have 
been appointed to high commands, in which they acquitted themselves 
with the greatest honor and ability, and very many have nobly laid 
down their lives in battle for their country. Our private soldiers 
have behaved with uniform and distinguished gallantry in every ac- 
tion in which they have been engaged. They form a part of every 
army in the field, and have been among the foremost in deeds of dar- 
ing, while their blood has hallowed every soil. Hitherto engaged in 
the peaceful pursuits of trade and agriculture, they have manifested 
that lofty courage and high-toned chivalry of which others have talked 
80 much and possessed so little, and which belongs only to the intelli- 
gent patriot who understands well the sacred cause in which he draws 
his sword. Thousands have fkllen the victims of an unnatural rebel- 
lion. They were fighting from deep convictions of duty and the love 
they bore their country. Their unlettered graves mark an hundred 
battle-fields, and our country can never discharge to their memory 
and their posterity the debt of gratitude it owes. That gratitude 
should be testified by the tender care we take of their families and 
(271) 



272 TIMES OP THE REBELLION 

dependent ones whom they have left behind, and by the education of 
their children." 

Much that he praises was the result of his own exertions, for rarely 
has any man possessed the power to infuse so much of his own spirit 
into the loyal masses as Oliver P. Morton, "the soldiers' friend; " 
and not only the men of his own state, but, as has been said, all the 
loyal men of the country owe him a debt of gratitude. " His oratorical 
labors during the warwere grandly faithful and effective. The splendid 
canvass he made in the fall of 1864 was a fitting climax to an admin- 
istration distinguished above that of all other governors for its suc- 
cess as well as arduousness. With a legislature against him of the 
most factious and disloyal character, which did its utmost to bind his 
hands, with a most formidable organization of traitors in his midst, 
all the while plotting insurrection, with a party opposition of un- 
equaled virulence, he has yet kept Indiana the very foremost of all 
the western states — we may in truth say of all the states — in filling 
its quotas and meeting every call of the government. His peculiar 
success has been owing to great executive abilities, combined with a 
public devotion, whith not only nerved him to tireless endeavor, but 
which elevated him above all personal jealousies and challenged uni- 
versal respect." 

The prompt aid rendered by him when Kirby Smith threatened 
Cincinnati was acknowledged by the action of the city council, in pro- 
curing his portrait to adorn their place of meeting. It was by the 
well-known poet-painter, T. B. Eead, who, in a public address, de- 
livered in Indianapolis, thus stated the origin of the order for the 
picture he had made. 

When the rebels advanced through Kentucky, crushing with overwhelming 
might our gallant but undisciplined forces, at Richmond, and the border was 
threatened — Cincinnati exposed to pillage — the fair fields of the north open to 
ravage and robbery — Governor Morton, at the call of the distressed neighbors of 
Ohio, poured over a flood of the heroic men who have since won honor on every 
line of latitude north of the Gulf, helped to check the rebel advance, supplied 
ammunition, no where else to be procured, and saved the northwest, and Cincin- 
nati especially, from the horrors of sack, rapine, robbery and flames. For this 
timely service, the city council of Cincinnati unanimously resolved to do him such 
honor as they could by placing his portrait in their hall, as the embodiment of 
the patriotism and neighborly love of Indiana, and as a precious heirloom to pos- 
terity, and paid me the compliment (perhaps unwisely) of selecting me to paint 
it. Thus called to your city, I can not forbear some further allusion to one whose 
services and honors constitute her proudest boast — and not her alone, but your 
state ; and whose efibrts, rising always to the level of any emergency, directed 
by a sagacity never dimmed by clouds of failure or fear, will yet make him, as 
his glory, widening and deepening, as it moves on toward the future, the equal 
pride of our whole country. 

morgan's invasion of INDIANA. 

On the 7th of July, 1863, the steamer J. T. McCombs landed at 
Brandenburg, Kentucky, just as Morgan's advance-guard entered the 
town. They seized the boat, robbed the passengers, and then taking 
her into the middle of the river, cast anchor, and by the stratagem of 
hoisting a signal of distress, succeeded in capturing the Alice Dean, 
which was then passing up the river. By means of these vessels, 
Morgan transported his army to the Indiana side, and immediately be- 



• IN INDIANA. 273 

gan his work of plunder and ruin. When the report reached the cap- 
ital, that Morgan with 6,000 men had entered the state, the governor 
called on the citizens to turn out for its defense; and within forty- 
eight hours 65,000 men had tendered their services to drive the inva- 
der from the soil. The correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial 
thus tells what he saw and heard in the hoosier state, during this ex- 
citing period. 

Journeying down the Ohio and Mississippi j-oad last Friday evening, we had 
barely cleared the border of Ohio when we observed knots of rustic men, armed 
with shot-guns or squirrel-rifles, climbing about the train. Many were mere strip- 
lings, wearing on their hands and cheeks the sun's livery ; many were old men, 
whose features wore the bronze of half a century of harvests. They did not 
know where to stop. The conductor would not tell them. At each station this 
scene would be repeated ; and it must be remembered that the regular militia- 
trains had all day been drumming recruits together and bearing them to strate- 
gical points. The squads of whom we write had walked many weary miles from 
the interior, with no other solicitation than a vague knowledge of the exigency. 
The rebels were in Indiana somewhere ; that brought down the battered old fowl- 
ing pieces. 

At Seymour, on Friday evening, some 2,500 militia were assembled, and in com- 
mand of General Love. An artillery company from Aurora, with two 6-pounders, 
was present. This place was really threatened on that evening, Morgan having 
taken a northeasterly road from Salem in the afternoon. It has since been ascer- 
tained that he arrived at the two very important structures on the Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi railroad, over White river, but the hardy farmers among the knobs in 
that vicinity obstructed the roads so thoroughly, by fallen timber, that the de- 
tachment sent for the purpose, lost its way, and barely managed to return to the 
main body. All trains were halted at Seymour that night. Morgan was known 
to be moving in the southwest angle formed by the junction of the Jeffersonville 
and the Ohio and Mississippi railroads, and was certain to strike one or the other 
before morning. The blow fell on the former, lightly. 

_ At daybreak, our train was ordered to proceed cautiously westward. The en- 
gine prowled stealthily over the dew-drenched rails, with its great, dazzling eye 
darting into the gray obscurity of morning — a reconnoitering automaton, fearless 
of ambuscade. The bridges were safe. We taxed the raiders with lack of enter- 
prise, while we rejoiced at the preservation of a vital spot in western railroad 
economy. 

At Mitchell, the militia were assembled some 2,000 strong. Washington county 
was represented by a full regiment, and contiguous counties in proportion. Here 
we saw several companies sworn to national allegiance and obedience to superior 
officers. It was an impressive sight. They stood with heads bared and hands 
uplifted at awkward angles, but with an appearance of feeling a sacred sincerity. 
The youngsters went through the ceremony with diffident graveness ; but in some 
of the old grandsires' eyes we caught the proud flash of souls which had hurled 
defiance at Indian and Britton, and having grandly protected the flag through the 
weakness of infancy, were not willing to have it go down, and least of all in the 
valleys that their pioneer hands had opened and enriched. We noticed among 
the militia at all points, a large number clad either wholly or partly in federal 
uniform ; many, indeed, had full accoutrements. These were the discharged and 
resigned of our regular armies. A practiced eye could have told this without the 
aid of their clothes and equipments. They carried their guns on the shoulder, at 
the precise angle which the old soldier falls into after trying all others. It swings 
lightly with his motions, and perches there jauntily after long marches. Some of 
the ex-privates vyere captains now; all were subjects of numberless inquiries, 
and, between drilling and teaching the neophytes how to harness themselves, 
their time was completely occupied. 

It becarne evident that there would be no fighting at Mitchell. Having the 
newspaperial Sunday (which is also the Israelite day of rest) before us, we con 
18 



274 TIMES OF THE REBELLION % 

eluded that a visit to Salem, the scene of rebel pillage on the preceding day, would 
afford a point d'appui for a little effective correspondence. We soon found a 
construction train bound for the first burnt bridge on the New Albany and Chi- 
cago road, and were permitted to accompany it. 

Salem is the county seat of Washington, some forty miles north of New Al- 
bany. It is not an attractive town in appearance, though having the marks of 
thrift and enterprise. Morgan entered it on Friday, at ten o'clock, a. m., having 
moved rapidly from his landing-place opposite Brandenburg by obscure roads. 
Col. Heffren, a resident of the town and its leading political spirit, heard of his 
approach in time to partially organize some three or four hundred horsemen, just 
in time to find the guerrillas in range with artillery planted. The militia force 
was but partially armed, and it was forced to comply with the demand to surrender. 
A number skedaddled during the parley, but the majority were turned over by 
Colonel Heffren to Morgan, who paroled and released them. The rebel forces en- 
tered the town in fine order, and a sort of half organized system of pillage in- 
dulged in forthwith. Clothing stores were robbed, and the rebels replaced their 
tatters with their contents, making the transfer shamelessly in the open streets. 
Whatever struck the fancy of a rebel, found a speedy route to his possession. 
The depot, a roomy and substantial brick edifice, was fired and consumed, with a 
fine, new passenger car and four box cars. The flames spread to an adjoining 
livery stable, but Morgan ordered out a strong detachment, with buckets, and had 
it extinguished. From Wash. Depaw, and Knight, and Smith, he demanded $1,000 
each, threatening to destroy their mills if the requisition was not filled. The 
money was paid and formally receipted. 

A squad destroyed five small bridges, burned two fine water tanks, and burned 
all cattle guards and drains for eight miles oo the railroad. A train barely 
escaped capture, but finally did so by dint of hard running to the rear. The en- 
gineer assured us, that the rebels rode magnificently, and leaped over the highest 
fences without hesitation. This is about all the visible damage done the town, 
though the losses of the merchants must be considerable. A well-to-do farmer, 
named John Wyble, residing near Livonia, in Washington county, was ordered 
to halt, while riding away from town, but, being hard of hearing, he did not obey. 
He was shot down and killed instantly. Another, named Puthoff, was shot for 
breaking his gun, but will probably recover. A man named Vance was also se- 
riously wounded. 

During the halt in the town, Morgan sat in front of the leading hotel, with feet 
cocked in the air, smoking expensive cheroots. Colonel Heffren conversed with 
him, and told the rebel that he would find the state ready for him. Morgan said 

he didn't care a ; he had marked out his route and would pursue it; to that 

end would fight everything that come in his way. 

Attached to the rebel band, were about one hundred negroes who acted as 
waiters. Morgan's black waiter rode immediately in the rear of the staff. One 
of the darkies seemed to be in high favor with the entire command. This negro, 
about noon, procured a national flag, tied it to a mule's tail and rode through the 
streets at a break-neck pace, swearing at the yellow, lantern-jawed Yankees, as 
he termed them, whenever he came near a citizen. The negroes were all exceed- 
ingly impertinent, and this trait seemed to confer infinite pleasure on their mas- 
ters. 

At four o'clock p. m. they lef% the town, taking one of the roads to the north- 
ward. They had demanded and received the choicest food, and had almost en- 
tirely re-uniformed themselves. They gathered during the halt, including those 
captured from the militia, several hundred horses, and left the "played out" ani- 
mals wherever it was convenient to unsaddle them. Even antiquated brood mares 
were stolen, and .young, though dilapidated, horses left in their stead. 

At daylight on Saturday, General Hobson's forces passed through Salem in pur- 
suit. They had ridden fifty miles the previous day, and their horses were badly 
jaded. They impressed what horses Morgan had not appropriated, and pushed 
straight on. 

After leaving Salem and Vienna, Morgan's main force felt its way steadily out 
of the state. Detachments on his flank and rear committed all subsequent depre- 



IN INDIANA. 275 

dations, and, with the exception of the loss of the Ohio and Mississippi railroad 
bridges, he achieved nothing to add to his reputation as an adroit and subtile par- 
tisan leader. The New Albany and Salem road was fully repaired on Monciay, 
and trains passed over as usual. The Louisville and Jeffersonville, and the In- 
dianapolis and Cincinnati roads are again intact, and likely to remain so. Dam- 
ages on the Ohio and Mississippi road will be repaired during the week. 

The record of the guerrilla in the state does him no credit. Ue has refused t(» 
fight the despised militia, time and again, and appears, when pretty well-cornered, 
to take the first dirt road or bridle-path that offer* If he has not deviated from 
his projected route, he certainly entertained great respect for our internal im- 
provements when he fixed upon it. 

The voice of the peace democracy in Indiana on this occasion was for war. 
None held back debating whether it would be constitutional to shoot at a rebel 
in Indiana, whatever it might be in Virginia. But it must be kept in mind that, 
butternuts have horses and milk-houses to defend, and bitter experience has 
taught them that the ungrateful rebels jayhawk from all alike. The guerrillas 
did not attempt to disguise the contempt they felt for their cowardly half-way 
friends. Lieutenant Adams, of Morgan's band, with a squad, after burning a 
bridge north of Salem, went to a quaker-farmer's house hard by, and asked for 
some milk. The friend demurely accompanied the lieutenant to the spring-house 
and told him to help himself and men. While drinking the milk, the following 
conversation occurred: 

Lieutenant Adams — "You're a Quaker, ain't you?" 

Friend, (very soberly) — " Yea." 

Lieut. A. — " Then you're an abolitionist?" 

Friend, (soberly) — " Yea," 

Lieut. A. (fiercely) — " A staunch union man?" 

Friend, (emphatically) — " Yea." 

Lieut. A. (after a pause) — "Got any butternuts around here?" 

Friend — " Yea." 

Lieut. A. — " Then why in , don't you hang them ? We have a way of 

choking such people down our way." 

The ignorant classes in the rural districts talk of nothing but ^^ gerillv^," and 
are in fearful tremor lest the " reebils should come and burn more breedges.'' 
We saw a rascally trick played on an old farmer, by some of the railroad boys 
attached to the construction train. The old man was plodding his way home- 
ward from mill, and had his sack of meal thrown over his saddle before him. 
The railroaders ambushed themselves, and, as he approached, they went for him 
with a terrific whoop. The old man wheeled his horse around, and, dropping 
his meal and hat, galloped off hotly in the opposite direction, ducking his horri- 
fied countenance, and yelling at his equally terrified horse. The boys kept up 
the chase for nearly a mile, but the old gentleman had distanced them by that 
time. One of the militia secreted himself in a wheat-field, and remained there 
for two days. These, and like incidents, are facts, and are current food for laugh- 
ter among the more enlightened residents of Washington county. 

From other sources we gather some 

Incidents. — Upon reaching Corydon, a general thieving commenced. Watches, 
pocketbooks, knives, jewelry and liquors were seized everywhere. Hon. Mr. 
Wolf lost his watch and purse, and there was no respect paid to party, so long 
as a man had plunder. The liquors of the hospital, where some of their own 
wounded lay, shared the same fate with those of the drug stores, hotels and sa- 
loons. For a space of ten miles in width every horse was stolen, and individual 
resistants were insulted or killed. The same policy was pursued at Salem, and 
all along the route. Ransom-money or the flames were the alternatives presented 
to every wealthy manufacturer or miller, and everything was merged in the one 
desire — plunder. Singularly enough, greenbacks only were current, and all 
money was required to be in treasury notes. Nearly one thousand horses were 
taken between the river and Vienna, and in Salem alone three citizens were each 
put to a ransom of one thousand dollars to save their mills; 



276 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

Two things are to be noticed. Morgan knew, before he crossed the river, who 
were his friends and who had arms. Upon entering Corydon he showed a list 
(and so at Salem) of every citizen who had a Henry rifle or otlier improved arm, 
and immediately sent patrols to bring them in. In Coi-ydon the spy was a young 
man who visited there three weeks before, and returned with Morgan. At Salem, 
a deserter from the 66th Indiana boldly joined Morgan, and was armed by him, 
but was subsequently captured and is now in the Salem jail. 

Good guides were always found, and, strange as it was, money, in specific sums, 
was demanded from persons who thought only their best friends knew they had 
it. Yet, with much of local treason, the people as a mass were true, and Morgan 
himself, in some instances, swore roundly at some who boasted that they were 
opposed to the war, and repeatedly showed favors to others who bravely main- 
tained their attachment to the union. With here and there an exception, there 
was no favor shown the copperheads or those who skulked from the defense of 
their homes in avowed sympathy with the south. Where the Knights of the 
Golden Circle were thickest, there was full information in Morgan's possession of 
all he wished to know ; but, when he got what he wanted, he treated his tools as 
badly as he did his enemies, and bade them good-bye by taking the horses with 
which they had followed to guide him. 

A squad of three rebels, at Salem, went to the stable in which was the splendid 
stallion, Tempest, owned by Mr. (xeorge Lyman, of New Albany. On entering 
the stable. Tempest gave the first rebel a furious kick. On the other two he made 
demonstrations with his teeth, which kept them at bay. An oflBcer then went off, 
swearing that he would bring a squad of men which could take him. He started 
for the new squad of men, but, in his absence, the groom jumped on the back of 
Tempest, rode away in a gallop, and soon passed beyond the rebel lines. The 
animal was valued at $1,000. 

Mr. William Clark and another man were sent out south of Salem, for the pur- 
pose of learning what the pickets had heard of the coming rebels. They fell in 
with the enemy, some of whom proposed to trade horses. The two men swapped 
horses with them over twenty times, and one of them came out with a better 
horse than he began with. They both said it was the greatest day of horse- 
trading they ever had. 

In Clark county, there was found a man, who, thinking to save his horse, pro- 
fessed to be a southern rights' man. Morgan told him he ought to be willing to 
do something for "'the cause," and asked what he would give to have his horse 
spared. He answered, " Forty dollars," which was paid ; but, to the sympathi- 
zer's chagrin, the horse was taken also. 

Morgan's invasion of Indiana was but a flight from the union troops 
of Gen. Hobson. He left the state on the Ohio border, and the further 
history of his ride is given elsewhere in this work. 

Indiana suffered somewhat from the disloyal elements upon her own 
soil. Governor Morton, in his message of 1864, gives this brief sketch 
of what has been termed the " great conspiracy " of the Knights of the 
Golden Circle, which, for a time, appeared ominous of evil. 

Some misguided persons who mistook the bitterness of party for patriotism, 
and ceased to feel the obligations of allegiance to our country and government, 
conspired against the state and national governments, and sought by military 
force to plunge us into the horrors of revolution. A secret organization had 
been formed, which, by its lectures and rituals, included doctrines subversive of 
the government, and which, carried to their consequences, would evidently re- 
sult in the disruption and destruction of the nation. The members of this or- 
ganization were united by solemn oaths, which, if observed, bound them to exe- 
cute the orders of their grand commanders without delay or question, however 
treasonable or criminal might be their character. I am glad to believe that the 
great majority of its members regarded it merely as a political machine, and did 
not suspect the ulterior treasonable action contemplated by its leaders, and upon 
the discovery of its true character, hastened to abjure all connection wit it. 



IN INDIANA. 277 

Some of the chief conspirators have been arrested and tried by the government 
and others have fled ; their schemes have been exposed and baffled, and we may 
reasonably hope that our state may never again be endangered and dishonored by 
the renewal of these insane and criminal designs. 

On the 20th of May, 1864, a butternut mass meeting was held at 
Indianapolis. This had long been preparing, and was dreaded as an 
event likely to bring the horrors of civil war upon the state. From 
far and near the disloyal and disappointed elements had been gather- 
ing for this great meeting. In the result, however, the apprehended 
opening of bloody tragedies, partook of much of Ihe comic in its na- 
ture, judging from the account given of it, the next day, in the In- 
dianapolis Journal, which properly belongs to the history of the times. 

We do not know whether the managers of the mass meeting (May 20,) are 
satisfied with its numbers or result, but are sure that union men have no cause 
for discouragement in either. It was a large meeting, and it contained a most 
offensively visible element of as mean treason as ever went unpunished, but it was 
not large enough to be alarming, and its action was by no means as unanimous or 
mischievous as those who called it together hoped to make it. There were pro- 
bably ten thousand persons present — certainly not more — and these included, as 
the progress of the proceeding proved, a very large proportion of union men. We 
expected a larger crowd, and we strongly suspect that the more sanguine and 
sanguinary of the copperheads regard it as a failure. There was but one stand 
for speakers, and the crowd around that was at no time larger than the crowd 
around the same stand at the union convention in February, 1864, when Governor 
Johnson was speaking, and two other stands were occupied and surrounded by 
immense audiences at the same time. The chief speakers, too, who were to have 
given character and impulse to the affair, did not come. Seymour excused him- 
self, Vallandigham was prevented by "circumstances over which he had no con- 
trol," and Cox and Pendleton, of Ohio, staid away without an excuse. The 
shortcomings of orators and audience were about equal. Voorhees and Hen- 
u, icks had to fill the breach, assisted by a Mr. Merrick, of Chicago, and a Mr. 
Eden, also of Illinois, the two latter men unknown this side of the state line till 
yesterday, and not likely to acquire, during the remainder of this centurv, a re- 
putation robust enough to bear transplanting outside of the little patch it was 
cultivated in at home. The entertainment was certainly not luxurious, but it was 
good enough, what there was of it, for the crowd, and there was enough of it, 
such as it was. 

But if the meeting was incomplete, its result was no less so. It began with an 
exhibition of loyal feeling that would have constipated the verbal flatulency of 
Voorhees for a week, and it ended in a regular out-and-out union meeting. On 
each side of the stand was nailed a national flag of rebel disaster. On the right, 
was the old flag of the gallant 7th, with " Winchester" inscribed on it, and the 
bullet-holes of its rebel enemies shining through it. On the left, was the flag of 
the "old guard,'- the noble 13th, torn and faded in many a battle and march. We 
could not help wondering what those brave, true men would say, if they could 
see their flags made to do honor to a party against whom they had uttered the se- 
verest censure that any party ever endured, in solemn and unanimous resolutions, 
with whose sentiments they have no sympathy, and whose conduct they denounce 
■without measure. It was well that the 7th was on the Rappahannock, and the 
13th on the Blackwater, or those flags would have speedily gone back to their hon- 
ed rest in the state library. But we must go on with our story. 

While the misused flags were flapping about in the morning breeze, and pro- 
bably a thousand persons were gathered around the stand, or scattered through 
the grove, a union man mounted the platform and shouted, "Three cheers for 
these flags, the government they represent and the war they have done such gal- 
lant service to!" and about half the crowd cheered heartily. The other half 
stood silent and angry. Thus the meeting began. It ended still more strangely, 
and disgustingly to all genuine copperhead feeling. When the question was put 



278 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

on the adoption of the resolutions a loud and aatoundingly-strong negative vote 
was heard, followed immediately by "three cheers for Lincoln," "■three cheers 
for the war" and " three cheers for the conscription act," all of them given witli 
a will and strength that showed how big a kernel of loyalty that butternut had 
contained. 

The meeting adjourned in disgust, and the union men at once took possession 
of the stand, and several speeches were made, the most striking of which was iin 
account of the treatment of our prisoners by the rebels, by a sargeant of the 85th 
regiment, whose name we could not learn. Thus the meeting ended. Its resolu- 
tions, like its body, were an unfinished production. We are informed that in the 
committee no less than three sets were introduced, one rabidly treasonable, one 
moderate, and the other tolerably loyal. The first set was rejected at once. The 
other two were finally patched into a report, which is more remarkable for what 
it don't say than what it does. It denounces arbitrary arrests, and military usur- 
pations, and denounces the arrest of Vallandigham, but it dont denounce the 
rebels, it donH denounce the war, it dovJt declare opposition to the conscription 
act, and it dont indorse the repudiation of the interest on the public debt, nor it 
don't demand that the interest shall be paid. It is a queer medley. The meet- 
ing was a queer medley. There was disloyal feeling in it, and enough of it, but it 
didn't get to say what it wanted to, or do what it came for. 

Incidents. — While the great body of the meeting was orderly, evidently indis- 
posed to excite a disturbance, and evidently in no expectation of encountering 
one — a fact which we gladly attest — there was a considerable section of it eager 
for a row, and well-armed to make a row a serious afiair. 

The number of revolvers seen, fired and captured during the day is almost in- 
credible. At the police court about forty were taken from persons arrested for 
" carrying concealed weapons." On the Lafayette train, as it was returning in 
the evening, pistols were fired in such numbers as to resemble the " fire-at-will " 
practice of a regiment. It was a perfect fusilade till the weapons were emptied, 
and that they had to be emptied at all is an ugly proof that they were brought 
here for no pacific purpose. On the Terre Haute train fully five hundred shots 
were fired. This occurred just west of the soldier's home, and the bullets flew 
over, around and into the home as thickly as if it were a union hospital in range 
of rebel rifles. They rattled on the roof, fell on the floor and whizzed through 
the trees, and the adjacent buildings received a liberal share of the same storm. 
It may have been accidental, but the bullets didn't get into the pistols accident- 
q,lly. The soldiers, used as they were to being shot at, were no little surprised at 
thi-; unexpected volley. From one of them, we learn the facts we have stated. 

On the Cincinnati train, also, a great many shots were fired, and in a part of 
the city where lives might have been lost by it. So, too, on the Peru train. These 
little exhibitions of copperhead sentiment were not lost on the military authori- 
ties. A gun was placed on the track of the Central road near J<ew Jersey street, 
before the excursion train left, to stop it if any such dangerous demonstrations 
were made. The train came up loaded, inside and out, but halted before it 
reached the gun, and backed down to Virginia avenue. There, an infantry party 
surrounded it, and a policeman boarded it and demanded the surrender of all the 
pistols on it. They were handed over to the number of nearly 200. 

The Peru and Cincinnati trains were also intercepted and nearly 200 revolvers 
taken from each one. Altogether about 1,000 pistols were thus taken from per- 
sons attending the meeting. Undoubtedly, the owners were Knights of the Golden 
Circle, with whom a large porticm of the democratic party have no sympathy. 
During the progress of the meeting revolvers were frequently exhibited, in two 
cases drawn in anger on the guards in the state-house yard, and most of the ar- 
rests made in the yard were for carrying concealed weapons. 

The anticipation of trouble from these Knights of the Golden Circle, of whose 
purposes full warning has been received, and the probability of a collision occur- 
ring, which might spread into a general riot, induced General Hascall to order 
out a considerable body of troops to protect the arsenal and other public property, 
and to suppress any riotous demonstrations. Four companies of the Tlst fegi- 



IN INDIANA. 279 

ment were stationed in the governor's circle all day, on account of its central lo- 
cation but none of them were called on for service, and they had a jolly good 
time pic-nicking on the soft green in the shade. A few soldiers were placed in, 
and near, the state-house yard to protect the meeting, or suppress disorder, but no 
military force, except these patrols, was allowed near the meeting, though a good 
many soldiers, on leave, contrary to orders, were there unarmed. 

The proceedings of the meeting till 12 o'clock were undisturbed. After that 
time, an occasional scuffle, or arrest for carrying Concealed weapons, made a dis- 
turbance on the skirts of the crowd, but did not interfere with the meeting. 

About half-past twelve, Samuel Hamill, of Sullivan county, who had been upon 
the stand from the first, and had got himself loaded with a speech, seeing but lit- 
tle chance to blow off his swivel among so many big guns, started another meet- 
ing on his own hook, near the south fence. Mounting a dry goods box, he com- 
menced to speak. He said, "he was a genuine, live butternut," and followed this 
interesting declaration with his opinion of the condition of the country. He said 
that " we had a revolutionary government at Richmond, and a revolutionary gov- 
ernment at Washington, and that there was as much oppression of the people by 
the Washington government as by the Richmond government." _^ 

It this point he was interrupted by cries of "Comedown!" "Comedown! 
"Come down, butternut" Some of the butternuts asked those who were thus 
vociferating, why the speaker ought to " come down ? " " Because he compares 
our government to Jeff Davis,' " was the answer. The excitement^ increased and 
the speaker stopped. Some soldiers in the crowd " went for him." He made no 
attempt to proceed further, but quietly said, that he had no desire to raise a fuss, 
and stepped from the stand amid loud applause and cheers for the union. No 
more speeches were made from that stand. _ n j • i 

There was no disturbance after this, of any consequence, till Mr. Hendricks 
had been speaking some time. Then, in reply to some mean, disloyal remark of 
his, a union man in the crowd called out something which we did not hear. A 
copperhead seized him, and he rushed toward the stand. _ A scuffle followed, 
which was ended by the soldiers entering the crowd and taking off the man who 
committed the assault. Mr. Hendricks finished his speech, though interrupted 
occasionally and improperly, and the resolutions of the committee were read by 
Mr. Buskirk and adopted, and the meeting adjourned sine die, regularly, and with- 
out any row at alL It was then that the union men and soldiers took possession 
of the'stand, and held a meeting of their own. 

We learn that about 1,500 revolvers have been taken, with a large number of 
knives. One knife, two feet long, was found and taken out of the stove in one of 
the cars of the Cincinnati train. On one woman no less than seven revolvers 
were found. They had been deposited with her for safe-keeping, under the im- 
pression that she would not give them up. But she did. A large number of pis- 
tols were thrown out of the windows of the cars, when it was found that their 
possession was likely to prove troublesome, and many were found by boys on the 
track, or in the creek which borders the other side of the track. The service of 
capturing these implements of Knights-of-the Golden-Circle loyalty was performed 
chiefly by the Tlst boys. 

The firing from the cars, which forced the military to the search for weapons, 
■was more serious than we at first supposed. From the Cincinnati train a number 
of shots struck the dwelling houses on New Jersey street. East and Noble streets, 
and several persons narrowly escaped death. One ball passed between the head 
of a woman sitting in her front yard, and the head of her little baby whom she 
was holding in her arms, just grazing the temple of the child. 

We also heard that a man was wounded by one of the shots from the Bellefon- 
taine cars, but we could not learn the truth of the report. The bullets that rat- 
tled so rapidly around and through the soldier's home, we were told,, were fired 
from the Lafayette train instead of the Terre Haute. The whole number of pis- 
tols taken will reach 1,500 or 2,000. 



ILLINOIS. 




The name of this state, Illinois, is partly Indian and partly French : it 
signifies real men, and was originally applied to the Indians who dwelt on 

the banks of the river of that name. 
For a long period the great tract of 
territory lying N.W. of the Ohio, was 
termed the "Illinois country." The 
first white men of whom we have 
any authentic knowledge, who tra- 
versed any part within the present 
limits of Illinois, were James Mar- 
quette, a Catholic missionary, and M. 
Joliet, both Frenchmen from Canada, 
This was in 1673. The next were 
Robert de la Salle, a young Frenchman 
of noble family, and Louis Hennepin, a 
Franciscan friar. After leaving 
Chicago, La Salle and his companions 
proceeded down Illinois River, and 
reached Peoria Jan. 4, 1680. 

The first settlements in Illinois 
were made by the French, at Kaskas- 
kia, Cahokia, and Peoria. It clearly appears that Father Gravier began a 
mission among the Illinois before 1693, and became the founder of Kaskas- 
kia. At first it was merely a missionary station, and the inhabitants of the 
village consisted entirely of natives; the other villages, Peoria and Cahokia, 
seem at first to have been of the same kind. 

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the settlements in Illinois are 
represented to have been in a flourishing condition. Kaskaskia had become 
a considerable town before any great progress had been made on the lower 
Mississippi. The French writers of this period give glowing descriptions of 
the beauty, fertility, and mineral wealth of the country, and to add to its 
attractions, a monastery of Jesuits was established at Kaskaskia. 

From the beginning to the middle of the eighteenth century, but little is 
related. Disputes arose, between England and France, respecting the boun- 
daries of their difierent colonies, which, unhappily, had never been sufficient- 
ly defined. The French, anticipating a struggle for the preservation of their 
American possessions, strengthened their fortifications on the Great Lakes, 
on the Ohio, the Wabash, the Illinois, and in other parts of the valley of 

(281) 



Abm8 of Illinois. 



282 ILLINOIS. 

the Mississippi. The British, on the other hand, claimed the country on the 
Ohio, and in the vicinity, by virtue of their ancient discoveries and the char- 
ters which they had granted. The Ohio Company, which was formed soon 
after, produced hostilities between the two nations. On the termination of 
the French war, by which Great Britain obtained possession of Canada, the 
whole of the Illinois country also came into their possession. The total 
white population could not then have exceeded 3,000. 

The following descriptions of the French settlements at this period, and 
there were none other in Illinois, we find in Perkins' Annals, the edition by 
J. M. Peck. It is there copied from " The Present State of the European 
Settlements on the Mississippi, by Capt. Philip Pitman," published in Lon- 
don in 1770: 

"The village of Notre Dame de Cascasquias (Kaskaskia), is by far the most con- 
Biderable settlement in the country of the Illinois, as well from its number of in- 
habitants, as from its advantageous situation. * -x- * 

Mons. Paget was the first who introduced water-mills in this country, and he 
constructed a very fine one on the River Cascasquias, which was both for grinding 
corn and sawing boards. It lies about one mile from the village. The mill proved 
fatal to him, being killed as he was working it, with two negroes, by a party of 
the Cherokees, in the year 1764. 

The principal buildings are, the church and the Jesuits' house, which has a 
small chapel adjoining it; these, as well as some other houses in the village, are 
built of stone, and, considering this part of the world, make a very good appear- 
ance. The Jesuits' plantation consisted of two hundred and forty arpents (a little 
over 200 acres) of cultivated land, a very good stock of cattle, and a brewery; 
which was sold by the French commandant, after the country was ceded to the 
English, for the crown, in consequence of the suppression of the order. 

Mons. Beauvais was the purchaser, who is the richest of the English subjects in 
this countrj'; he keeps eighty slaves; he furnishes eighty-six thousand weight of 
flour to the king's magazine, which was only a part of the harvest he reaped in 
one year. 

Sixty-five families reside in this village, besides merchants, other casual people, 
and slaves. The fort, which was burnt down in October, 1766, stood on the sum- 
mit of a high rock opposite the village, and on the opposite side of the (Kaskaskia) 
river. It was an oblongular quadrangle, of which the exterior polygon measured 
two hundred and ninety by two hundred and fifty-one feet. It was built of very 
thick squared timber, and dove-tailed at the angles. An officer and twenty sol- 
diers are quartered in the village. The officer governs the inhabitants, under the 
direction of the commandant at Chartres. Here also are two companies of 
militia." 

Prairie du Rocher, or "La Prairie de Roches," as Captain Pitman has it, is next 
described — 

"As about seventeen (fourteen) miles from Cascasquias. It is a small village, 
consisting of twelve dwelling-houses, all of which are inhabited by as many fami- 
lies. Here is a little chapel, formerly a chapel of ease to the church at Fort 
Chartres. The inhabitants here are very industrious, and raise a great deal of 
corn and every kind of stock. The village is two miles from Fort Chartres. [This 
means Little Village, which was a mile, or more, nearer than the fort] It takes 
its i^ame from its situation, being built under a rock that runs parallel with the 
River Mississippi at a league distance, for forty miles up. Here is a company of 
militia, the captain of which regulates the police of the village." 

Saint Phillippe is a small village about five miles from Fort Chartres, on the 
road to Kaoquias. There are about sixteen houses and a small church standing; 
all of the inhabitants, except the captain of the militia, deserted it in 1765, and 
went to the French side (Missouri). The captain of the militia has about twenty 
slaves, a good stock of cattle, and a water-mill for corn and planks. This village 
stands in a very fine meadow, about one mile from the Mississippi." 

"The village of Saint Famille de Kaoquias," so Pitman writes, "is generally 



ILLINOIS. 



283 



reckoned fifteen leagues from Fort Chartres, and six leagues below the mouth of 
the Missouri. It stands near the side of the Mississippi, and is marked from the 
river by an island of two leagues long. The village is opposite the center of this 
island ; it is long and straggling, being three quarters of a mile from one end to 
the other. It contains forty-five dwelling-houses, and a church near its center. 
The situation is not well chosen, as in the floods it is generally overflowed two or 
three feet. This was the first settlement on the Mis&^'ssippi. The land was pur- 
chased of the savages by a few Canadians, some of whom married women of the 
Kaoquias nation, and others brought wives from Canada, and then resided there, 
leaving their children to succeed them. 

The inhabitants of this place depend more on hunting, and their Indian trade, 
than on agriculture, as they scarcely raise corn enough for their own consumption; 
they have a great plenty of poultry, and good stocks of horned cattle. 

The mission of St. Sulpice had a very fine plantation here, and an excellent 
house built on it. They sold this estate and a verv good mill for corn and planks, 
to a Frenchman who chose to remain under the finglish government. They also 
disposed of thirty negroes and a good stock of cattle to difierent people in the 
country, and returned to France in 1764. What is called the fort is a small house 
standing in the center of the village. It difl"ers nothing from the other houses, ex- 
cept in being one of the pooi'est. It was formerly inclosed with high pallisades, 
but these were torn down and burnt. Indeed, a fort at this place could iJe of but 
little use." 

The conquest of Illinois from the British, in 1778, by Gen. Geo. Rogers 
Clark, when he took possession of the forts of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and St. 
Vincent, the latter now the Vincennes of Indiana, was one of the most 
romantic episodes in our western history. It made known the fertile plains 
of Illinois to the people of the Atlantic states, exciting an emigration to the 
banks of the Mississippi. Some of those in that expedition afterward were 
among the first emigrants. Prior to this, the only settlements in Illinois, 
were the old French villages of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Peoria, Prairie du 
Rocher, Fort Chartres, Fort Massac, Village a Cote, Prairie du Pont, and a 
few families scattered along the Wabash and Illinois. In October, 1778, the 
general assembly of Virginia passed an act to organize the county of Illinois. 
In 1784, Virginia ceded her claims to the territory north-west of the Ohio 
to the United States. This, by the ordinance of 1787, was erected into the 
Korth-west Territory. Still the Illinois country remained without any 
oro-anized government until March, 1790, when Gov. St. Clair organized St. 
Clair county. 

The first settlement in Illinois by emigrants from the United States, was in 1781, 
near Bellefontaine, Monroe county, in the south-western part of the state. It was 
made by James Moore, with his fomily, accompanied by James Garrison, Robert 
Kidd, Shadrach Bond, and Larken Rutherford. Their route out was through the 
wilderness from Virginia to the Ohio, then down that stream to the Mississippi, 
and up the latter to Kaskaskia. Part of them settled in the American bottom, near 
Harrisonville. This station afterward became known as the block-house fort. 
Other parties joined them and the settlements increased. They, however, suffered 
much from the Indians until Wayne's treaty, in 1795, brought peace. Many were 
killed, others taken captives, and often while laboring in the field they were obliged 
to carry their rifles, and also often at night compelled to keep guard. 

In 1800, Illinois formed part of a separate territory by the name of In- 
diana, in conjunction with the state now bearing that name. A second di- 
vision took place in 1809, and the western portion of Indiana was formed 
into a separate territory bearing the name of Illinois. In 1818, Illinois was 
erected into a separate state. Hon. Ninian Edwards, chief justice of Ken- 
tucky, was chosen governor, and Nathaniel Pope, Esq., secretary. Since that 
period it has rapidly gone forward, increasing in population, wealth and power. 



284 ILLINOIS. 

In the year 1812, Gen. Hull, who surrendered Detroit into the hands of 
the British, directed Capt. Heald, who commanded Fort Dearborn, at Chi- 
cago, to distribute his stores to the Indians, and retire to Fort Wayne. Not 
having full confidence in the Indians, he threw the powder into the well and 
wasted the whisky. As these were the articles they most wanted, they were 
so exasperated that they fell upon the garrison, after they had proceeded two 
miles from the fort, and massacred 41 of them, with 2 women and 12 chil- 
dren, the latter tomahawked in a wagon by one young savage. 

In 1840, the Mormons being driven out of Missouri, located a city on the 
east bank of the Mississippi River, which they called Nauvoo. They had 
extraordinary privileges granted them by the state. But here, as elsewhere, 
numerous difficulties arose between them and the inhabitants in the vicinity. 
The military were called out by the governor to suppress the disorders which 
arose. Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet and leader, with his brother 
Hiram, were imprisoned in a jail in Carthage. On June 27, 1844, they 
were both killed by a mob, which broke into their place of confinement. 
The Mormons, soon after this event, began their movement toward the 
Rocky Mountains. 

At the time of the first settlement of Illinois by the French, it is sup- 
posed that within the present limits of the state, there were some eight or 
nine thousand Indians. They are described, by travelers, as having been re- 
markably handsome, kind, and well mannered. When the French first came 
they were feasted by the natives in four courses, the first of hominy, the 
second of fish, the third of dog, which the Frenchmen appear to have de- 
clined, and the whole concluded with roasted bufi"alo. Few or none of the 
descendants of the tribes occupying this region, now linger within or around 
it, their titles having been extinguished from time to time by treaties with 
the United States government. The white inhabitants were somewhat 
annoyed by hostile Indians during the war of 1812, and also in 1832, during 
the prevalence of the "Black Hawk war," which created much distress and 
alarm in the northern part of the state. 

Illinois is bounded N. by Wisconsin, E. by the southern portion of Lake 
Michigan, by the state of Indiana, and by the Ohio River, S. by the Ohio 
River," dividing it from Kentucky, and W. by the Mississippi River, divid- 
ing it from Missouri and Iowa. It lies between 37° and 42° 30' N. lat., and 
87° 17' and 91° 50' W. long., being about 380 miles in its extreme length 
from N. to S., and about 200 in its greatest and 140 in its average breadth 
from E. to W., containing upward of 35,000,000 of acres, of which, in 1850, 
only 5,175,173 acres were improved, showing an immense capability for in- 
crease of population in this very fertile state, which has scarcely any soil 
but that is capable of cultivation. 

The surface is generally level, and it has no mountains. About two 
thirds of it consists of immense prairies, presenting to view, in some places, 
immense plains extending as far as the eye can reach, beautifully covered 
with grass, herbage and flowers. These prairies are generally skirted with 
wood, near which are settlements. They are also, in many places, inter- 
spersed with groups of trees. 

The largest prairie in Illinois is denominated the Grand Prairie. Under 
this general name is embraced the country lying between the waters falling 
into the Mississippi, and those which enter the Wabash Rivers. It does not 
consist of one vast tract, but is made up of continuous tracts with points of 
timber projecting inward, and long arms of prairie extending between. The 



ILLINOIS. 285 

southern points of the Grand Prairie are formed in Jackson county, and ex- 
tend in a north-eastern course, varying in width from one to twelve miles, 
through Perry, Washington, Jefferson, Marion, Fayette, Effingham, Coles, 
Champaign, and Iroquois counties, where it becomes connected with the 
prairies that project eastward from the Illinois River. A large arm lies in 
Marion county, between the waters of Crooked creek and the east fork of 
the Kaskaskia River, where the Vincennes road passes through. This part 
alone is frequently called the Grand Prairie. 

For agricultural purposes, Illinois is unsurpassed by any state in the 
Union. In some of her river bottoms the rich soil is 25 feet deep. _ The 
great American bottom, lying on the Mississippi, 80 miles in length, is of 
exceeding fertility, and has been cultivated for 100 years without apparent 
deterioration. Illinois is the greatest corn producing state in the Union ; its 
yield in 1860 was estimated at 100,000,000 of bushels, and the average yield 
per acre at over 50 bushels. 

Illinois is rich in minerals. In the north-west part of the state vast beds 
of lead ore abound. Bituminous coal is found in almost every county, and 
may be often obtained without excavation. Iron ore is found in many local- 
ities, and copper, zinc, etc. There are salt springs in the southern part of 
the state from which salt is manufactured, and also medicinal springs in va- 
rious places. Illinois is most favorably situated for internal commerce. By 
means of the great rivers on her borders, Lake Michigan at the north-east, 
and by her magnificent system of railroads, she has great facilities for com- 
munication in every direction. Population, in 1810, was 12,282; in 1830, 
157,445; in 1850,851,470; in 1860, 1,691,238. 



Chicago, the most populous commercial city of the north-west, is on the 
western side of Lake Michigan, about 30 miles northward from its south end, 
at the mouth of Chicago River, on the margin of a prairie of several miles 
in width. It is 928 miles from New York, 278 from Detroit, 180 from Ga- 
lena, 285 from St. Louis, 300 from Cincinnati, and 183 from Springfield. 
Population, in 1840, 4,853; in 1850, 29,963; and in 1860, 109,420. 

The following sketch of the history of Chicago is given in a recent pub- 
lication : 

The first explorers of Lake Michigan, the first white men to pitch theit tents on 
the Chicago prairie, and to haul up their boats upon its river banks and lake shore, 
were the French Jesuit missionaries and fur traders, under the guidance of Nicho- 
las Perrot, Avho was also acting as the agent of the government in the west. This 
was in the latter part of the year 1669. At that time this territory was in the pos- 
session of the Miami tribe of Indians, but subsequently the Pottawatomies crowded 
back the Miamis, and became the sole possessors, until the year 1795, when they 
became parties to the treaty with Wayne, by which a tract of land six miles square 
at the mouth of the Chicago River, was ced"ed to the United States — the first ex- 
tinction of Indian title to the land on which Chicago is built. For nearly a hun- 
dred years during the time of the French possession, and after its cession to the 
English, Chicago has little mention in history. 

During this time it is only known from incidental circumstances, that in those 
dark days of French possession, there was a fort near the mouth of the river, that 
there were Indian villages near the Calumet and on the Des Plaines, that here 
were the roving grounds of the Pottawatomies, and that from the head waters of 
the Illinois to the Chicago River, was the common portage for the trade and tran- 
sit of the goods and furs between the Indians and the traders, and that the ship- 
pitif point was from the port at Chicago. The few white men who were there, 



286 



ILLINOIS. 



were there not for the purpose of making settlements, but simply to carry on a- 
trade with the Indians, the gain from which must have been of no inconsiderable 
amount. They were men of limited education, and could not have been expected 
to have any accounts of their adventures. This state of things existed until the 
close of the general western Indian war, soon after the termination of the war of 
the revolution. During this war the intrigue of the English was constantly excit- 
ing the Indians to warfare, to such a degree that, after peace was declared between 




Chicago in 1831. 

Fort Dearborn i8 seen in the central part, on a slightly elevated point, on the south side of Chicago 
River, near the lake shore shown in front. 

the old and the new country, a general war of the Indians against the United 
States broke out. This war continued until 1795, when, after having been severely 
punished by Gen. Wayne, the chiefs of the several tribes assembled, by his invi- 
tation, at Greenville, Ohio, and there effected a treaty of peace, thus closing the 
war of the west. In this treaty numerous small tracts of land were ceded by the 
Indians to the states, and among them was one described as " one piece of land six 
miles square, at the mouth of Chicajo (Chicago) River, emptying into the south- 
west end of Lake Michigan, where a fort formerly stood.' 

This may be called the first " land sale," and which has been the precursor to a 
business which has entailed to its participants independence and wealth. But lit- 
tle time passed before the proprietors thought best to enter upon active possession, 
and in 1804 a fort was built upon the spot by government. This fort remained 
until the year 1816, when it was destroyed by the Indians, at the time of the mas- 
sacre. This fort was called Fort Dearborn, a name which it retained during its 
existence. Its location was upon a slightly elevated point on the south side of 
the river, near the lake shore, and commanded a good view of the lake, the prairie 
extending to the south, the belt of timber along the south branch and the north 
branch, and the white sand hills to the north and south, which had for so many 
years been the sport of the lake winds. Up to the time of the erection of this fort, 
no white man had made here his home, the Pottawatomie Indians having undis- 
puted sway. After the establishment of the garrison, there gathered here a few 
families of French Canadians and half-breeds, none of whom possessed more than 
ordinary intelligence. 

The only link in the chain of civilization which admits of identity, existed in 
the Kinzie family, who came here to reside in 1804, the same year in which the 
fort was built. John Kinzie, then an Indian trader in the St. Joseph country, 
Michigan, in that year became the first permanent white resident of Chicago, and 
to him is due the honor of establishing many of the improvements which have 
made Chicago what it is. For nearly twenty years he was, with the exception of 
the military, the only white inhabitant of northern Illinois. During the years from 
1804 to 1820, the lake trade was carried on by a small sail vessel, coming in in the 



ILLINOIS. 



287 



fall and spring, bringing the season's supply of goods and stores for the fort, 
and takino- away the stock of furs and peltries which had accumulated. Mr. 
Kinzie pursued the business of fur trading until the breaking out of hostilities 
with the Indians, which resulted in the massacre of 1812. The friendly feelinp 
which had been cultivated between himself and the Indians, preserved himself 
and family from the fate which befell his neighbors of the fort. Removing for a 
time in 1816 he returned to Chicago, and reopened the trade with the Indians, re- 
siding there until the time of his death, in 1828. 

It was a saying with the Indians that " the first white man who settled there was 
a neoTO," by which was meant Jean Baptiste Point-au-Sable, who, in 1796, built 
the first house in Chicago, which he afterward sold to Le Mai, who subsequently 
sold it to Mr. Kinzie. In 1812 there were but five houses outside of the fort, all 
of which, with the exception of that owned by Mr. Kinzie, were destroyed at the 
time of the massacre. In August, 1816, a treaty was concluded by commissioners 
appointed by the government, with the various Indian tribes, by which the coun- 
try between Chicago and the waters of the Illinois River was ceded to the United 
States on the 4th of July. 

In the same year, the troops again returned to their former locality, and a new 
fort was erected, under the direction of Capt. Hezekiah Bradley, then commander. 
It stood upon the same ground as the former one, and remained until the summer 
of 1856, Avhen it was demolished to make room for the increasing amount of business. 
The reoccupancy of the fort by the troops continued until May, 1823, after which 
time it was occupied by the Indian agent, and used for the temporary accommoda- 
tion of families of residents recently arrived. On the 10th of August, 1828, the fort 
was ao-ain occupied by a company of volunteers, and afterward by two companies 
of regular troops, under the command of Major Fowle and Captain Scott. These 
last remained until May, 1831, when the fort was given in charge of George W. 
Dole, as agent for the government. 

On the breaking out of the Black Hawk war, in 1832, it was reoccupied by a 
detachment under Gen. Scott, until the removal of the Indians, in 1836, and, until 
near the time of its demolition, was held by the government for the occasional use 
of its army ofiBcers, engineers and agents connected with the public works. From 
1816 to 1830, Chicago had gained the number of twelve or fifteen houses, with a 
population of less than one hundred. In 1818, the public square, where now 
stands the court house, was a pond, on whose banks the Indians had trapped the 
muskrat, and where the first settlers hunted ducks. This pond had an outlet in a 
" slough," as it was then called, which passed over the present site of the Tremont 
House^ entering- the river at the end of State-street. Along the shores of the river 
the wild onion^was found in great abundance, to which the Indians gave the name 
Chi-ka-jo, and from which the city doubtless derived its name. In the autumn of 
1829 the town of Chicago was laid out, which is the part now known on the maps 
as the "original town." 

The site of Chicago is low, being but about five feet above the lake, but 
sufficiently elevated to prevent inundation. " The general direction of the 
lake shore here, is north and south. The water, except at the mouth of the 
river, is shoal, and vessels missing the entrance ground, go to pieces in a 
storm, within 100 rods of the shore. The harbor of Chicago is the river, 
and nothing more. It is a short, deep, sluggish stream, creeping through 
the black, fat mud of the prairie, and in some places would hardly be thought 
worthy of a name ; but it makes itself wonderfully useful here. Outside of 
its mouth a vessel has no protection, nor are there any piers or wharves. 
The mouth of the river has been docked and dredged out, to afford a more 
easy entrance; but, after you are once in, it narrows to a mere canal, from 
50 to 75 yards in width. The general course of the river, for about three 
fourths of a mile, is at right angles with the lake shore, and this portion is 
what is known as the Chicago River. It here divides, or, more properly, two 
branches unite to form it, coming from opposite directions, and at nearly 



288 



ILLINOIS. 



right angles to the main stream. These are called, respectively, the ' North 
Branch ' and the ' South Branch,' and are each navigable for some four 
miles, giving, in the aggregate, a river front of some 15 or 16 miles, capable 
of being increased by canals and slips, some of which have already been con- 
structed. Into the ' South Branch' comes the Illinois canal, extending from 
this point 100 miles to Lasalle, on the Illinois River, forming water commu- 
nication between the lakes and the Mississippi. For the want of a map, 
take the letter H ; call the upright column on the right hand the lake shore ; 
let the cross-bar represent Chicago River, the left hand column will stand 
for the two branches, and you have a plan of the water lines of the city of 
Chicago, which will answer very well for all purposes of general description. 




The Court House., Chicago. 

The view is from the north. The material is of blue lime stone, from Lockport, New York. On the left 
1b the Mechanic's Institute Hall. 

The three divisions thus formed are called, respectively, 'North Side,' 
'South Side,' 'West Side.' In this narrow, muddy river, lie the heart and 
strength of Chicago. Dry this up, and Chicago would dry up with it, mean 
and dirty as it looks. From the mouth of the St. Joseph River, in Michi- 
gan, round to Milwaukie, in the state of Wisconsin, a distance, by the lake 
shore, of more than 250 miles, Chicago is the only place where 20 vessels 
can be loaded or unloaded, or find shelter in a storm. A glance at the map, 
then, will show that it is the only accessible port — and hence the commer- 
cial center — of a vast territory, measuring thousands of square miles of the 
richest agricultural country in the world. On this fact, and not on the pres- 
ent actual value, are really based those fabulous prices of corner lots and 
wharf improvements, which have sometimes provoked the sneers of the 
skeptic." 

Chicago is regularly laid out with streets crossing at right angles, and is 
adorned with many magnificent buildings of brick and stone, public and 



ILLINOIS. 289 

private, comparing well with any city in ttis country or any other. The 
shore of the lake and northern parts of the city, are occupied with the finest 
of residences. Some of the most remarkable public buildings are, the Court 
House, the Merchants Exchange, the Marine Hospital, the Medical College, 
the Second Presbyterian Church, etc. Burch's and Wadsworth's blocks, on 
Lake-street, are rows of iron front stores, that, in extent and beauty, have no 
equal in any business houses in any city of Europe. 

A very elegant building material has recently been brought into use. It 
is found in great abundance about 20 miles from the city, on the line of the 
Illinois canal. " It is a compact lime-stone, of a pale yellow shade, some- 
what lighter than the celebrated Caen stone of France, now so fashionable in 
New York. The grain is so fine that the fracture, or cut surface, resembles 
that of chalk in texture. It is durable, is easily wrought, and the color is 
peculiarly pleasing and grateful to the eye. There is another stone of simi- 
lar texture, of the color of freshly fractured slate, or of the mark made on 
a slate by a pencil; but it is not so beautiful as the kind before mentioned. 
It soils readily, and has, at a short distance, the effect of a dirty white. 
There are also other architectural stones in cons^iderable abundance and va- 
riety; but none of great beauty or importance have come under our ob- 
servation. The Presbyterian Church on Wabash Avenue, is built of a blue, 
bituminous lime-stone, the pitchy matter of which has exuded and run down 
the sides, giving the building the appearance of having a partial coat of tar. 
The general impression it produces, is that of great antiquity; and if this 
idea could be preserved and harmonized by the early pointed gothic, and 
a good growth of ivy, the effect would be very fine." 

Until 1856, most of the streets of Chicago were planked, and the build- 
ings then erected were generally without cellars. As a consequence, in the 
spring of the year, the ground asserted its original character of swamp. The 
planks actually floated, and as the heavy wagons passed along, the muddy 
water gushed out on every side. Since 1856, such a grade has been estab- 
lished, that when finished, will raise the entire city from two to five feet. 

" There is, with almost every block of buildings, a change of grade, some- 
times of one foot, sometimes of three feet, sometimes of five. These ascents 
or descents are made by steps, or by short, steep, inclined planes of boards, 
with or without cleats or cross pieces, to prevent slipping, according to. the 
fancy of the adjoining proprietor who erects them. The profile of a Chicago 
sidewalk would resemble the profile of the Erie canal, where the locks are 
most plenty. It is one continual succession of ups and downs. The reason 
of this diversity is, that it was found necessary, at an early period in the 
history of the place, to raise the grade of the streets. It was afterward found 
necessary to raise the grade still higher, and again still higher — as each 
building is erected, its foundation and the sidewalk adjoining have been made 
to correspond to the grade then last established, and so it will not happen 
until the city is entirely rebuilt, that the proper grade will be uniformly at- 
tained. In the mean time, the present state of things will repress undue 
curiosity in the streets, and keep fire-engines off the sidewalks, which is a 
great point gained." 

The process of raising of the houses and stores, in Chicago, is one of great 
interest, literally, a method of digging a great city out of the mud. " Build- 
ings of brick or stone, 150 feet by 200, and five stories high, are raised up 
several feet by a system of screws, without a crack or the displacement of a 
single thing. A hotel contracts to be lifted up. In a short time 2,000 
19 



290 ILLINOIS. 

screws are under it, and little by little the house rises. Nothing is changed 
within. The kitchen cooks, the dinning-room eats, the bar drinks, and all 
the rooms smoke, as if nothing was going on ! A block of stores and offices 



Raising a Block of Buildings in Chicago. 

The entire block on the north side of Lake-street, extending from Clark to La Salle-street, having a front 
of 320 feet — is shown in the process of being raised up four feet and two thirds, by 6,000 screws placed un- 
der it ; turned, at signals, by a force of GOO men. Most of the stores are 180 feet deep, and five days were 
consumed in the task. 

beo-ins this new process of growth, and all the tenants maintain their usual 
functions; and, except the outrageous heaps of dirt and piles of lumber, every- 
thing goes on as before. The plank into the door gets a little steeper every 
day. But goods come in and go out, and customers haunt the usual 
places." 

The most remarkable feat of the kind occurred in Chicago, in the spring 
of 1860, when an immense block was raised. This is shown in our engrav- 
ing, and thus described in the Chicago Press and Tribune of the time, under 
the caption of 'TAe Gh-eai Building Raising.^' 

For the past week the marvel and the wonder of our citizens and visitors has 
been the spectacle of a solid front of first-class business blocks, comprising the en- 
tire block on the north side of Lake-street, between Clark and La ISalle-streets, a 
lensjth of 320 feet, being raised about four feet by the almost resistless lifting force 
of 6,000 screws. 

The block comprises 13 first class stores, and a large double marble structure, 
the Marine Bank Building. Its subdivisions are a five-story marble front block 



ILLINOIS. 



291 



of three stores ; a second four-story block of three stores, and a five-story block or 
four stores, at the corner of Clark-street — these all presenting an unbroken front 
in the heart of our city, and filled with occupants. 

This absence from annoyance to the merchants and the public is due to the skill 
with which the contractors have hung the sidewalks to the Llock itself, and carried 
up the same with the rise of the building. The block has been raised four feet 
eight inches, the required hight, in five days, ending with Friday last, and the ma- 
sons are now busy putting in the permanent supports. The entire work will oc- 
cupy about four weeks. 

An estimate from a reliable source makes the entire weight thus raised to be 
about 35,000 tuns. So carefully has it been done, that not a pane of glass has been 
broken, nor a crack in masonry appeared. The internal order of the block has 
prevailed undisturbed. 

The process of raising, as indicated above, is by the screw, at 6,000 of which, 
three inches in diameter and of three eighths thread, 600 men have been employed, 
each man in charge of from eight to ten screws. A complete system of signals 
was kept in operation, and by these the workmen passed, each through his series, 
giving each screw a quarter turn, then returning to repeat the same. Five da3's' 
labor saw the immense weight rise through four feet eight inches, to where it now 
stands on temporary supports, rapidly being replaced by permanent foundations. 
The work, as it stands, is worth going miles to see, and has drawn the admiration 
of thousands within the past week. 

The bridges of Chicago are among the curiosities of the place. The nu- 
merous branches of the river require a large number of bridges. The river 
being navigable, and but little below the level of the streets, compels all of 
these to be made draw bridges. These are hung in the middle, and turn 




Southwest View of the Railroad Depot, Grain Houses, Chicago. 

The Illinois Central Passenger, and the freight depot, etc., are seen in the central part. Sturges and 
Buckinghanrs grain houses standing on the lake shore, appear on the right; each of which will contain 
750,0(10 bushels of grain ; enough, it is estimated, to feed the entire population of the city for five years ; 
225.000 bushels can be received and stored in each of them in a single day. 

on a pivot, the motive power being two men standing there with a cross b.n- 
The operation of turning a bridge, occupies about two minutes. While th,' 
process is going on, a closely packed row of vehicles, sometimes, accuniul;ites 
of a quarter of a mile in length. Policemen are stationed at either end, to 
prevent persons from driving, jumping, or being pushed into the water. 
The manufacturing establishments of Chicago are numerous, consisting of 



292 ILLINOIS. 

iron foundries and machine shops, steam flouring, saw and planing mills, 
manufactories of agricultural implements, etc. Numerous steamboats and 
vessels ply between this place and Buffalo, and the various places on the 
Upper Lakes, and a direct trade is had, by sailing vessels, with Europe, 
via the lakes, Welland canal. River St. Lawrence, and the Atlantic Ocean. 
The city is a great shipping point for an immense and fertile region. The 
Illinois and Michigan canal is 60 feet wide at the top, six feet deep, and 
107 miles long, including five miles of river navigation. Through this is 
brought a large amount of produce from the south and south-west. This and 
the railroads radiating from Chicago, add to the vast accumulation which is 
shipped here for the Atlantic sea-board. Chicago is within a short distance 
from extensive coal fields, and is the natural outlet for the produce of one of 
the richest agricultural sections of the Union. Great quantities of lumber 
are also brought here by lake navigation. 

The imports of Chicago, in 1858, a year of general depression, were 
$91,000,000, and the exports $83,000,000 in value, equal to one quarter of 
the whole foreign commerce of the United States. The tunnage was 67, 000 
tuns, seven eighths of which was in sailing crafts, and the remainder by 
steamers. 

The grain trade of Chicago is, perhaps, the greatest of any place in the 
world, averaging, at present, about 30,000,000 of bushels yearly. The grain 
houses are all situated on the bank of the river and its branches, with rail- 
road tracks running in the rear, so that a train of cars loaded with grain 
may be standing opposite one end of a large elevating warehouse, being 
emptied by elevators, at the rate of from 6 to 8,000 bushels per hour, 
while at the other end the same grain may be running into a couple of pro- 
pellers, and be on its way to Buffalo, Montreal, and other places within 
six or seven hours. 

The Illinois Central Railroad grain warehouses can discharge 12 cars 
loaded with grain, and also load two vessels at once, at the rate of 24,000 
bushels per hour ; or receive from 24 cars at once, at the rate of 8,006 bush- 
els per hour. With the present conveniences, it is estimated that in every 
10 hours half a million of bushels of grain can be handled. 

The university of Chicago, a well endowed institution, originated in 
1854, in a generous donation from the Hon. Stephen A. Douglass of 10 
acres, comprising part of a beautiful grove, adjacent to the southern limits 
of the city. It has. in all its departments, about 200 students. John C 
Burroughs, D.D., is president. 



The most thrilling event in the history of Illinois, was the " massacre at 
Chicago," in the last war with Great Britain. There were then but five 
houses outside of the fort, at this point, then the trading station of John 
Kinzie, " the Father of Chicago." The garrison numbered about 75 men, 
many of them old and inefficient soldiers. The officers in command, were 
Capt. Heald, Lieut. Helm, and Ensign Ronan, the latter a very young man, 
high spirited and honorable. 

On Aug. 7, 1812, Catfish, a distinguished Pottawatomie chief, arrived from 
Detroit, bringing dispatches from Gen. Hull, giving orders to Capt. Heald 
to evacuate the fort and distribute all the United States property, in the fort 
and factory, to the Indians, and then retire to Fort Wayne, on the site of the 
city of that name in Indiana. 



ILLINOIS. 293 



These ill timed, and as it proved afterward, fatal orders of Hull were 
obeyed, so far as to evacuate the fort; but even this was done by Heald in 
spite of the remonstrances of his officers, who were satisfied of the evil de- 
signs of the Indians. On the 12th, a council was held with the Indians at 
which Capt. Heald informed them of his intention to distribute among them 
the goods stored in the factory, together with the ammunition and prov-isions 
of the garrison. On the next day the goods were disposed of as promised ■ 
but fearing the Indians might make a bad use of liquor and ammunition' 
Heald gave orders for their destruction. During the night the contents of the 
liquor barrels were poured into the river, and the powder thrown into the 
well. This coming to the knowledge of the Indians, exasperated them to a 
high degree, as they prized these articles more than all the rest. 

The 15th of August was the day fixed for leaving the post. The day pre- 
vious, Capt. Wells, a relative of Capt. Heald, arrived with an escort of 15 
friendly Miami Indians from Fort Wayne. He had heard of the orders for 
the evacuation of the fort, and realizing the danger of the garrison incum- 
bered with the women and children, marching through the territory of the 
hostile Pottawatomies, hastened to dissuade'his relative from leavin"- the 
fort. But he arrived too late, steps had been taken, which made It as 
equally dangerous to remain. 

" The fatal morning of the 15th, at length arrived. All things were in readiness 
and nine o clock was the hour named for startincr. Mr. Kinzie had volunteered 
to accompanj the troops in their march, and had entrusted his family to the care 
of some friendly Indians, who had promised to convey them in a boat around the 
head of Lake Michigan to a point on the St. Joseph's River; there to be joined bv 
the troops, should the prosecution of their march be permitted them Early in 
the morning xMr Kinzie received a message from To-pee-nee-bee, a chief of the 
bt Joseph s band, informing him that mischief was intended by the Pottawatomies 
who had engaged to escort the detachment; and urging him to relinquish his de- 
sign of accompanying the troops by land, promising him that the boat containing 
himself and family, should be permitted to pass in safety to St Joseph's ° 

Mr. Kinzie declined, according to this proposal, as he'believed that his presence 
might operate as a restraint upon the fury of the savages, so warmly were the 
greater part of them attached to himself and his family. The party in the boat 
consisted of Mrs. Kinzie and her four younger children, their nurse Grutte a 
clerk of Mr. Jvinzie s, two servants and the boatmen, beside the two Indians 
who acted as their protectors. The boat started, but had scarcely reached the 
mouth of the river, which, it will be recollected, was here half a mile below the 
fort, when another messenger from To-pee-nee-bee arrived, to detain them where thev 
were. In breathless expectation sat the wife and mother. She was a woman of 
uncommon energy and strength of character, yet her heart died within her as she 
folded her arms around her helpless infants, and gazed upon the march of her hus- 
band and eldest child to certain destruction. 

_ As the troops left the fort, the band struck up the Dead March. On they came 
in military array, but with solemn mien. Capt. Wells took the lead at the head 
of his htt e band of Miamis. He had blackened his face before leaving the <M.rri- 
son, in token of his impending fate. They took their route along the lake slore 
When they reached the point where commenced a ranc;e of sand hills inter 
vening between the prairie and the beach, the escort of Pottawatomies, in num- 
ber about 500, kept the level of the prairie, instead of continuing alon.- the 
beach with the Americans and Miamis. They had marched about' half a"milp 
south of the present site of the Round House of the Illinois Central Railroad when 
Lapt. Wells, who had kept somewhat in advance with his Miamis, came ridin-.- fu- 
riously back. 'They are about to attack us,' shouted he; 'form, instantly,''an(I 
charge upon them. Scarcely were the words uttered, when a volley was showered 
trom among the sand hills. The troops were hastily brought into line and 



294 ILLINOIS. 

charged up the bank. One man, a veteran of 70 winters, fell as they ascended. 
The remainder of the scene is best described in the words of an eye-witness and 
participator in the tragedy, Mrs. Helm, the wife of Capt. (then Lieutenant) Helm, 
and step-daughter of Mr. Kinzie." 

'' After we had left the bank, the firing became general. The Miamis fled at the 
outset. Their chief rode up to the Pottawatomies and said: 'You have de- 
ceived the Americans and us. You have done a bad action, and (brandishing 
his tomahawk) I will be first to head a party of Americans to return and pun- 
ish your treachery." So saying, he galloped after his companions, who were now 
scouring across the prairies. 

The troops behaved most gallantly. They were but a handful, but they seemed 
resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible. Our horses pranced and bounded, 
and could hardly be restrained as the balls whistled among them. I drew off a 
little, and gazed upon my husband and father, who were yet unharmed. I felt 
that my hour was come, and endeavored to forget those I loved, and prepare my 
self for my approaching fate. 

"While I was thus engaged, the surgeon, Dr. Van Voorhees, came up. He was 
badly wounded. His horse had been shot under him, and he had received a ball 
in his leg. Every muscle of his face was quivering with the agony of terror. He 
said to me — 'Do you think they will take our lives? I am badly wounded, but T 
think not mortally. Perhaps we might purchase our lives by promising them a 
large reward. Do you think there is any chance?' 

" 'Dr. Van Voorhees,' said I, 'do not let us waste the few moments that yet re- 
main to us, in such vain hopes. Our fate is inevitable. In a few moments we 
must appear before the bar of God. Let us make what preparation is yet in our 
power.' 

" ^Oh! I can not die' exclaimed he, ''I am not Jit to die — ij" I had but a short 
time to prepare — death is aicful!' I pointed to Ensign Ronan, who, though mor- 
tally wounded and nearly down, was still fighting, with desperation, on one 
knee. 

" ' Look at that man,' said T, ' at least he dies like a soldier.' 'Yes,' replied the 
unfortunate man, with a convulsive gasp, ' but he has no terrors of the future — he 
is an unbeliever! ' 

" At this moment a young Indian raised his tomahawk at me. By springing 
aside, I avoided the blow which was intended for my skull, but which alighted on 
my shoulder. I siezed him around the neck, and while exerting my utmost efforts 
to get possession of his scalping-knife, which hung in a scabbard over his breast, 
I was dragged from his grasp by another and an older Indian. I'he latter bore 
me, struggling and resisting, toward the lake. Notwithstanding the rapidity with 
Avhich I was hurried along, I recognized, as I passed them, the lifeless remains of 
the unfortunate surgeon. Some murderous tomahawk had sti'etched him upon the 
very spot where I had last seen him. I was immediately plunged into the water 
and held there with a forcible hand, notwithstanding my resistance. I soon per- 
ceived, however, that the object of my captor was not to drown me, for he held me 
firmly, in such a position as to place my head above water. This reassured me, 
and regarding him attentively, I soon recognized, in spite of the paint with which 
he was disguised. The Black Partridge. 

" When the firing had nearly subsided, my preserver bore me from the water 
and conducted me up the sand-banks. It was a burning August morning, and 
walking through the sand in my drenched condition, was inexpressibly painful 
and fatiguing. I stooped and took off my shoes to free them from the sand, 
with which they were nearly filled, when a squaw siezed and carried them off, 
and I was obliged to proceed without them. 

" When we had gained the prairie, I was met by my father, who told me that 
mv husband was safe but slightly wounded. They led me gently back toward the 
Cliiciago River, along the southern bank of which was the Pottawatomie encamp- 
ment. At one time I was placed upon a horse without a saddle, but finding the 
motion insupportable, I sprang off. Supported partly by my kind conductor. 
Black Partridge, and partly by another Indian, Pee-so-tum, who held dangling in 



ILLINOIS. 295 

his hand a scalp, which by the black ribbon around the queue, I recognized as 
that of Capt. Wells, 1 dragged my fainting steps to one of the wigwams. 

"The wife of Wau-bee-nee-mah, a chief from the Illinois River, was standing 
near, and seeing my exhausted condition she siezed a kettle, dipped up some water 
from a stream that flowed near, threw into it some maple sugar, and stirring it up 
with her hand gave it me to drink. This act of kindness, in the midst of so many 
many horrors, touched me most sensibly, but my attention was soon diverted to 
other objects. 

" The fort had become a scene of plunder to such as remained after the troops 
marched out. The cattle had been shot down as they ran at large, and lay dead 
or dying around. This work of butchery had commenced just as we were leaving 
the fort. I well remembered a remark of Ensign Ronan, as the firing went on. 
'Such,' turning to me, ' is to be our fate — to be shot down like brutes!' 'Well 
sir,' said the commanding officer, who overheard him, 'are you afraid?' 'No,' re- 
plied the high spirited young man, ' 1 can march up to the enemy where you dare 
not show your face ; ' and his subsequent gallant behavior showed this to be no 
idle boast. 

" As the noise of the firing grew gradually less, and, the stragglers from the vic- 
torious party came dropping in, 1 received confirmation of what my father had 
hurriedly communicated in our i-encontre on the lake shore; namely, that the 
whites had surrendered after the loss of about two thirds of their number. 
They had stipulated, through the interpreter, Peresh Leclerc, for the preservation 
of their lives, and those ofthe remaining women and children, and for_ their de- 
livery at some of the British posts, unless ransomed by traders in the Indian coun- 
try. It appears that the wounded prisoners were not considered as included 
in the stipulation, and a horrible scene ensued upon their being brought into 
camp. 

"An old squaw, infuriated by the loss of fi-iends, or excited by the sanguinary 
scenes around her, seemed possessed by a demoniac ferocity. She siezed a stable 
fork and assaulted one miserable victim, who lay groaning and writhing in the 
agony of his wounds, aggravated by the scorching beams of the sun. With a deli- 
cacy of feeling scarcely'to have been expected under such circumstances, Wau- 
bee-nee-mah stretched a mat across two poles, between me and this dreadful scene. 
I was thus spared, in some degree, a view of its horrors, although I could not en- 
tirely close my ears to the cries of the sufferer. The following night five more of 
the wounded prisoners were tomahawked. 

"The Americans, after their first attack by the Indians, charged upon those who 
had concealed themselves in a sort of ravine, intervening between the sand banks 
and the prairie. The latter gathered themselves into a body, and after some hard 
fighting, in which the number of whites had become reduced to 28, this little band 
succeeded in breaking through the enemy, and gaining a rising ground, not far 
from the Oak Woods. The contest now seemed hopeless, and Lieut. Helm sent 
Peresh Leclerc, a half-breed boy in the service of Mr. Kinzie, who had accompa- 
nied the detachment and fought manfully on their side, to propose terms of 
capitulation. It was stipulated that the lives of all the survivors should be spared, 
and a ransom permitted as soon as practicable. 

" But, in the mean time, a horrible scene had been enacted. One young sava,ge, 
climbing into the baggage-wagon, containing the children of the white fiimilif^s, 
12 in number, tomahawked the children of the entire group. This was during the 
engagement near the sand hills. When Capt. Wells, who was fighting near, beheld 
it, he exclaimed: 'Is that their game, butchering the women and children? Then 
I will hill too !' So saying, he turned his horse's head, and started for the Indian 
camp, near the fort, where had been left their squaws and children. 

" Several Indians pursued him as he galloped along. He laid himself flat on the 
neck of his horse, loading and firing in that position, as he would occasionally turn 
on his pursurers. At length their balls took efi'ect, killing his horse, and severely 
wounding himself At this moment he was met by Wiimemeg and IVau-ben-see, 
who endeavored to save him from the savages who had now overtaken him. As 
they supported him along, after having disengaged him from his horse, he re- 
ceived his death-blow from another Indian, Pee-so-ium, who stabbed him in the back. 



296 ILLINOIS. 

" The heroic resolution of one of the soldier's wives deserves to be recorded. 
She was a Mrs. Corbin, and had, from the first, expressed the determination' never 
to fall into the hands of the savages, believing that their prisoners were always 
subjected to tortures worse than death. When, therefore, a party came upon her, 
to make her a prisoner, she fought with desperation, refusing to surrender, although 
assured, by signs, of safety and kind treatment, and literally suffered herself to be 
cut to pieces, rather than become their captive. 

"There was a Sergeant Holt, who, early in the engagement, received a ball in 
the neck. Poinding himself badly wounded, he gave his sword to his wife, who was 
on horseback near him, telling her to defend herself — he then made for the lake, 
to keep out of the way of the balls. Mrs. Holt rode a very fine horse, which the 
Indians were desirous of possessing, and they therefore attacked her, in hopes of 
dismounting her. They fought only with the butt-ends of their guns, for their ob- 
ject was not to kill her. She hacked and hewed at their pieces as they were thrust 
against her, now on this side, now on that. Finally, she broke loose from them, 
and dashed out into the prairie. The Indians pursued her, shouting and laughing, ^ 
and now and then calling out: ' The brave woman ! do not hurt her ! ' At length 
they overtook her again, and while she was engaged with two or three in front, one 
succeeded in siezing her by the neck behind, and dragging her, although a large 
and powerful woman, from her horse. Notwithstanding that their guns had been 
so hacked and injured, and even themselves cut severely, they seemed to regard 
her only with admiration. They took her to a trader on the Illinois River, by 
whom she was restored to her friends, after having received every kindness during 
her captivity." 

" The heart of Capt. Wells was taken out, and cut into pieces, and distributed 
among the tribes. His mutilated remains remained unburied until the next day, 
when Billy Caldwell gathered up his head in one place, and mangled body in an- 
other, and buried them in the sand. The family of Mr. Kinzie had been taken 
from the boat to their home, by friendly Indians, and there strictly guarded. Very 
soon a very hostile party of the Pottawatomie nation arrived from the Wabash, and 
it required all the skill and bravery of Black Partridge, Wau-ben-see, Billy Cald- 
well {who arrived at a critical moment), and other friendly Indians, to protect 
them. Runners had been sent by the hostile chiefs to all the Indian villages, to 
apprise them of the intended evacuation of the fort, and of their plan of at- 
tacking the troops. In eager thirst to participate in such a scene of blood, but 
arrived too late to participate in the massacre. They were infuriated at their 
disappointment, and sought to glut their vengeance on the wounded and priso- 
ners. 

On the third day after the massacre, the family of Mr. Kinzie, with the attaches 
of the establishment, under the care of PVancois, a half-breed interpreter, were 
taken to St. Joseph's in a boat, where they remained until the following No- 
vember, under the protection of To-pee-nee-bee, and his band. They were then car- 
ried to Detroit, under the escort of Chandonnai, and a friendly chief by the name 
of Kee-po-tah, and, with their servants, delivered up, as prisoners of war, to the 
British commanding officer. Of the other prisoners, Capt. Heald and Mrs. Heald 
were sent across to the lake of St. Joseph's, the day after the battle. Capt. Heald had 
received two wounds, and Mrs. Heald seven, the ball of one of which was cut from 
her arm by Mr. Kinzie, with a pen-knife, after the engagement. Mrs. H. was 
ransomed on the battle field, by Chandonnai, a half-breed from St. Joseph's, for a 
mule he had just taken, and the promise of ten bottles of whisky. Capt. Heald 
was taken prisoner by an Indian from the Kankakee, who, seeing the wounded 
and enfeebled state of Mrs. Heald, generously released his prisoner, that he 
might accompany his wife. 

Lieut. Helm was wounded in the action and taken prisoner ; and afterward 
taken by some friendly Indians to the Au-sable, and from thence to St. Louis, and 
liberated from captivity through the agency of the late Thomas Forsyth, Esq. Mrs. 
Helm received a slight wound in the ankle; had her horse shot from under her; 
and after passing through the agonizing scenes described, went with the family of 
Mr. Kinzie to Detroit. The soldiers with their wives and children, were dispersed 
among the different villages of the Pottowatomies, upon the Illinois, Wabash, Rock 



ILLINOIS. 



297 



River and Milwaukie. The largest proportion were taken to Detroit, and ran- 
somed the following spring. Some, however, remained in captivity another year, 
and experienced more kindness than was expected from an enemy so mer- 
ciless. 

Captain (subsequently Major) Heald, his wife and family, settled in the coun- 
ty of St. Charles, Mo., after the war, about 1817, where he died about 15 years 
since. He was respected and beloved by hia acquaintances. His health was im- 
paired from the wounds he received." 




North-western view of the State House, Springfield. 

The engraving shows the appearance of the State Capitol, as seen from the Mayor's oflSce, in Washing- 
ton-street. The Court House and the Bank building are seen on the left. 

Springfield, the capital of Illinois, is situated near the center of the 
state, four miles S. from Sangamon River, on the border of a rich and beau- 
tiful prairie, 97 miles from St. Louis, 75 N.E. from Alton, and 188 S.W. 
from Chicago. It is laid out with great regularity on what was formerly an 
open prairie, the streets being wide and straight, and ornamented with shade 
trees. The state capitol stands on a square of three acres in the center of 
the city, which is beautifully adorned with trees, shrubbery and flowers. 
From the unusual attention given to the cultivation of shrubbery and flow- 
ers, Springfield is sometimes fancifully and pleasantly termed the '■'■Flower 
City.'' It contains the governor's house, court house, 12 churches, 4 bank- 
ing houses, the Illinois State University, and in ISliO 6,499 inhabitants. 

The first settlers of Springfield appear to have been several members of a family 
by the name of Kelly, who, sometime during the year 1818 or 1819, settled upon 
the present site of the city; one of them, John Kelly, erected his rude cabin upon 
the spot where stands the building known as the "Garrett House; " this was the 
first habitation erected in the city, and, perhaps, also, in the county of Sangamon. 
Another of the Kellys built his cabin westward of the first, and near the spot 
where stands the residence of Mrs. Torrey; and the third near or upon the spot 
where A. G. Herndon resides. A second family, by the name of Duggett, settled 
in that portion of the western part of the city known by the early inhabitants as 
"Newsonville," sometime in the early part of 1820; and some half dozen other 
families were added to the new settlement during the year 1821. 



298 ILLINOIS. 

The original name of SpringSeld was Calhoun. At a special term of the county 
commissioners' court, held in April, 1821, at Kelly's house, they desig^nated a cer- 
tain point in the prairie, near John Kelly's field, on the waters of Spring creek, as 
a temporary seat of justice for the county, and that "said county seat should be 
called and known by the name of Springfield." The first court house and jail 
was built in the latter part of 1821, at the N.W. corner of Second and JefFerson- 
etreets. The town was surveyed and platted by James C. Stephenson, Esq., and 
'he is said to have received block 21 for his services. Town lots, at that period, 
could not have been considered very valuable, as tradition says he proposed to give 
Dr. Merryman one fourth of the block for his pointer dog to which he took a fancy, 
and which offer was rejected. In 1823, Springfield did not contain more than a 
dozen log cabins, which wer6 scattered about in the vicinity of where the court 
house then stood, and the Sangamon River was the boundary line of settlements 
in the northern part of the state. The site of Springfield was originally an open 
prairie, destitute of trees or shrubbery : where the state house now stands, was 
formerly a kind of swamp, where, during the winter, the boys amused themselves 
in skating. 

The first tavern in Springfield was an old-fashioned two story log house, kept by 
a person named Price, which stood where the residence of Charles Lorsh now 
stands. The first tavern of much pretension was the old " Indian Queen Hotel," 
built by A. G. Herndon. The first store, for the sale of dry goods, in Springfield, 
was opened by Elijah lies, now occupied by John Hay. 

In 1837, the seat of government for the state was removed from Vandalia to 
Springfield, and the first session of the legislature here was in the winter of 1839- 
40. The senate held its session in the old Methodist church, and the house of 
representatives met in the second Presbyterian church. In 1840, Springfield re- 
ceived a city charter. Benjamin S. Clement was elected the first mayor, and Jas. 
R. Gray, Joseph Klein, Washington lies, and Wm. Prentiss, aldermen. The St. 
Louis, Alton and Chicago Railroad was commenced in Aug., 1850, and was finished 
from Alton to Springfield, Sept., 1852: from this period Springfield has rapidly ad- 
vanced in wealth and population. 



The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in the city ceme- 
tery : 

NiNiAN Edwards, chief justice of Ky., 1808; fjovernor 111. Territory, 1809 to 1818 ; U. 
S. senator, 1818 to 1824 ; governor state of 111., 1826 to 1830 ; died July 20, 1833, in the 59th 
year of his age. 

Pascal Paoli Enos, a native of Windsor, Conn., emigrated to the valley of the Missis- 
sippi in 1816 ; with three others founded the city of Springfield in 1824, and died A.D. 
1832, aged sixty-two. The pioneers acknowledge his virtues. 



Erected by the Whigs of Springfield in memory of John Brodie, who departed this life 
on the 3d of Aug., 1844, in the 42d year of his age. [Second monument.] — The grave of 
John Brodie, a native of Perth, Scotland, who departed this life on the 3d of Aug., 1844, 
ia the 42d year of his age. 

Far from his native isle he lies. 
Wrapped in the vestments of the grave. 



[In the old graveyard.] Sacred to the memory of Rev. Jacob M. Early, a native of 
Virginia, and for seven years a resident of Springfield, 111., combining in his character 
splendid natural endowments, a highly cultivated mind, undaunted moral courage, and the 
graces of the Christian religion. Eminent in the profession of his choice, and successful 
in his ministry, he enjoyed a large share of the respect and afi'ections of an extensive and 
respectable acquaintance. Though called suddenly from life, he met death with a calm 
and amazing fortitude, in the certain hope of a blissful immortality, through our Lord and 
Savior Jesus Christ. He was born Feb. 22, 1806, and died March 11, 1838, aged 32 yrs. 18 
days. 



ILLINOIS. 



299 




Residence of Ab'm. Lincoln, 



Sprinfrfield is noted as having been the home of Abraham Lincoln, president 
of the United States. He is a descendant of the pioneers of Kentucky. 

His grandfather removed from 
Yii^inia at an early day, and 
finally fell on the frontiers be- 
neath the tomahawk of the sav- 
age. His son, Thomas, and the 
father of Abraham, traveled 
about from neighborhood to 
neighborhood, working as a la- 
borer, until he finally settled in 
what was then Hardin, now La- 
rue county, Ky., and there, in 
1809, was born the subject of this 
sketch. When in his eighth 
year, the family removed to 
Spencer Co., Ind. When Abra- 
ham was 21 years of age, they again emigrated to Macon, Illinois. Soon 
after he engaged as a flat boatman on the Mississippi, then he took charge 
of a store and a mill at New Salem, and on the outbreak of the Black Hawk 
war he was chosen captain of a company of volunteers. In 1834 he was, 
for the first time, elected to the legislature of Illinois, and soon after com- 
menced the study of law. In 1837 he removed to Springfield and entered 
upon his professional career. In 1840, and again in 1844, he was one of 
the electors on the Whig ticket in Illinois; in 1846 was elected to congress 
from the Springfield district. In 1858, he was brought prominently before 
the public by his memorable senatorial contest with the distinguished Ste- 
phen A. Douglass. This was the final point in his career which led to his 
nomination and subsequent election, by the Republican party, to the Presi- 
dency. His history illustrates the power of natural capacity, joined to in- 
dustry, to overcome poverty and other obstacles in the way of obtaining an 
education, in a country whose institutions give full freedom to the exercise 
of all manly faculties. 

Kashiskia, a small village and the county seat of Randolph county, is on 
Kaskaskia River, 10 miles above its confluence with the Mississippi, and on 
a neck of land between them, two miles from the latter, and 142 miles 
S. of Springfield. It has the distinction of being the oldest town in Illinois, 
and, perhaps, in the whole western states. It was founded by Father Gravier, 
a Catholic missionary, some where about the year 1693. It was, at first, 
merely a missionary station inhabited by the natives. In 1763, when ceded 
by the French to the Engli.sh, it contained about 130 families. It was the 
first capital of the territory, and retained that rank until 1818. 

Judge Hall, in his " Sketches of the West," gives a pleasant picture of 
the characteristics of the French settlers in this region. Says he: 

They made no attempt to acquire land from the Indians, to organize a social sys- 
tem, to introduce municipal regulations, or to establish military defenses ; but 
cheerfully obeyed the priests and' the king's officers, and enjoyed the present, with- 
out troubling their heads about the future. They seem to have been even careless 
as to the acquisition of property, and its transmission to their heirs. Finding 
themselves in a fruitful country, abounding in game, where the necessaries of life 
could be procured with little labor, where "no restraints were imposed by govern- 
ment, and neither tribute nor personal service was exacted, they were content to 
live in unambitious peace, and comfortable poverty. They took possession of so 
much of the vacant land around them as they were disposed to till, and no more. 



300 ILLINOIS. 

Their agriculture was rude; and even to this day, some of the implements of hus- 
bandry and modes of cultivation, brought from France a century ago, remain un- 
changed by the march of mind, or the hand of innovation. Their houses were 
comfortable, and they reared fruits and flowers; evincing, in this respect, an at- 
tention to comfort and luxury, which has not been practiced amon^ the English or 
American first settlers ; but in the accumulation of property, and in all the essen- 
tials of industry, they were indolent and improvident, rearing only the bare neces- 
saries of life, and living from generation to generation without change or improve- 
ment. 

The only new articles which the French adopted, in consequence of their change 
of residence, were those connected with the fur trade. The few who were en- 
gaged in merchandise turned their attention almost exclusively to the traffic with 
the Indians, while a large number became hunters and boatmen. The voyageurs, 
engagees, and couriers des bois, as they are called, form a peculiar race of men. 
The}^ were active, sprightly, and remarkably expert in their vocation. With all 
the vivacity of the French character, they have little of the intemperance and bru- 
tal coarseness usually found among the boatmen and mariners. They are patient 
under fatigue, and endure an astonishing degree of toil and exposure to the weather. 
Accustomed to live in the open air, they pass through every extreme, and all the 
sudden vicissitudes of climate, with little apparent inconvenience. Their boats 
are managed with expertness, and even grace, and their toil enlivened by the song. 
As hunters, they have roved over the whole of the wide plain of the west, to the 
Rocky Mountains, sharing the hospitality of the Indians, abiding for long periods, 
and even permanently, with the tribes, and sometimes seeking their alliance by 
marriage. As boatmen, they navigate the birch canoe to the sources of the long- 
est rivers, and pass from one river to another, by laboriously carrying the packages 
of merchandise, and the boat itself, across mountains, or through swamps or woods, 
so that no obstacle stops their progress. Like the Indian, they can live on game, 
without condiment or bread ; like him they sleep in the open air, or plunge into 
the Avater at any season, without injury. 

The French had also a fort on the Ohio, about thirty-six miles above the junc- 
tion of that river with the Mississippi, of which the Indians obtained possession 
by a singular stratagem. This was just above the site of Metropolis City, and was 
a mission station as early as 1711. A number of them appeared in the day time 
on the opposite side of the river, each covered with a bear-skin, and walking on 
all-fours, and imitating the motions of that animal. The French supposed them 
to be bears, and a party crossed the river in pursuit of them. The remainder of 
the troops left their quarters, and resorted to the bank of the river, in front of the 
garrison, to observe the sport. In the meantime, a large body of Indian warriors, 
who were concealed in the woods near by, came silently up behind the fort, en- 
tered it without opposition, and very few of the French escaped the carnage. 
They afterward built another fort on the same ground, which they called Massacre, 
in memory of this disastrous event, and which retained the name of Fort Massac, 
after it passed into the hands of the American government. 

These paragraphs of Hall are quoted by Peck, in the Western Annals, 
and to them are appended these additional facts from his own pen : 

The stylo of agriculture in all the French settlements was simple. Both the Spanish 
and French governments, in forming settlements on the Mississippi, had special regard to 
convenience of social intercourse, and protection from the Indians. All their settlements 
wei-e required to be in the form of villages or towns, and lots of a convenient size for a 
door yard, garden and stable yard, were provided for each family. To each village were 
granted two tracts of laud at convenient distances for " common fields " and " commons." 

A common field is a tract of land of several hundred acres, inclosed in common by the 
villagers, each person furnishing his proportion of labor, and each family possessing iridi- 
vidual interest in a portion of the field, marked off and bounded from the rest. Ordinances 
were made to regulate the repairs of fences, the time of excluding cattle in the spring, and 
the time of gathering the crop and opening the field for the range of cattle in the fall. 
Each plat of ground in the common field was owned in fee simple by the person to whom 
granted, subject to sale and conveyance, the same as any landed property. 

A common is a tract of land granted to the town for wood and pasturage, in which each 



ILLINOIS. 



301 



owner of a village lot has a common, but not an individual right. In some cases this 
tract embraced several thousand acres. 

By this arrangement, something like a community system existed in their intercourse. 
If the head of a family was sick, met with a casualty, or was absent as an engagee, his 
family sustained little inconvenience. His plat in the common field was cultivated by his 
neighbors, and the crop gathered. A pleasant custom existed in these French villages not 
thirty years since, and which had come down from the remotest period. 

The husbandman on his return at evening from his daily toil, was always met by his 
affectionate femme with the friendly kiss, and very commonly with one, perhaps two of the 
youngest children, to receive the same salutation from le pe're. This daily interview was 
at the gate of the door yard, and in view of all the villagers. The simple-hearted people 
were a happy and contented race. A few traits of these ancient characteristics remain, 
but most of the descendants of the French are fully Americanized, 

The romantic details of the conquest of Kaskaskia, in the war of the 
■Revolution, by the Virginians, under Clark, we take from Monette : 

The whole of the Illinoia country being, at that time, within the chartered limits 
of Virginia, Col. George Rogers Clark, an ofiBcer of extraordinary genius, who had 
recently emigrated to Kentucky, with slight aid from the mother state, projected 
and carried out a secret expedition for the reduction of these posts, the great 
fountains of Indian massacre. 

About the middle of June (1778), Clark, by extraordinary exertions, assembled 
at the Falls of the Ohio six incomplete companies. From these he selected about 
150 frontier men, and descended the Ohio in keel-boats ew row i!e for Kaskaskia; 
on their way down they learned, by a messenger, of the alliance of France with 
the United States. About forty miles from the mouth of the Ohio, having first 
concealed their boats by sinking them in the river, they commenced their march 
toward Kaskaskia. Their route was through a pathless wilderness, interspersed 
with morasses, and almost impassable to any except backwoodsmen. After several 
days of great fatigue and hardships, they arrived, unperceived, in the evening of 
the 4th of July, in the vicinity of the town. In the dead of night Clark divided 
his little force into two divisions. One division took possession olf the town while 
the inhabitants were asleep ; with the other Clark in person crossed to the oppo- 
site side of the Kaskaskia River, and secured possession of Fort Gage. So little 
apprehensive was he of danger, that the commandant, Rocheblave, had not even 
posted a solitary sentinel, and that officer was awakened by the side of his wife to 
find himself a prisoner of war. 

The town, containing about 250 dwellings, was completely surrounded, and all 
avenues of escape carefully guarded. The British had cunninglv impressed the 
French with a horror of Virginians, representing them as bloodthirsty and cruel 
in the extreme. Clark took measures, for ultimate good, to increase this feeling. 
During the night the troops filled the air with war-whoops ; every house was en- 
tered and the inhabitants disarmed; all intercourse between them was prohibited; 
the people were ordered not to appear in the streets under the penalty of instant 
death. The whole town was filled with terror, and the minds of the poor French- 
men were agitated by the most horrid apprehensions. At last, when hope had 
nearly vanished, a deputation, headed by Father Gibault, the villaire priest, ob- 
tained permission to wait upon Col. Clark. Surprised as they had ^been, by the 
sudden capture of their town, and by such an enemy as their imagination had 
painted, they were still more so when admitted to his presence. Their clothes 
were dirty and torn by the briars, and their whole aspect frightful and savage. 
The priest, in a trembling, subdued tone, said to Clark : 

" That the inhabitants expected to be separated, never to meet again on earth, 
and they begged for permission, through him, to assemble once more in the church, 
to take a final leave of each other." Clark, aware that they suspected him of hos- 
tility to their religion, carelessly told them, that he had nothing to say against their 
church ; that religion was a matter which the Americans left every one for him- 
Belf to settle with his God; that the people might assemble in the church, if thev 
wished, but they must not leave the town. Some further conversation was at- 
temptpd, but Clark, in order that the alarm might be raised to its utmost hic;ht, 
repelled it with sternness, and told them at once that he had not leisure for further 



302 ILLINOIS. 

intercourse. The whole town immediately assembled at the church ; the old and 
the young, the women and the children, and the houses were all deserted. The 
people remained in church for a longtime — after which the priest, accompanied by 
several gentlemen, waited upon Col. Clark, and expressed, in the name of the vil- 
laije, " their thanks for the indulgence they had received." The deputation then 
desired, at the request of the inhabitants, to address their conqueror on a subject 
which was dearer to them than any other. " They were sensible," they said, " that 
their present situation was the fate of war ; and they could submit to the loss of 
property, but solicited that they might not be separated from their wives and chil- 
dren, and that some clothes and provisions might be allowed for their future sup- 
Sort." They assured Col. Clark, that their conduct had been influenced by the 
Iritish commandants, whom they supposed they were bound to obey — that they 
were not certain that they understood the nature of the contest between Great 
Britain and the colonies — that their remote situation was unfavorable to accurate 
information — that some of their number had expressed themselves in favor of the 
Americans, and others would have done so had they durst. Clark, having wound 
up their terror to the highest pitch, resolved now to try the effect of that lenity, 
which he had all along intended to grant. He therefore abruptly addressed them : 
" Do you," said he, " mistake us for savages ? I am almost certain you do from 
your language. Do you think that Americans intend to strip women and children, 
or take the bread out of their mouths ? My countrymen disdain to make war upon 
helpless innocence. It was to prevent the horrors of Indian butchery upon our 
own wives and children, that we have taken up arms, and penetrated into this 
stronghold of British and Indian barbarity, and not the despicable prospect of 
plunder. That since the King of France had united his arms with those of Amer- 
ica, the war, in all probability, would shortly cease. That the inhabitants of Kas- 
kaskia, however, were at liberty to take which side they pleased, without danger 
to themselves, their property, or their families. That all religions were regarded 
by the Americans with equal respect; and that insult offered to theirs, would be 
immediately punished. And now," continued he, " to prove my sincerity, you will 
please inform your fellow-citizens that they are at liberty to go wherever they 
please, without any apprehension. That he Avas now convinced they had been 
misinformed, and prejudiced against the Americans, by British officers ; and that 
their friends in confinement should immediately be released." The joy of the vil- 
lagers, on hearing the speech of Col. Clai-k, may be imagined. The contrast of 
feeling among the people, on learning these generous and magnanimous intentions 
of Col Clark, verified his anticipations. The gloom which had overspread the 
town was immediately dispersed. The bells rung a merry peal; the church was 
at once filled, and thanks oS'ered up to God for deliverance from the terrors they 
had feared. Freedom to come and go, as they pleased, was immediately given ; 
knowing that their reports would advance the success and glor}'^ of his arms. 

So great an effect had this leniency of Clark upon them, that, on the evening of 
the same dav, a detachment, under Capt. Bowman, being detached to surprise Caho- 
kia, the Kaskaskians offered to go with it, and secure the submission of their neigh- 
boi-s. This having been accomplished, the two chief posts in Illinois had passed, 
without bloodshed, from the possession of England into that of Virginia. 

But St. Vincennes, upon the Wabash, the most important post in the west, except 
Detroit, still remained in possession of the enemy. Clark thereupon accepted the 
offer of Father Gibault, who, in company with another Kaskaskian, proceeded on 
a mission of peace to St. Vincennes, and by the 1st of August, returned with the 
intelligence that the inhabitants of that post had taken the oath of allegiance to 
the American cause. 

Clark next established courts, garrisoned three conquered towns, commenced a 
fort which proved the foundation of the flourishing city of Louisville, and sent the 
ill-natured Rocheblave a prisoner to Virginia. In October, Virginia extended her 
jurisdiction over the settlements of the Upper Mississippi and the Wabash, by the 
organization of the county of Illinois, the largest, at that time, in the world. Had 
it not been for the conquest of the Illinois country by Clark, it would have re- 
mained in the possession of England at the close of the Revolution, and continued, 
like Canada, to the present day, an English province. 



ILLINOIS. 



303 



Having reduced these English posts to submission, Clark opened negotia- 
tions with the Indians, showing throughout that masterly insight into their 
character that was ever so wonderfully displayed by him in dealing with men 
white or red. Among the incidents of his diplomacy is this one, given bv 
Mr. Peck : ^ > & jr 

A party of Indians, known as Meadow Indians, had come to attend the council with 
their neighbors. These, by some means, were induced to attempt the murder of the in- 
vaders, and tried to obtain an opportunity to commit the crime proposed, by surprising 
Clark and his officers in their quarters. In this plan they failed, and their purpose was dis- 
covered by the sagacity of the French in attendance; when this was done, Clark gave 
them to the French to deal with as they pleased, but with a hint that some of the leaders 
would be as well in irons. Thus fettered and foiled, the chiefs were brought daily to the 
council house, where he whom they proposed to kill, was engaged in forming friendly re- 
lations with their red brethren. At length, when, by these means, the futility of their pro- 
ject had been sufficiently impressed upon them, the American commander ordered their 
irons to be struck off, and in his quiet way, full of scorn, said, 

"_ Every body thinks you ought to die for your treachery upon my life, amidst the sacred 
deliberations of a council. I had determined to inflict death upon you for your base at- 
tempt, and you yourselves must be sensible that you have justly forfeited your lives; but 
on considering the meanness of watching a bear and catching him asleep, I have found out 
that you are not warriors, onbj old women, and too mean to he killed by the Big Knife. But,'" 
continued he, " as you ought to be punished for putting on breech cloths like men, thev 
shall be taken away from you, plenty of provisions shall be given for your journey home, 
as xcomen don't know how to hunt, and during your stay you shall be treated in every respect 
as squaws." 

These few cutting words concluded, the colonel turned away to converse with others. 
The children of the prairie, who had looked for anger, not contempt — punishment, not 
freedom — were unaccountably stirred by this treatment. They took counsel together, and 
presently a chief came forward with a belt and pipe of peace, which, with proper words, 
he laid upon the table. The interpreter stood ready to translate the words of friendship, 
but, with curling lip, the American said he did not wish to hear them, and lifting a sword 
which lay before him, he shattered the offered pipe, with the cutting expression that "he 
did not treat with women." The bewildered and overwhelmed Meadow Indians next asked 
the intercession of other red men, already admitted to friendship, but the only reply was, 
"The Big Knife has made no war upon these people; they are of a kind that we shoot like'wolves 
when we meet them in the woods, lest they eat the deer." 

All this wrought more and more upon the offending tribe; again they took counsel, and 
then two young men came forward, and, covering their heads with their blankets, sat 
down before the impenetrable commander; then two chiefs arose, and stated that these 
young warriors offered their lives as an atonement for the misdoings of their relatives, 
again they presented the pipe of peace. Silence reigned in the assembly, while the fate 
of the proffered victims hung in suspense: all watched the countenance of the American 
leader, who could scarce master the emotion which the incident excited. Still all sat 
noiseless, nothing heard but the deep breathing of those whose lives thus hung by a thread. 
Presently, he upon whom all depended, arose, and, approaching the young men, he bade 
them be uncovered and stand up. They sprang to their feet. 

" I am glad to find," said Clark, warmly," that there are wen among all nations. With 
you, who alone are fit to be chiefs of your tribe, I am willing to treat; through you I am 
ready to grant peace to your brothers; / take you by the hands as chiefs, worthy of being 
such." 

Here again the fearless generosity, and the generous fearlessness of Clark, proved per- 
fectly successful, and while the tribe in question became the allies of America, the fame 
of the occurrence, which spread far and wide thi-ough the north-west, made the najne of 
the white negotiator every where respected. 



Jacksonville, the capital of Morgan county, is on the line of the Great 
Western Railroad, 34 miles W. from Springfield, and 222 from Chicago. It 
is beautifully situated in the midst of an undulating and fertile prairie, in 
the vicinity of Mauvaisterre creek, an affluent of Illinois River. Perhaps 
no place of its size contains a greater number of churches, charitable insti- 
tutions, seminaries of learning, and the town has been denominated " the 
school-house of Illinois." It contains the Illinois College, which occupies 



304 ILLINOIS. 

a beautiful situation, and is one of the best and most flourishing in the state ; 
the Illinois Conference Female College, under the patronage of the Methodists, 
having had at one time 400 pupils; the Berean College, under the patronage of 
the Christian denomination j and the Jacksonville Female Seminary. The 




North-eastern view of Illinois College, Jacksonville. 

The Illinois College building is seen in the central part. The structure on the right was for- 
merly used as a chapel, library, etc.; that on the left is a wing remaining of the former College build- 
ing. 

state institutions are the Insane Asylum, the Deaf and Dumb Institution, 
and the Institution for the Blind. These state asylums are situated rela- 
tively on three sides of a quadrangle around the town, each about a mile 
from the center. All of the buildings for these institutions, together with 
those for literary purposes, are of the first order, and some of them make an 
imposing appearance. The state asylums are supported by the state tax, 
and all citizens of the state are entitled to their benefits without charge. 

One of the first originators of the Illinois College was the late Rev. John M. 
Ellis, who was sent by the American Home Missionary Society, to the infant set- 
tlements of this state. He early conceived the idea of founding a seminary de- 
voted to the purposes of education, on a somewhat peculiar plan. The first attempt 
was at Shoal creek, in Bond county, where the people took quite an interest in 
the undertaking. A committee was afterward appointed by the Presbytery of 
Missouri (with which the Presbyterian churches of this state were then connected), 
to consider the subject and make a report. A tour in connection with this subject 
was taken by Messrs. Ellis and Lippincott, in Jan., 1828. Having visited several 
places, Saturday night overtook them on the south side of Sandy creek, some four 
or five miles south from Jacksonville. 

Mr. Ellis, in order to fulfill his appointment to preach, continued his journey on 
Sunday morning. "It was a bright splendid morning. The winter rain had 
covered every twig and blade of prairie grass with ice, and as the rising sun threw 
his clear rays athwart the plain, myriads of gems sparkled with living light, and 
Diamond Grove might almost have been fancied a vast crystal chandelier." The 
name of Diamond Grove was considerably more ancient than the name or exist- 
ence of Jacksonville, and was used as a designation of the region around it. 
' The most convenient place for the people, at that time, to assemble on that Sab- 
bath, was at the house of Judge Leeper, which was about a mile south-east from 
,the public si^uare, in the immediate vicinity of the woodland, which borders oh 



ILLINOIS. 3QJJ 

the Mauvaisterre creek, and nearly east of the spot where the Insane Hospital now 
stands. He was one of the first members of the Presbyterian Church in Jackson- 
ville. The principal sites which attracted the notice of the commissioners when 
here, was the spot now known as the mound and the site on which the colleo-e 
stands. 

Mr. Ellis removed his residence from Kaskaskia to Jacksonville, in 1828, and 
the same year made a report to the society respecting the seminary. About this 
period seven members of the theological department of Yale College, Conn., see- 
ing the report of Mr. Ellis, pledged themselves to devote their lives to the cause of 
Christianity in the distant and then wild state of Illinois. The names of these 
young men were, Theoron M. Grosvenor, Theoron Baldwin, J. M. Sturtevant (now 
president of the college), J. T. Brooks, Elisha Jenney, William Kirby and Asa 
Turner. The following is extracted from President Sturtevant's Historical Dis- 
course, delivered in Jacksonville on the Quai-ter Century Celebration at Illinois 
College, July 11, 1855, being relative to his first visit to Jacksonville: 

"It was on a bright Sabbath morning, the 15th day of November, a little after 
sunrise, that we came in sight of Jacksonville. It was already called, in the ordi- 
nary speech of the people, a beautiful place. I had often heard it called so my- 
self; and beautiful it was, when the bright face of spring was again spread over 
it, though its beauty was God's work, and not man's. It was at that time little 
better than a group of log cabins. The prairie was in the sombre brown of autumn, 
with scarce a tree or shrub to relieve the monotony. To the north-west, however, 
the view was shut in by an elevation, which a New Englander might almost recog- 
nize as a hill. It was crowned with a natural grove. Against the front of the 
grove was already projected an edifice of brick, which, at that distance, and on 
such an elevation, made an appearance of considerable dignity and magnificence. 
The site on which it stood charmed every beholder. It was the south half of what 
is now our college buildings, then in process of erection. We were most cordially 
welcomed at the humble, but none the less hospitable, dwelling of Mr. Ellis. * * 

Our arrival was expected, and preaching was appointed. At the proper hour 
we repaired to the place of worship. What would our people say now, if we were 
to invite them to assemble in such a place for public worship? It was a log school 
house, some 20 feet square, with a floor of split logs, and seats, so far as there were 
any of the same, with holes bored in them, and sticks driven in for legs. The 
chimney was of the style and structure most approved for log-cabins, built out of 
doors, of logs and sticks, and occupying near half of one side of the room. Such 
was its condition the first time 1 met the congregation in that place. Before the 
next Sabbath, the chimney had either fallen down or been removed, in prepara- 
tion for an arrangement for warming the house by a stove. For two or three Sab- 
baths we met there, before this vast opening in one side was again closed up. Desk 
or pulpit there was none, an awkward circumstance to one just from the school of 
theology, with no faith in the possibility of preaching without a manuscript before 
him. Yet, on that day, this was the unlucky predicament of your speaker. On 
the first Sabbath the audience was small, and a chair was set for the preacher in 
one corner of the room. On the second Sabbath the house was crowded. The 
chair was missing. The deficiency of seats had been supplied by bringing in rails 
from a neighboring fence, and laying them across from one seat to another, and 
thus covering over the whole area with 'sittings.' Those who could not thus be 
accommodated, crowded around the ample opening where the chimney had been, 
and heard standing in the open air. There was a state of democratic equality in 
the congregation, which would have done good to the heart of a thorough-going 
leveler. The preacher found a seat, where he could, among the congregation ; 
laid his Bible and hymn book on the rail by his side, and rose in his place and ad- 
dressed the congregation as best he might. 

When the day appointed arrived, we repaired to the still unfinished edifice, then 
a full mile distant from Jacksonville, where we found the room which has ever 
since been used as a chapel, finished, lacking the desk, the lathing and plastering, 
and for the most part the seating. The rest of the building was in a still more un- 
finished condition. Of course its impression was far enough from inviting. Nine 
pupils presented themselves on that day. They were Alvin M. Dixon, James P. 

20 



306 ILLINOIS. 

Stewart, from Bond county, Merril Rattan and Hampton Rattan, from Greene 
county, Samuel R. Simms, Chatham H. Simms, Rollin Mears, Charles B. Barton, 
and a youth by the name of Miller, of Morgan county. They were all to begin 
their studies in the first rudiments, for it is not known that there was, at that time, 
in the state, a single youth fitted for the freshman class in an American college. 
The pupils were called together, a portion of scripture was read, a few remarks 
were made on the magnitude of the errand which had brought us there." 

The first printing office in Jacksonville, was set up by James G. Edwards, of 
Boston, who afterward removed to Burlington, Iowa. He was the printer and edi- 
tor of the "Western Observer." His printing office is the building in the rear 
of that of Dr. Mavo McLean Reed, a native of South Windsor, Connecticut. Dr. 
Reed emigrated to Jacksonville in 1830, from South Windsor, with Mr. Elihu 
Wolcott and his family. Mr. W. traveled with his own team from Connecticut, 
and arrived here on the 5th of November, having been six weeks on the 
journey. 

About 1,000 Portuguese emigrants reside in Jacksonville and its immediate vi- 
cinity, being sent here by a society in New York. They are from the Island of 
Maderia, and were brought to embrace the Protestant faith, through the instru- 
mentality of Dr. Kally, a Scotchman who went to reside in Maderia for the health 
of his wife. They have a minister named De Mattoes, who preaches in their na- 
tive language. They are an industrious and frugal people : most of them have 
houses of their own, with from two to ten acres of land : a few have 30 or 40 acres. 
They have additions, occasionally, from their native country. 



The following inscriptions are from monuments in Jacksonville ; the first 
from the graveyard in the vicinity of the colleges; the others, in the city 
graveyard. Col. Hardin (the inscription on whose monument is given below) 
was much esteemed, and represented this district in congress, from 1843 to 
1845. Being at the head of the Illinois militia, he was requested, by the 
governor of the state, to take the command of a regiment of Illinois volun- 
teers. He at first declined, not fully approving of the Mexican War. But 
being over-persuaded, and desirous of obtaining the approbation of all classes 
of his fellow-citizens, he finally consented. Tearing himself from his wife 
and children, he embarked, with his regiment, for Mexico; but as in many 
other like instances, it proved with him, that 

" The paths of Glory lead but to the Grave." 

In the battle of Buena Vista, Col. Hardin having obtained permission to 
march upon the enemy at a certain point, was suddenly attacked by an over- 
whelming force of Mexicans concealed in a ravine, when he fell pierced with 
many wounds. His remains were found among the slain, brought home and 
interred with military honors. 

Alexander Dunlop, born May 6th, A.D. 1791, in Fayette Co., Kentucky. Died Nov. 10, 
A.D. 1853. Alex. Dunlop volunteered as a private soldier in the war with England in 1812, 
and was taken prisoner at Dudley's defeat, May 7, 1813. Commanded a company during 
the Seminole War, also the detachment that captured St. Marks, April 7, 1818, making 
prisoners, Arbuthnot and Ambrister. Was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Illinois, 
1843. Was commissioned Major of the U. S. Army 1816, and was present at the fall of Vera 
Cruz, March 28, 1847. 

Pro patria, Col. John J. Hardin, of the 1st Reg. of 111. volunteers, gloriously fell in the 
battle of Buena Vista, Feb. 23, 1847. Born in Frankfort, Ky., on the 6th day of January, 
1810. Died on the field of battle in the 37th year of his age. 



William E. Pierson died Sept. 30, 1854, on the ove of his departure to the Cherokee Na- 
tion, being under appointment as missionary teacher by the A. B. C. F. M., aged 24. He 
rests in hope. 



ILLINOIS. 



307 



Bloomington, beautifully situated on the line of the Illinois Central 
Railroad, is 61 miles N. E. from Springfield, and 128 S. W. from Chicago. 
It is regularly laid out on an undulating surface, giving a fine prospect of 
the fertile prairie lands in the vicinity. The city is generally very neatly 




North View in Bloomington. 

Showing the appearance of the central part of the place, as it is entered from the north ; the new Bap- 
tist Church, and the ShatfLT and Landon Houses, with a portion of the old Court House, are seen on thn 
right of the engraving ; the •2d Presbyterian and the Methodist Churches on the left. 

built, having the appearance of thrift and prosperity, and some of the build- 
ings near the public square, are magnificent in their appearance. This place 
contains the State Normal University, the Illinois Wesleyan University, two 
female seminaries, several banks, 11 churches, various, manufacturing estab- 
lishments, and a population of about 8,000. • 

The first settler and father of the town, was John Allin, a native of North Caro- 
lina, who was raised in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, he having lived, in the early 
period of his life in each of those states. He was at first attracted to this spot by 
the extreme beauty of the groves. Being acquainted with the geography of the 
country, he found it was on a direct line from the foot of the rapids of the 
Illinois, near La Salle to Cairo, also from Chicago to Alton and St. Louis. These 
considerations induced him to locate himself on this point, believing it was des- 
tined to become one of importance. It was for a period called Blooming Grove, 
and from this circumstance Mr. Allin gave it its present name. This section of 
country appears to have been a favorite spot with the Indians. Mr. A. states that 
he had seen the signs or remains of 30 Indian villages, within a compass of 30 
miles around Bloomington. At the time of his arrival, two tribes, the Kickapoos 
and Delawares, lived within some 15 or 20 miles. The Kickapoos were 5 or 600; 
the Delawares were about half that number. The Kickapoos left in 1832. 

Mr. Allin came in 1829, and erected his log cabin on the edge of the timber op- 
posite where the First Presbyterian Church now stands, and he set out most of the 
trees growing in that vicinity. He brought a quantity of goods with him, which 
he kept in a part of his cabin, and opened the first store in Bloomington. Samuel 
Durley, a young man born in Kentucky, then nearly of age, acted as clerk. Kov. 
James Latta, the second settler, built his habitation about 20 rods west from Mr. 
Allin 's ; he was a Methodist preacher, universally esteemed by all classes. Mr. 



308 



ILLINOIS. 



Allin found him living in a cabin about four miles south-west of Bloomington, on 
/Su2;ar creek, and induced him to remove. M. L. Covel, and Col. A. Gridley, 
merchants from the state of New York, were also prominent men among the first 
settlers. 

The first school house was built in 1830. It was constructed of logs, and stood 
on the edge of the timber, about 20 rods west of Mr. Allin 's house. This was the 
first public building opened for religious meetings. The first seminary was opened 
by Rev. Lemuel Foster, in 1836; he lived, preached, and kept school in the same 
building. Mr. Foster was originally from New England, and was the first Presby- 
terian minister, if we except a Mr. McGhor or Gear, who was of feeble constitution, 
and died very soon after his arrival in the place. The first regular physician was 
John Anderson, of Kentucky. Henry Miller, from Ohio, kept the first house of en- 
tertainment: it was a log house a few rods from Mr. Allin 's. 




South-eastern view of Peoria. 

Showing the appearance of the central part of the city, as it is entered from the eastern side of the Illi- 
nois River, by the Railroad and the Peoria bridge. Part of the Railroad bridge is seen on the extreme 
left ; the steamboat landing on the right. The draw or swing of the bridge is represented open for the 
passage of steamboats. 

McLean county, named from Judge McLean, of Ohio, was formed in 1831. At 
this period there were but 30 or 40 families living within the present limits of the 
county. Mr. Allin donated the site of the town plot for the county seat. The 
first court house was a small framed building, which stood on the present public 
square. Mr. Allin was chosen the first senator from the county in 1836, and con- 
tinued in the office for four years. Jesse W. Fell, distinguished for his enterprize 
and public spirit, edited and published the Bloomington Observer, the first 
newspaper printed in the place. It was printed in a small building on West street, 
long since removed. The construction of the Central Railroad with the grants 
of lands by congress on the route, gave an important impulse to the prosperity of 
the town. 

Peoria is situated on the right or west bank of Illinois River, at the out- 
let of Peoria Lake, 70 miles north from Springfield, 193 from the mouth of 
the Illinois, and 151 south-west of Chicago. It is the most populous town 
on the river, and one of the most important and commercial in the state. The 
river is navigable for steamboats in all stages of water, and is the channel of 



ILLINOIS. 309 

an immense trade in grain, lumber, pork, etc. It has a regular commu- 
nication with St. Louis by steamboats, and with Chicago by means of the 
Illinois and Michigan canal, and by railroads to places in every direction. 
The city is handsomely situated on an elevation above the flood, and slopes 
gradually to the river, rendering drainage laws unnecessary, and the grading 
of the streets an easy task. The streets are all 100 feet wide. Back of the 
town is a range of bluffs, from 60 to 100 feet high, commanding, from their 
summits, a most extensive and beautiful prospect. It has numerous steam 
mills, distilleries, manufactories, etc. It contains 28 churches, and about 
16,000 inhabitants. 

Peoria derived its name from the Peorias, one of the five tribes known as the 
Illini, or Minneway nation. In the autumn of 1679, La Salle and his co-voyagerg, 
from Canada, sailed for this region of country, by way of the lakes to Chicago, 
where he established a fort. Leaving a few men for a garrison, he set out with 
his canoes, nine in number, with three or four men in each, about the 1st of 
December, for the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, by ascending St. Joseph River, 
Michigan, and across the portage to Kan-ka-kee, a main branch of the lUinuis 
River, and then down the river to Peoria. Among La Salle's companions, were 
M. de Tonti, who acted as historian. 

M. de Tonti, in his account of this voyj^ge, says : " The same day (January 4, 
1680), we went through a lake formed by the river, about seven leagues long and 
one broad. The savages call that place Pimitceuii^ that is, in their tongue, 'a place 
where there is abundance of fat beasts.' After passing through this [Peoria] lake, 
they came again to the channel of the river, and found themselves between two 
Indian encampments. This was where the bridges are now built. On perceiving 
the strangers, the Indians fled; but some were bold enough to return, when one 
of their chiefs came and inquired who they were, and what were their objects. 
They were answered by the interpreter, that they were French, and that their ob- 
ject was to make known to them the God of Heaven; to offer them the protec- 
tion of the King of France, and to trade with them. This was well received, 
and the calumet, or pipe of peace, was smoked by each party as a token of 
peace and friendship. A great feast was held, which lasted for several days, 
attended with dancing, on the part of the natives, and firing of guns and other 
demonstrations of joy on the part of the French. 

M. La Salle erected a fort on the south-eastern bank of the Illinois, which he 
named Oreve-coeiir [Bursted heart], on account of the grief he felt for the loss of 
one of his chief trading barks richly laden, and for the mutiny and villainous con- 
duct of some of his companions who first attempted to poison and then desert him. 
This fort is supposed to have stood on land owned by Mr. Wren, some two or 
three miles eastward of Peoria. The exact date of the first permanent settlement 
in Illinois, can not now be ascertained, unless this fort or trading post of Creve- 
coeur be regarded the first, and there is no evidence that this remained a perma- 
nent station. 

After the conquest of Canada, the Illinois country fell into the possession of Great 
Britain. In 1766, the "Quebec Bill" passed the British parliament, which placed 
Illinois and the North-western Territory under the local administration of Canada. 
The conquest of the North-western Territory, by Col. George Rogers Clark, in 1778, 
was the next event of importance. It was brought under the jurisdiction of 
Virginia, and the country of Illinois was organized. In the year 1796, Peoria 
was described as "an Indian village, composed of pseudo savages," made of the 
native tribe of " Peoriaca Indians," and " Canadian French," a few Indian traders 
and hunters. In Dec, 1812, a Capt. Craig was sent here by Gov. Edwards, to 
chastise the disorderly Indians and their allies, if any of them might be found at 
this little French village. Capt. Craig found a pretext for burning this French 
town, which had been laid out by them, embracing about one half of the 1st ward 
of the present city, the center of this village being at or about the entrance 
of the bridge across the Illinois River. Capt. Craig excused himself for this 
act, by accusi.i^ the French of being in league with the Indians, and by alleging 



310 ILLINOIS. 

that his boats were fired upon from the town, while lying at anchor before it. 
This the French inhabitants denied, and charged Craig with unprovoked cruelty. 
This place was then called "ia ville Mailleit," from its founder, Hypolite 
Mailleit, who moved here in 1778, and commenced the building of this ville. 

In 1830, John Hamlin and John Sharp built the first flouring mill ever erected 
in this part of the state, on the Kickapoo, or Red Bud creek, about three miles W. 
of Peoria. The next was erected in Oct., 1837, by Judge Hale and John Easton, 
about four miles fi-om the city. In the spring of 1834, the only building W. of 
the corner of Main and Washington-streets was a barn; the entire town then con- 
sisted of but seven framed houses, and about thrice that number of log tenements 
— but during this season about forty houses and stores were erected. About this 
time, the old jail, standing on the alley between Monroe and Perry-streets, was 
built, a hewn log building, only 16 feet square and 14 high ; the lower story formed 
for a cell, entered by a trap door from the second story, which was used for a com- 
mon prison. The court house was a log building on the bank, in which the jurors 
slept at night on their blankets on the floor. The courts being usually held in warm 
weather, after the grand jurors received their charge, in court time, the grand 
jury sat under the shade of a crab apple tree, and the petit jury in a potato hole 
(that had been partially filled up) in the vicinity. The venerable Isaac Waters 
was clerk of the court. His office and dwelling were in a small log cabin, where 
now stands Toby & Anderson's plow fixctory. J. L. Bogardus, the postmaster, kept 
his office in a log cabin near Sweney & Ham's steam mill. 

Peoria was incorporated as a town in 1831, and as a city in 1844. The first city 
officers were Hon. Wm. Hale, mayor; Peter Sweat, Chester Hamlin, Clark Cleave- 
land, Harvey Lightner, J. L. Knowlton, John Hamlin, Charles Kettelle, and A. P. 
Bartlett, as aldermen. The Peoria bridge, across the Illinois River, with its abut- 
ments, is 2,600 feet long, was finished in 1849, and cost of about $33,000. In 1818 
the first canal boat arrived from Lake Michigan. The first steamboat that arrived 
at Peoria was the " Liberty," in the month of December, 1829. The first news- 
paper was the " Illinois Champion," published by A. S. Buxton and Henry Wol- 
ford, March 10, 1834. The first daily paper was called the "Daily Register," pub- 
lished by Picket & Woodcock; the first number was issued June 28, 1848. 

The Methodist Episcopal church, the first formed in the place, was organized in 
Aug., 1834, by Rev. Zadock Hall, of the Chicago circuit. Dr. Heath, of St. Louis, 
and Rev. John St. Clair, of Ottawa. Their meetings, at first, were held in the old 
court house. The first church edifice, the Main-street Presbyterian church, was 
erected April, 1836. The church, consisting of eight members, was organized 
in Dec, 1834, by Rev Romulus Barnes and Rev. Flavel Bascom. St. Jude's church 
(Episcopal) was organized here in 1834; St. Paul's church building was erected in 
Sept., 1850. The Baptist church was constituted in Aug., 1836. The Second 
Presbyterian church was organized Oct., 1840. 

The following sketch of a campaign against tte Indians, at Peoria and 
vicinity, in the war of 1812, is from Peck's edition of Perkins' Annals: 

During the campaign in the summer and autumn of 1813, all the companies of 
rangers, from Illinois and Missouri, were under the command of Gen. Howard. 
Large parties of hostile Indians were known to have collected about Peoria, and 
scouting parties traversed the district between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, 
then an entire wilderness. 

It was from these marauding parties that the frontier settlements of Illinois and 
Missouri, were harassed. It became an object of no small importance, to pene- 
trate the country over which they ranged, and establish a fort at Peoria, and thus 
drive them to the northern wilderness. Our authorities for the incidents of the 
campaign, are a long letter from the honorable John Reynolds, who was a non-com- 
missioned officer in a company of spies, and the 'Missouri Gazette,' of November 
6th The rendezvous for the Illinois regiment was 'Camp Russell,' two miles 
north of Edwardsville. The whole party, when collected, made up of the rangers, 
volunteers and militia, amounted to about 1,400 men, under the command of Gen. 



ILLINOIS 311 

Howard. Robert "Wash, Esq., and Dr. Walker, of St. Louis, were of his staff. 
Colonels Benjamin Stephenson, then of Randolph county, Illinois, and Alexan- 
der McNair, of St. Louis, commanded the regiments. W. B. Whiteside and John 
Moredock, of Illinois, were majors in the second regiment, and William Christy 
and Nathan Boone, filled the same office in the first, or Missouri regiment. A Maj. 
Desha, a United States officer from Tennessee, was in the army, but what post 
he occupied we do not learn. Col. E. B. Clemson, of the United States Army, 
was inspector. Gov. Reynolds states, there were some United States rangers from 
Kentucky, and a company from Vincennes. We have no means of ascertaining 
the names of all the subaltern officers. We know that Samuel Whiteside, Joseph 
Phillips, Nathaniel Journey and Samuel Judy, were captains in the Illinois 
companies. 

The Illinois regiment lay encamped on the Piasau, opposite Portage de Sioux, 
waitino- for more troops, for three or four weeks. They then commenced the 
march, and swam their horses over the Illinois River, about two miles above the 
mouth. On the high ground in Calhoun county, they had a skirmish with a party 
of Indians. The Missouri troops, with Gen. Howard, crossed the Mississippi from 
Fort Mason, and formed a junction with the Illinois troops. The baggage and men 
were transported in canoes, and the horses swam the river. 

The army marched for a number of days along the Mississippi bottom. On 
or near the site of Quincy, was a large Sac village, and an encampment, that must 
have contained a thousand warriors. It appeared to have been deserted but a 
short period. 

The army continued its march near the Mississippi, some distance above the 
Lower Rapids, and then struck across the prairies for the Illinois River, which 
they reached below the mouth of Spoon River, and marched to Peoria village. 
Here was a small stockade, commanded by Col. Nicholas of the United Statee 
Army. Two days previous the Indians had made an attack on the fort, and wers 
repulsed. The army, on its march from the Mississippi to the Illinois River, found 
numerous fresh trails, all passing northward, which indicated that the savages were 
fleeing in that direction. 

Next morning the general marched his troops to the Senatchwine, a short dis- 
tance above the head of Peoria Lake, where was an old Indian village, called 
Gomo's village. Here they found the enemy had taken water and ascended the Illi- 
nois. This, and two other villages, were burnt. Finding no enemy to fight, the army 
was m.arched back to Peoria, to assist the regular troops in building Fort Clark, so 
denominated in memory of the old hero of 1778; and Maj. Christy, with a party, 
was ordered to ascend the river with two keel boats, duly armed and protected, to 
the foot of the rapids, and break up any Indian establishments that might be in 
that quarter. Maj. Boone, with a detachment, was dispatched to scour the coun- 
try on Spoon River, in the direction of Rock River. 

The rangers and militia passed to the east side of the Illinois, cut timber, which 
they hauled on truck wheels by drag ropes to the lake, and rafted it across. The 
fort was erected by the regular troops under Capt. Phillips. In preparing the 
timber, the rangers and militia were engaged about two weeks. 

Maj. Christy and the boats returned from the rapids without any discovery, ex- 
cept additional proofs of the alarm and fright of the enemy, and Maj. Boone re- 
turned with his force with the same observations. 

It was the plan of Gen. Howard to return by a tour through the Rock River 
valley, but the cold weather set in unusually early. By the middle of October it 
was intensely cold, the troops had no clothing for a winter campaign, and their 
horses would, in all probability, fail ; the Indians had evidently fled a long distance 
in the interior, so that, all things considered, he resolved to return the direct mute 
to Camp Russell, where the militia and volunteers were disbanded on the 2'2d of 
October. Supplies of provisions, and munitions of war had been sent to Peoria, in 
boats, which had reached there a few days previous to the army. 

It may seem to those, who delight in tales of fighting and bloodshed,, that this 
expedition was a very insignificant afl'air. Very few Indians were killetl, very 
little fighting done, but one or two of the army were lost, and 3'et, as a means of 
protecting the frontier settlements of these territories, it was most efficient, and 



312 



ILLINOIS. 



gave at least six months quiet to the people. After this, Indians shook their heads 
and said, ' White men like the leaves in the forest — like the grass in the prairies — 
they grow everywhere.' " 




Distant view of Quincy, from the south. 

The engraving shows the appearance of Qiiincy. when first seen on approaching it from the sonth by the 
Mississippi. Thayer's Alcohol Factory and Oomstock .fe Go's Iron Foundry are Been on the right: the 
Central Mill and Grain Depot on the left; between these two points is a range of limestone quarries. Just 
above the Central Mill is the steam and ferry boat landing; also mills, stores, shops, etc. The city is par- 
tially Seen on the bluff. 

QuiNCY, the county seat of Adams coanty and a port of entry, is situated 
on a beautiful elevation, about 125 feet above the Mississippi, and commands 
a fine view for five or six miles in each direction. It is 109 miles from 
Springfield, 268 miles from Chicago, by railroad, and 160 above St. Louis. 
It contains a large public square, a court house, many beautiful public and 
private edifices, several banks, a number of extensive flouring and other 
mills, and manufactories of various kinds, with iron founderies, machine 
shops, etc. Flour is exported to a great extent, and large quantities of pro- 
visions are packed. The blufi's in front of the city may be considered as one 
vast limestone quarry, from which building stone of a hard and durable 
quality can be taken and transported to any section of the country, by steam- 
boat and railroad facilities immediately at hand. Five newspapers are printed 
here, three daily and two in the German language, one of which is daily. 
Population about 16,000. 

The "Quincy English and German Male and Female Seminary," an in- 
corporated and recently established institution, is designed for a male and 
female college of the highest grade, for which a large and elegant building 
is already constructed. The streets cross at right angles, those running N. 
and S. bear the name of the states of the Union. The present bounds of 
the city extend two and a half miles each way. The river at the landing is 
one mile wide. Running along and under the N.W. front of the city, lies a 
beautiful bay, formerly called " Boston Bay," from the circumstance of a 



ILLINOIS. 



313 



Bostonian having once navigated his craft up this bay, mistaking it for the 
main channel of the river. 

Quincy was originally selected as a town site by John Wood, of the state of New 
York; for several years he was mayor of this city and lieutenant governor of the 
state. Mr. Wood built his cabin (18 by 20 feet) in Dec, 1822, without nails or 
sawed lumber. This building, the first in the place, stood near the foot of Dela- 
ware-street, about 15 rods E. of Thayer's alcohol factory. At this time there were 
only three white inhabitants within the present county of Adams, and these were 
obliged to go to Atlas, 40 miles distant, to a horse mill for corn meal, their princi- 
pal breadstuff. In Nov., 1825, the county court ordered a survey and plat of the 
town to be made, and the lots to be advertised for sale. Henry H. Snow, the clerk, 
and afterward judge, laid off 230 lots, 99 by 108 feet, reserving a public square in 
the center of the town. It received its name, Quincy, on the day that John Quincy 
Adams was inaugurated president of the United States. 

On the present site of Quincy once stood an old Sac village. At the time the 
town was surveyed, it was covered with forest trees and hazel bushes, excepting 
about two acres of prairie ground where the public square was laid out. In the 
trees in the vicinity of the place, balls were found which had been shot into them 
fifty or more years before. A few years since an iron ring and staple were found 
sixty feet below the earth's surface. In the mounds in and about the city are 
found Indian bones and armor of ancient date. 

John Wood, from the state of New York; Henry H. Snow, from New Hamp- 
shire; Willard Keyes, from Vermont; Jeremiah Rose and Eufus Brown, from 
New York; and Ashur Anderson, from Pennsylvania, may be considered as prom- 
inent men among the first settlers. Drs. J. N. Ealston, from Kentucky, and S. W. 
Rogers, from New York, were the first physicians in the order of time. The first 
house of worship in the place, was erected by the First Congregational ist Society, 
in 1833 and '34: Rev. Asa Turner, from Massachusetts, was the first minister. The 
building is now used as a carriage shop, on Fourth-street, and stands on the spot 
where it was first erected. The first school was taught, in 1827, by Mr. Mendall, 
in a log school house, which stood on a lot fronting Hampshire-street, between 
Second and Third-streets. The first court house and jail was built of logs, and 
was nearly on tlie spot where the present court house is situated. C. M. Wood, 
from New York, was the first printer; he printed the first paper, the "Illinois 
Bounty Land Register," in 1835, since merged into the Quincy Herald. The first 
ferry was established by Willard Keyes. The first store was opened, in 1826, by 
Ashur Anderson, who opened his stock, valued at $1,000, in Brown's log tavern. 
In 1828, Robert Tillson and Charles Holmes established themselves as merchants 
in a log cabin on the north side of the square, in what was later known as the 
old " Land Office Hotel." Afterward, they erected for their accommodation the 
first framed building in the town. It still remains, and has long been known as 
the old " Post Office Corner." 

"Without access to market, or to mill, the first settlers of Quincy built their houses 
without nails, brick, or mortar, the principal utensils used being the axe and the auger. 
The necessaries of Hfe were scarcely attainable, to say nothing of the luxuries. In the 
cultivation of their land, viz.: 30 acres of corn (without fence) they were obliged to go 30 
miles to have their plows sharpened. One man would swing a plowshare on each side of 
an Indian pony, pile on such other articles of iron as needed repairs, lay in a stock oi pro- 
visions, mount and set out." 

The number of inhabitants during the first year increased to sixteen; from 1825 to 1835, 
they increased to five hundred; during all which time they continued to import their bacon 
and flour. As late as 1832, when the Black Hawk war broke out, the Indians, principally 
of the Sac and Fox tribes, were very numerous, the shores of the river being frequently 
covered with their wigwams, both above and below the town. Coming in from their hunt- 
ing excursions, they brought large quantities of feathers, deer-skins, moccasins, beeswax, 
honey, maple sugar, grass floor mats, venison, muskrat and coon-skins. 



Alton is on the E. bank of the Mississippi, 25 miles N. from St. Louis, 
3 miles above the mouth of the Missouri River, 20 below the mouth of the 
Illinois, and 75 miles S.W. of Springfield. The site of the city is quite un- 



314 



ILLINOIS. 



even and broken, with higli and stony bluffs, and in front of it the Missis- 
sippi runs almost a due course from east to west. The city contains a splen- 
did city hall, 10 churches, and a cathedral in its interior superior to anything 
of the kind in the western states. Five newspapers are published here. As 





North-western view of Alton. 

The view is from Prospect-street, taken by Mr. Roeder, and designed by him for a large engraving. On 
the left of the picture is the Kailroad Depot, above which is the Methodist church. On the right is the Pen- 
itentiary and Steamboat landing. In the central part appear the Unitarian, Episcopal, Baptist, and Pres- 
byterian churches, and the City Hall. On the right, in the distance, is seen the Missouri shore of the 
Mississippi, also the mouth of the Missouri River, at its entrance into the " Father of Waters." 

a manufacturing point, Alton has hardly an equal on the Mississippi River, 
and the city is now in a flourishing condition, having at hand limestone for 
building purposes, mines of bituminous coal, beds of the finest clay for brick 
and earthen ware, with railroad and steamboat communication to every point. 
The state penitentiary was located here in 1827. Population 1860, 6,333. 

Upper Alton is located on the high rolling timber land, in the rear of Al- 
ton city, two miles from the Mississippi, and has a population of upward of 
2,000. The manufacturing business is considerable, particularly cooper- 
ing, potters' ware, etc. The town was laid out, in 1817, by J. Meacham, 
from Vermont; several additions have been since made. Shurtleff College, 
named from Dr. Shurtleff, of Boston, is in the limits of the town, and is a 
flourishing institution under the charge of the Baptist denomination. 

The Monticello Female Seminary, four miles from Alton, founded by Capt. 
Benjamin Godfrey, was the first female seminary built in Illinois, and is of 
high reputation. This institution was opened for pupils in 1838. Rev. 
Theoron Baldwin had the charge of the first scholars. Capt. Godfrey, its 
founder, was a sea captain, and has been long distinguished for his public 
spirit, and the sacrifices which he has made for the public good. 

The first resident in Alton appears to have been John Bates, a blacksmith, from 



ILLINOIS. 315 

Tennessee. He located himself at the head of the American bottom lands in Lower 
Alton, where he cultivated a small farm, about half a mile below the steamboat 
landing in Alton. A man in his employ was killed by the Indians while plowing 
on this farm. The first settlers who located in Upper Alton, about two miles back 
from the river, came in from 1808 to 1812, and were principally from Kentucky and 
Tennessee. They lived in block-houses for protection. This place is called Hun- 
ter's town on section 13, and is now within the city limits. Col. Rufus Easton, 
delegate from Missouri, located Alton proper on section 14. He sold a large por- 
tion of Lower Alton to Maj. C. W. Hunter, in 1818, together with several other 
tracts adjoining, which Maj. H. afterward laid out as an addition, and are now with- 
in the city limits. 

Maj. Charles W. Hunter was a native of Waterford, N. T., a son of Robert Hun- 
ter, of Pennsylvania, a favorite officer under Gen. Wayne, who led the forlorn hope 
at the storming of Stony Point, in the Revolution, and also accompanied him after- 
ward in the Indian war at the west. Mr. Hunter, in the war of 1812, served as 
major in the 35th Reg. U. S. infantry. At the close of the war he resigned hia 
commission and went to St. Louis, where he engaged in merchandise and the In- 
dian trade. After his purchase from Col. Easton, he removed his family here, in 
1819, and built the first framed house in Alton (now standing), and opened in it 
the first regular store in the place. He brought his goods here in a barge, which 
he had used in the New Orleans trade. 

The Methodist itinerating preachers appear to have been the first in the order of 
time who visited Alton; they preached in the school house in Upper Alton, and in 
private houses. The first Presbyterian church (of stone) was erected by Capt. 
Godfrey, of the firm of Godfrey, Gilman & Co. Mr. Joseph Meacham, who laid 
out Upper Alton, was a surveyor from New England. It was laid out on an ex- 
tensive scale, and lots and blocks were reserved for the support of a free school. 
The proceeds were accordingly reserved for this purpose, and Alton is entitled to 
the honor of establishing the Jirsi public free school in Illinois. The first teacher 
was Deacon Henry H. Snow, of New Hampshire. Mr. S. has since removed to 
Quiney, in which place he has held many public offices. 

Up to 1827, the "town of Alton " made but very little progress. Upper Alton 
completely overshadowed it. The location of the penitentiary here gave quite an 
impulse to the place. In 1831, the Alton Manufacturing Company built the large 
steam flouring mill, on the river bank, in front of the penitentiary. In 1832, O. 
M. Adams and Edward Breath started the "Weekly Spectator." In 1836, the Al- 
ton and Springfield road was surveyed by Prof. Mitchell, of Cincinnati. In 1836, 
Treadway and Parks commenced the publication of the " Weekly Alton Tele- 
graph." In the spring of this year, Rev. E. P. Lovejoy commenced the publica- 
tion of a weekly religious newspaper, called the " Alton Observer." The "Alton 
Presbytery Reporter " was started in 1845, also the " Courier " newspaper, etc., 
office, several splendid founderies and machine shops, two German newspapers, and 
the "Alton National Democrat." The city of Alton was incorporated in 1837. 

Alton is the place where Elijah P. Lovejoy, in 1837, fell while defending 
his press from an attack by a mob. His remains were interred in the Alton 
cemetery, a beautiful spot donated by Maj. C. W. Hunter to the city. The 
Anti-Slavei-y Society of Illinois are taking steps for the erection of a monu- 
ment from 75 to 100 feet high, which, if constructed, will be a most conspicu- 
ous object, for a great distance, for all who are passing up or down the Mis- 
sissippi and Missouri Rivers. 

Rev. E. P. Lovejoy was born Nov. 9, 1802, at Albion, Kennebec county, Maine, 
then a part of Massachusetts. He was educated at Waterville College, Me., \vliere 
he graduated with the highest honors of his class. In the latter part of 1^827, he 
went to St. Louis, where he immediately engaged in teaching a school. He after- 
ward entered the Theological Seminary at Princeton, to prepare himself for the 
ministry. He returned to St. Louis, and, at the request of his friends, was induced 
to become the editor of a religious weekly newspaper, and accordingly, on tlie 22d 
of Nov., 1833, the first number of the " St. Louis Observer" was issued. In July, 



316 ILLINOIS. 

1836, on account of the strong anti-slavery sentiments advocated in the paper, it 
became quite unpopular in St. Louis, and, taking the advice of his friends, he re- 
moved it to Alton. 

After the removal of the Observer office to Alton, its course on the abolition of 
slavery gave much offense to a portion of the inhabitants. A meeting was called, 
Mr. Lovejoy's course was denounced, and on the night of the 21st of August, 1837, 
<*, party of some 15 or 20 men broke into the Observer office, and destroyed the 
press and printing materials. Another press was procured, and stored in the 
warehouse of Messrs. Godfrey, Oilman & Co., standing on the wharf at Alton. 
Threats having been given that this press would also be destroyed, Mr. Lt^vejoy 
and some of his friends assembled to defend their property. On the night of ]S"ov. 
7, 1837, a mob, at first consisting of about 30 individuals, armed, some with stones 
and some with guns and pistols, formed themselves in a line by the warehouse. 
Mr. Oilman, one of the 'owners of the building, then asked them " lohat they 
wanted?" To which they replied, ^^ the press." Mr. O. replied, that, being au- 
thorized by the mayor, they would defend their property at the hazard of life. 
The mob commenced throwing stones, dashing in several windows, and then fired 
two or three guns into the building. The fire was then returned from within, two 
or three gunsdischarged upon the rioters, one, by the name of Bishop, was mor- 
tally wounded, and several others injured. This, for a while, checked the mob, 
but they soon returned with increased numbers and violence. They raised ladders 
on the warehouse, and kindled a fire on the roof Mr. Lovejoy and some of the 
inmates of the building stepped to the door, and while looking around just with- 
out the threshold, some one, concealed behind a pile of lumber, fired a double bar- 
reled gun, when Mr. Lovejoy was struck with five balls, and expired in a few mo- 
ments. 

The following is the principal part of a communication upon this riot, given by 
the mayor of Alton to the public, dated Nov. 6, 1837 : 

For several days past it had been announced and generally believed, that a printing press 
was hourly expected to be lauded at our wharf. It had also been a current rumor that this 
press -ras "intended for the re-establishment of the "Alton Observer." The circulation of 
these rumors produced no small degree of excitement, among those who had taken a de- 
cided stand against the abolition sentiments that were understood to have been disseminat- 
ed through the columns of the "Observer." Various reports of a threatening character, 
against the landing of the press, were in circulation, which led the friends of the Observer 
and its editor to make preparations to defend the press, in case any violence should be of- 
fered by those opposed to the publication of that paper. On Tuesday, about 5 o'clock in 
the morning, I was called from ray lodgings and informed that the press had arrived at the 
wharf, and that my official interference was desired. I immediately repaired to the wharf, 
and remained there until the press was landed and stored in the warehouse of Messrs. God- 
frey, Gilman & Co. There were no indications of violence or resistance on the part of 
any at that time. The arrival of the " abolition press " (as it was called) was generally 
known in the early part of that day, which served to rekindle the excitement. Represen- 
tation was made to the common council of the threatening reports which were in circula- 
tion. The common councd did not, however, deem it necessary to take any action on the 
subject. Gentlemen directly interested in protecting the press from mob violence, deemed 
it expedient to guard the warehouse with men and arms, in readiness to resist violence, 
should any be offered. During the early part of the night of Tuesday, it was reported 
through tlie city, that there were from 30 to 40 armed men on guard within the warehouse. 

At 10 o'clock at night, 20 or 30 persons appeared at the south end of the warehouse, and 
gave some indications of an attack. Mr. W. S. Gilman, from the third story of the ware- 
house, addressed those without, and urged them to desist, and at the same time informed 
them that the persons in the warehouse were prepared, and should endeavor to protect their 
property, and that serious consequences might ensue. Those without demanded the press, 
and said they would not be satisfied until it was destroyed; said they did not wish to in- 
jure any person, or other property, but insisted on having the press. To which Mr. G. re- 
clied that the press could not be given up. The persons outside then repaired to the north 
end of the building, and attacked the building by throwing stones, etc., and continued their 
violence for 15 or 2 • minutes, when a gun was fired from one of the windows of the ware- 
Louse, and a man named Lyman Bishop was mortally wounded. He was carried to a sur- 
geon's office, and then the mob withdrew and dispersed with the exception of a small num- 
ber. Upon the first indication of disturbance, I called on the civil officers most conveni- 
ent, and rcpaii-ed with all dispatch to the scene of action. By this time the firing from 



ILLINOIS. 317 

the warehouse, and the consequent death of one of their number (Bishop died soon after 
he received the shot), had greatly increased the excitement, and added to the numbers of 
the mob. Owin"- to the late hour of the night, but few citizens were present at the onset, 
except those engaged in the contest. Consequently the civil authorities could do but little 
toward dispersing the mob except by persuasion. A large number of people soon collected 
around me. I was requested to go to the warehouse, and state to those within that those 
outside had resolved to destroy the press, and that they would not desist until they had 
accomplished their object; that all would retire until I should return, which request was 
made by acclamationj and all soon retired to wait my return. 

I was replied to by those within the warehouse that they had assembled there to pro- 
tect their property against lawless violence, and that they were determined to do so. The 
mob began again to assemble with increased numbers, and with guns and weapons of dif- 
ferent kinds." I addressed the multitude, and commanded them to desist and disperse, to 
which they lisVened attentively and respectfully, to no purpose — a rush was now made to 
the warehouse, with the cry of " fire the house," " burn them out," etc. The firing soon 
became fearful and dangerous between the contending parties — so much so, that the farther 
interposition on the part of the civil authorities and citizens was believed altogether inad- 
equate, and hazardous in the extreme— no means were at my control, or that of any other 
officer present, by which the mob could be dispersed, and the loss of life and the shedding 
of blood prevented. Scenes of the most daring recklessness and infuriated madness fol- 
lowed in quick succession. The buildirfg was surrounded and the inmates threatened with 
extermination and death in the most frightful form imaginable. Every means of escape 
by flight was cut off. The scene now became one of most appalling and heart-rending in- 
terest! Fifteen or twenty citizens, among whom were some of our most worthy and en- 
terprising, were apparently doomed to an unenviable and inevitable death, if the flamea 
continued. 

About the time the fire was communicated to the building, Rev. E. P. Lovejoy (late 
editor of the Observer), received four balls in his breast, near the door of the warehouse, 
and fell a corpse in a few seconds; two others from the warehouse were wounded. Sev- 
eral persons engaged in the attack were severely wounded; the wounds, however, are not 
considered dangerous. The contest had been raging for an hour or more, when the per- 
sons in the warehouse, by some means, the exact manner it was done I have not been able 
to ascertain, intimated that they would abandon the house and the press, provided that 
they were permitted to depart unmolested. The doors were then thrown open, and those 
within retreated down Front street. Several guns were fired upon them while retreating, 
and one individual had a narrow escape — a ball passed through his coat near his shoulder. 

A large number of persons now rushed into the warehouse, threw the press upon the 
wharf, where it was broken in pieces and thrown into the river. The fire in the roof of 
the warehouse was extinguished by a spectator, who deserves great praise for his cour- 
ageous interference, and but little damage was done by it to the building. No disposition 
seemed to be manifested to destroy any other property in the warehouse. Without farther 
attempts at violence the mob now dispersed, and no farther open indications of disorder or 
violence have been manifested. 

The foregoing is stated on what I consider undoubted authority, and mostly from my 
own personal knowledge. John M. Krum, Mayor. 

Cairo is a small town at the south-western extremity of Illinois, at the 
junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi Rivers, 175 miles below St. Louis. 
It is also at the southern termination of the famous Illinois Central Rail- 
road, 454 miles distant by the main line of this road to Dunleith, its north- 
western termination on the Mississippi, and 365 miles distant from Chicago 
by the Chicago branch of the same. 

Cairo, from a very early day, was supposed, from its natural site at the 
junction of the two great rivers of the west, to be a point where an immense 
city would eventually arise, hence it has attracted unusual attention from 
enterprising capitalists as a point promising rich returns for investments in 
its soil. As soon as Illinois was erected into a state, in 1818, the legislature 
incorporated "the Bank of Cairo," which was connected with the project of 
building a city at this point. Since then two or more successive companies 
have been formed for this object; one of which has now the enterprise so 
far advanced that they entertain sanguine calculations of accomplishing the 
end so long sought amid great discouragements. 



318 



ILLINOIS. 



A primary obstacle to the success of the scheme is in the natural situation 
of the surface. For many miles in every direction the country is a low, rich 
bottom, and as the river here, in seasons of high water, rises fifty feet, the 
whole region becomes covered with water. To remedy this, an earthen 

dyke, or levee, some four 
miles in circuit, has been 
built around the town, at, 
it is said, a cost of nearly 
a million of dollars. This 
is shown by the map. 
From this levee projects 
an embankment like the 
handle of a dipper — the 
levee itself around the 
town answering for the 
rim — on which is laid 
the line of the Illinois 
Central Railroad. 

The annexed view shows 
at one glance, parts of 

three states Illinois, 

Missouri and Kentucky. 
It was taken on top of the 
levee, within a few hun- 
dred feet of the extreme 
south-western point of Il- 
linois, which is seen in the 
distance. The temporary 
depot of the Central Railroad and the St. Charles' Hotel appear in front. On 
the right is shown part of the town plat (some eight feet below the top of the 
levee), the bank of the 
levee between the specta- 
tor and the Mississippi 
River, before its junction 
with the Ohio, and the 
Missouri shore. On the 
left appears the Kentucky 
shore, and point where the 
Ohio, "the beautiful river," 
pours itself into the bosom 
of the Mississippi, "the 
great father of waters," as 
he stretches himself south- 
ward in his majestic course 
to the ocean. The best 
buildings in Cairo are of 
brick, mainly stores, and 
are on the levee. The levee 
itself resembles an ordina- 
ry railroad embankment, 
and is about 50 feet broad on the surface. The town plat within the levee is 
regularly laid out, and a system of underground drainage adopted. The appear- 




Map of Caieo and its Vicinity. 




Levie at Oaibo. 
Junction of the Ohio and Mississippi. 



ILLINOIS. 



319 



ance of the spot is like that of any ordinary river bottom of the west — the 
surface level, with here and there left a forest tree, which, shooting upward 
its tall, slender form, shows, by its luxuriant foliage, the rich nature of the 
soil. The houses within the levee are mainly of wood, one and two stories 
in bight, and painted white. They are somewhat scattered, and the general 
aspect of the spot is like that of a newly settled western village, just after 
the log cabin era has vanished. 

Rockford, the capital of Winnebago county, is beautifully situated at the 
rapids of Rock River, on the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, 92 miles 
westerly from Chicago. Steamers can come to this place. Great manufac- 
turing facilities are afforded by the immense water power here. Population 
1860, 5,281. 

Galesburg is in Knox county, 168 miles south-westerly from Chicago, at 
the junction of the Chicago and Burlington, Northern Cross, and Peoria 
and Oquawka Railroads. It is a fine town, and noted as a place of educa- 
tion; Knox College, Knox College for females, and Lombard University are 
situated here. Population about 6,000. 

Freeport is on a branch of Rock River, at the junction of the Illinois Cen- 
tral with the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, 120 miles from Chicago. 
It is quite a manufacturing place, and is one of the largest grain depots in 
northern Illinois. Population about 5,000. 




South-eastern view of Galena, from near the Swing Bridge. 

The Steambuat landing is seen in the central part. The Railroad Depot and the Seminary on an eleva- 
tion in the distance, appear on the right. The Draw or Swing Bridge is represented open, parts of which 
ore seen on the right and left. 

Galena, a flourishing city, and capital of Joe Daviess county, is situated 
on Fevre River, 6 miles from its entrance into the Mississippi, 1651 above 
New Orleans, 450 above St. Louis, 160 W.N.W. from Chicago, and 250 N. 
by W. from Springfield. The city is built principally on the western side 
of Fevre or Galena River, an arm of the Mississippi, and its site is a steep 
acclivity, except for a few rods along the river. The streets rise one above 



320 ILLINOIS. 

another, the different tiers connecting by flights of steps. The town is well 
paved and the houses are built of brick. The numerous hills overlooking 
the city are thickly studded with the mansions of the wealthy merchant or 
thrifty miner. Population 1860, 8,196. 

Galena is a French word, signifying "' lead mine." Galena was formerly 
called Fevre River, the French word for wild bean, which grew here in great 
abundance. The city was first settled in 1826, and was then an outpost in 
the wilderness, about 300 miles from the settlements. The first settlement 
was begun at Old Town. Col. John Shaw, from the interior of New York, 
traversed this region from 1809 to 1812, extending his journeys to a point 
westward of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. He was engaged as a spy 
in this section in the war of 1812, and on one occasion it is said that he outrun 
three Indians in a chase of nine miles. When he first came to Galena, he 
found the Indians smelting lead on the town plat. Col. S. was the first one 
who carried lead to St. Louis for a regular price ; this was soon after the 
close of the war of 1812. He also, it is said, built the first flouring mill in 
Wisconsin, four miles above Prairie du Chien. The first pine lumber sawed 
in that state was in his mill on Black River. 

Andrew C. and Moses Swan, of Pennsylvania, came to Galena in the fall 
of 1827, by the way of Green Bay and Wisconsin River: one of them kept 
the first regular tavern. It stood on a site opposite the De Soto House. 
One of the early visitors at Galena was Ebenezer Brigham, who journeyed 
from Worcester, Mass., to St. Louis in 1818: the Upper Mississippi country 
was, at that period almost unknown. Beyond the narrative of Pike's Ex- 
pedition, and the vague report of hunters, boatmen, and a few lead diggers 
about Dubuque, the public possessed but little reliable information. In 
1820, Mr. Brigham followed up the river to Galena. This place then con- 
sisted of one log cabin, and a second one commenced, which he assisted in 
ompleting. The first church erected was by the Presbyterians. The 

Miner's Journal" was started here in 1828, by Mr. Jones, who died of the 
cholera in 1832. The " Galena North-Western Gazette," was first issued in 
1833, by Mr. H. H. Houghton, from Vermont. It was printed in a log 
house at the old town, about three fourths of a mile from the levee. The 
first brick building here is said to have been erected by Capt. D. S. Harris, a 
native of New York. Capt. H. is also said to have constructed the first 
steamboat on the Upper Mississippi. It was built in 1838, and called the 
"Joe Daviess," in honor of Col. Joe Daviess, who fell at the battle of Tip- 
pecanoe. 

Galena is on the meridian of Boston, and is considered one of the most 
healthy locations in the United States. It is the most commodious harbor 
for steamboats on the Upper Mississippi, and a great amount of tunnage 
is owned here. Galena owes its growth and importance mainly to the 
rich mines of lead, with which it is surrounded in every direction. Con- 
siderable quantities of copper are found in connection with the lead. About 
40,000,000 lbs. of lead, valued at $1,600,000 have been shipped from this 
place during one season. It is estimated that the lead mines, in this vicinity, 
are capable of producing 150,000,000 lbs. annually, for ages to come. Mine- 
ral from some 8 or 10 places, or localities, in Wisconsin, is brought to Ga- 
lena, and shipped for New Orleans and other markets. Since the comple- 
tion of the Illinois Central Railroad, a small portion of lead has been sent 
eastward by that road. The average price is about thirty dollars per thous 
and lbs. 



ILLINOIS. 



321 




The Lead Region. 



Outside of the town is the forbidding and desolate hill country of the lead 
region. Storms have furrowed the hills in every direction, and the shovels 

of the miners have dotted the whole 
surface with unsightly pits, walled 
around with heaps of limestone and 
sand, through which the delver has 
sought the lead. There is no culture 
around, and the edifices consist of the 
rude cabin of the miners, and primitive 
looking smelting furnaces where the 
lead is prepared for market. A late 
visitor gives the following description : 

Every hill is spotted with little mounds of 
yellow earth, and is as full of holes as a worm- 
eaten cheese. Some winding road at length brings 
you to the top of one of these bare, bleak hills, 
and to a larger mound of the same yellowish, 
earth, with which the whole country in sight is 
mottled. On top of this mound of earth stands 
a windlass, and a man is winding up tubs full 
of dirt and rock, which continually increase the pile under his leet. Beneath him, forty, 
fifty, a hundred feet under ground, is the miner. As we look around on every ridge, see 
the windlass men, and know that beneath each one a smutty-faced miner is burrowing by 
the light of a dim candle, let us descend into the mines and see the miners at their work. 
The windlass-man makes a loop iu the end of the rope, into which you put one foot, and, 
clasping, at the same time, the rope with one hand, slowly you begin to go down ; down, 
it grows darker and darker ; a damp, grave-like smell comes up from below, and you grow 
dizzy with the continual whirling around, until, when you reach the bottom and look up 
at the one small spot of daylight through which you came down, you start with alarm as 
the great mass of rocks and earth over your head seem to be swaying and tumbling in. 
You draw your breath a little more freely, however, when you perceive that it was only 
your own dizziness, or the scudding of clouds across the one spot of visible sky, and you 
take courage to look about you. Two or three dark little passages, from four to six feet 
high, and about three feet wide, lead off into the murky recesses of the mine ; these are 
called, in mining parlance, drifts. You listen a little while, and there is a dull "thud! 
thud! " comes from each one, and tells of something alive away off in the gloom, and, 
candle in hand, you start in search of it. You eye the rocky walls and roof uneasily as, 
half bent, you thread the narrow passage, until, on turning some angle in the drift, you 
catch a glimpse of the miner, he looks small and dark, and mole-like, as on his knees, and 
pick in hand, he is prying from a perpendicular crevice in the rock, a lump of mineral as 
large as his head, and which, by the light of his dim candle, flashes and gleams like a 
huge carbuncle ; or, perhaps, it is a horizontal sheet or vein of mineral, that presents its 
edge to the miner ; it is imbedded in the solid rock, which must be picked and bhisted 
down to get at the mineral. He strikes the rock with his pick, and it rings as though he 
had struck an anvil. You can conceive how, with that strip of gleaming metal, seeming 
like a magician's wand, to beckon him on and on, he could gnaw, as it were, his narrow 
way for hundreds of feet through the rock. But large, indeed, you think, must be his or- 
gan of hope, and resolute his perseverance, to do it with no such glittering prize in sight. 
Yet such is often the case, and many a miner has toiled for years, and in the whole time 
has discovered scarcely enough mineral to pay for the powder used. Hope, however, in 
the breast of the miner, has as many lives as a cat, and on no day, in all his toilsome 
years, could you go down into his dark and crooked hole, a hundred feet from grass and 
sunshine, but he would tell you that he was " close to it now,'* in a few days he hoped to 
strike a lode (pronounced among miners as though it was spelled leed), and so a little 
longer and a little longer, and his life of toil wears away while his work holds him with a 
fascination equaled only by a gamblers' passion for his cards. 

Lodes or veins of mineral in the same vicinity run in the general direction. Those in 
the vicinity of Galena, run east and west. The crevice which contains the mineral, is 
usually perpendicular, and from 1 to 20 feet in width, extending from the cap rock, or the 
first solid rock above the mineral, to uncertain depths below, and is filled with large, 
loose rocks, and a peculiar red dirt, in which are imbedded masses of mineral. These 
masses are made up cubes like those formed of crystallization, and many of them as gee* 

21 



322 



ILLINOIS. 



metrically correct as could be made with a compass and square. Before the mineral is 
broken, it is of the dull blue color of lead, but when broken, glistens like silver. Some- 
times caves are broken into, whose roofs are frosted over with calcareous spar, as pure and 
white as the frost upon the window pane in winter, and from dark crevices in the floor 
conies up the gurgling of streams that never saw the sun. The life of a miner is a dark 
and lonesome one. His drift is narrow, and will not admit of two abreast ; therefore, 
there is but little conversation, and no jokes are bandied about from mouth to mouth, by 
fellow-laborers. The alternations of hope and disappointment give, in the course of years, 
a subdued expression to his countenance. 

Tliere are no certain indications by which the miner can determine the existence of a 
vein of mineral without sinking a shaft. Several methods are resorted to, however. The 
linear arrangement of any number of trees that are a little larger than the generality of 
their neighbors, is considered an indication of an opening underground corresponding to 
tlieir arrangement. Depressions in the general surface are also favorable signs, and 
among the older miners there are yet some believers in the mystic power of witch-hazel 
and the divining rod. In the largest number of cases, however, but little attention is 
paid to signs otlier than to have continuous ground — that is, to dig on the skirts of a ridge 
that is of good width on top, so that any vein that might be discovered would not run out 
too quickly on the other side of the ridge. On such ground the usual method of search is 
by suckering, as it is called. The miner digs a dozen or more holes, about six feet deep, 
and within a stone's tlirow of each other, and in some one of these he is likely to find a 
few pieces of mineral, the dip of certain strata of clay then indicates the direction in which 
he is to continue the search, in which, if he is so successful as to strike a lode, his fortune 
is made ; in the other event, he is only the more certain that the lucky day is not 
far ofif. 




North-western view of Rock Island City. 

The vipw shows the appearance of the city as seen from Davenport, on the oppoisite bank of the Missis- 
sippi. The ferry landing appears on the left, the Court House and Presbyterian Churches on the right. 

Rock Island City, and county scat of Rock Island Co., is situated on 
the Mississippi River, opposite the city of Davenport, 2 miles above the 
mouth of Rock River, 178 W. by S., from Chicago, and 131 N. N. W.of 
Springfield. It is at the foot of the Upper Rapids of the Mississippi, which 
extend nearly 15 miles, and in low stages of water obstruct the passage of 
loaded vessels. It is a flourishing manufacturing place, at the western ter- 
minus of the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad. Pop. 1860, 5,130. 

It derives its name from an island three miles in length, the southern ex- 
tremity of which is nearly opposite the town. The principal channel of the 
river is on the west side of the island, while that on its eastern side has been 
po dammed as to produce a vast water power above and a good harbor below. 
The island forms one of the capacious buttresses of the immense railroad 



ILLINOIS. 



323 




bridge across the Mississippi, connecting the place with Davenport, and creates 
a junction between the railroad from Chicago and the Mississippi, and the Mis- 
souri Railroad through Iowa. 

Fort Armstrong, on Rock Island, was erected in 1816, by Lieut. Col. 
Lawrence, of the United States Army. It was then in the heart of the In- 
dian country, and was the scene 
^^^ xs^^ ^^ of many wild exploits, both be- 

j^^^^^u A_ *"■ ;- :^^&- fore and during the continuance 

^^ ^^ ife "" of the "Black Hawk War." The 

old chief. Black Hawk, was born 
in 1768, on Rock River, about 
three miles from where the fort 
now stands. From the time this 
fortification was first constructed, 
until the close of the war above 
mentioned, this fort was used as 
a depot of supplies, etc., and for 
a long time was commanded by 
Col. Z. Taylor, afterward presi- 
dent of the United States. 
Col. William Lawrence, the founder of the fort, arrived here May 10, 1816, 
with the 8th regiment and a company of riflemen. As soon as they had 
completed their encampment, he employed tlie soldiers to cut logs and build 
storehouses for the provisions, and had a bake house and oven put up. This 
was the first regular building erected at this point. 

"The soldiers now set to Avork to build the fort, which was named Fort Arm- 
strong. At this time there lived a lari^e body of Indians in the vicinity, number- 
ing some 10,000, divided in three villages, one on the east side of the river, near 
the foot of the island called 'Waupello Village;' about three miles south on the 
bank of Rock River, stood the famous village of ' Black Hawk,' and on the west 
side of the river was a small village named after an old brave, ^Oshkosh.' Upon 
the first arrival of the troops on the Island, the Indians were very much dissatis- 
fied, but the officers took great pains to gain their friendship, by making them 
many presents, and they soon became reconciled and were most excellent neigh- 
bors. During the first summer they would frequently bring over supplies of sweet 
corn, beans, pumpkins, and such other vegetables as they raised, and present 
them to Mr. Davenport and the officers, with the remarks that they had raised none, 
and that they themselves had plenty, invariably refusing to take any pay." 



Fort Armstuung, Kock Island. 



The following account of the defeat of Maj. Zaehary Taylor, at Rock Is- 
land, in August 1814:, is from the personal narrative of Mr. J. Shaw, of Wis- 
consin : 

About two months after the capture of Prairie du Chien, Maj. Zaehary Taylor 
came up the Mississippi, with 22 fortified boats, each containing an average of 
about 80 men, under his command. When the expedition arrived near Kock Is- 
land, it was discovered that about 4,000 Indians had there collected. The British 
had erected a false, painted battery, on the left bank of the river, apparently 
mounted with six twelve-pounders; but in reality they had but two guns with 
them, one of which was entrusted to the care of the Indians. Mr. Shaw was on 
board the boat with Mr. Taylor. The battle commenced, and the first ball from 
the British guns passed completely through the advance boat, on which was Tay- 
lor, and he instantly ordered it to be put about; the second ball cut off the 
steering oar of the next boat that was advancing, and a strong wind springing 
up at that moment, this boat drifted over the river to the western bank, a short 
distance below the present town of Davenport; the men having no oar to steer 



324 ILLINOIS. 

with, could not prevent this occurrence. About 1,000 Indians immediately took 
to their canoes, and paddled over the river, expecting, no doubt, to get the boat as 
a prize, as she must inevitably drift into shallow water. The Indians kept up a 
constant fire on the unfortunate boat, and a number of Indians, mounted on horse- 
back, came galloping down the western shore, with their guns elevated in their 
ricfht hands, gleaming in the sun, and shouting their war-cries in the most hideous 
manner. On the first fire from the British guns, and immediately after the pas- 
sage of the ball through the foremost boat, Maj. Taylor had ordered a retreat. 
Gen. Samuel Whiteside, who had command of one of the boats, impelled with the 
natural desire of assisting the disabled boat, that was drifting across the river, in- 
to the power of merciless enemies, disobeyed the order, and steered toward the 
disabled craft. When he approached it, he called for "some brave man to cast a 
cable from his own boat on board of her." An individual, named Paul Harpole, 
jumped from the disabled boat, in a most exposed situation, caught the cable, and 
made it fast to the boat. In less than a minute's time, a thousand Indians would 
have been aboard of her ; she was then in two and a half feet water, among small 
willows, vrhich in some measure protected the Indians. In the mean while, Har- 
pole called for guns to be handed him from below; stood on the deck of the boat 
completely exposed; fired no less than 14 guns, when he was eventually struck in 
the forehead by a ball; he pitched forward toward the Indians, and the instant he 
struck the water, the savages had hold of him, hauled him on shore, and cut him 
with their knives into a hundred pieces. All this was witnessed by the other 
boats, and the crippled boat having been towed off into deep water, the whole body 
retreated, and descended the Mississippi. 

Fort Armstrong was finally evacuated by the United States troops, May 
4 1836. Col. Davenport had a fine situation near the fort, about half a 
mile distant. At first he supplied the fort with provisions, and was after- 
ward extensively engaged in the Indian trade. He was murdered, at the 
aije of 62, while alone in his house, on the island, on July 4, 1845, by a 
band of robbers. The following account is from "Wilkies' Hist, of Daven- 
port, Past and Present : " 

On last Friday afternoon we were witness to a strange and interesting ceremony 
performed by the Indians, over the remains of Mr. Davenport, who was murdered 
at his residence on Rock Island, on the 4th inst. Upon preceding to the beautiful 
spot selected as his last resting place, in the rear of his mansion on Rock Island, 
we found the war chief and braves of the band of Fox Indians, then encamped in 
the vicinity of this place, reclining on the grass around his grave, at the head of 
which was planted a white cedar post, some seven or eight feet in hight. 

The ceremony began by two of the braves rising and walking to the post, upon 
which, with paint, they began to inscribe certain characters, while a third brave, 
armed with an emblematic war club, after drinking to the health of the deceased, 
from a cup placed at the base of the post, walked three times around the grave, in 
an opposite direction to the course of the sun, at each revolution delivering a 
speech with sundry gestures and emphatic motions in the direction of the north- 
east. When he had ceased, he passed the club to another brave, who went through 
the same ceremony, passing but once around the grave, and so in succession with 
each one of the braves. This ceremony, doubtless, would appear pantomimic to 
ore unacquainted with the habits or language of the Indians, but after a full in- 
terpretation of their proceedings, they would be found in character with this tra- 
ditionary people. 

In walking around the grave in a contrary direction to the course of the sun, 
they wished to convey the idea that the ceremony was an original one. In their 
speeches they informed the Great Spirit that Mr. Davenport was their friend, and 
thev wished the Great Spirit to open the door to him, and to take charge of him. 
The enemies whom they had slain, they called upon to act in capacity of waiters 
to Mr. Davenport, in the spirit land — they believing that they have unlimited power 
over the spirits of those whom they have slain in battle. Their gestures toward 
the north-east, were made in allusion to their great enemies, the Sioux, who live 



ILLINOIS. 



325 



in that direction. They recounted their deeds of battle, with the number that 
they had slain and taken prisoners. Upon the post were painted, in hieroglyphics, 
the number of the enemy that they had slain, those taken prisoners, together with 
the tribe and station of the brave. For instance, the feats of Wau-co-shaw-she, the 
chief, were thus portrayed: Ten headless figures were painted, which signified 
that he had killed ten men. Four others were then addeed, one of them smaller 
than the others, signifying that he had taken four prisoners, one of whom was a 
child. A line was then run from one figure to another, terminating in a plume, 
signifying that all had been accomplished by a chief A fox was then painted 
over the plume, which plainly told that the chief was of the Fox tribe of Indians. 
These characters are so expressive, that if an Indian of any tribe whatsover were 
to see them, he would at once understand them. 

Following the sign of Pau-tau-co-to, who thus proved himself a warrior of hifh 
degree, were placed 20 headless figures, being the number of Sioux that he had 
elain. 

The ceremony of painting the post was followed by a feast, prepared for the oc- 
casion, which by them was certainly deemed the most agreeable part of the pro- 
ceedings. Meats, vegetables, and pies, were served up in such profusion that 
many armsful of the fragments were carried off — it being a part of the ceremony, 
which is religiously observed, that all the victuals left upon such an occasion are 
to be taken to their homes. At a dog feast, which is frequently given by them- 
selves, and to which white men are occasionally invited, the guest is either oblio'ed 
to eat all that is placed before him, or hire some other person to do so, else it is 
conaidered a great breach of hospitality. 




Distant view of Nauvoo. 

The view shows the appearance of Nauvoo, as it is approached when sailing np the Mississippi. 

Nauvoo, Hancock county, is 103 miles N. W. by W. from Springfield; 
52 above Quincy, and 220 above St. Louis. It is laid out on an extensive 
plan, on one of the most beautiful sites on the river for a city. In conse- 
quence of a graceful curve of the Mississippi, it bounds the town on the 
north-west, west, and south-west. The ground rises gradually from the 
water to a considerable hight, presenting a smooth and regular surface, with 
a broad plain at the summit. The place has now about 1,500 inhabitants, 
the majority of whom are Germans; there are, also, French and American 
settlers. The inhabitants have fine gardens, wine is manufactured, and many 
cattle are raised. 

Nauvoo, originally the village of Commerce, is noted as the site of the Mor- 
mon city, founded by Joseph Smith, in 1840. The population, at one time, 
when under the Mormon rule, was estimated at about 18,000. The dwell- 
ings were mostly log cabins, or small frame houses. The great Mormon 
Temple — the remains of which are still, by far, the most conspicuous object 
in the place — was 128 feet long. 88 feet wide, and 65 feet high to the cor- 



326 ILLINOIS. 

nice, and 163 feet to the top of the cupola. It would accommodate an as- 
semblage of 3,000 persons. It was built of polished limestone resembling 
marble, and obtained on the spot. The architecture, in its main features, 
resembled the Doric. In the basement of the temple was a large stone basin 
or baptistry, supported by 12 oxen of a colossal size; it was about 15 feet 
high, altogether of white stone and well carved. This building, at that time, 
without an equal at the west, was fired October 9, 1848, and for the most 
part reduced to a heap of ruins. 

It is believed that Capt. White erected the first building in the place, a 
.log cabin near the river, about a mile westward of where the temple after- 
ward stood. Mr. Grallard brought out Capt. White ; he lived in a two story 
house near the log cabin. Smith, the Mormon, when he first came to Nauvoo, 
put up with Mr. G. : he purchased about a mile square of territory. He 
built the Mansion House near the river. Smith's widow, who is described 
as amiable and intelligent, married Maj. Bideman. The Mormon Church 
property was sold to a company of French socialists, about 600 in number, 
under M. Cabot, for about $20,000. It appears that many of the French 
are leaving the place, finding that they can do better elsewhere, individually, 
than by living in common with others. 

After the Mormons had been driven from Missouri, the people of Illinois 
received them with great kindness. When they had established themselves 
at Nauvoo, the legislature granted them extraordinary powers, and the city 
laws, in some respects, became superior to those of the state. Under these 
laws, difficulties ensued. Smith acted as mayor, general of the Nauvoo Le- 
gion, keeper of the Nauvoo Hotel, and as their religious prophet, whose will 
was law. Smith, and some others, forcibly opposed the process issued against 
them for a riot. The people were aroused at their resistance, and deter- 
mined that the warrants should be executed. In June 1844, some 3,000 
militia from the adjacent country, and bands from Missouri and Iowa, as- 
sembled in the vicinity of Nauvoo. Gov. Ford hastened to the spot to pre- 
vent blood-shed. On the 24th, Gen. Joseph Smith, the prophet, and his 
brother, Gen. Hyrum Smith, having received assurances of protection from 
the governor, surrendered, and went peaceably to prison, at Carthage, to 
await their trial for treason. On the evening of the 27th, the guard of the 
jail were surprised by a mob of some 200 men disguised, who overpowered 
them, broke down the door, rushed into the room of the prisoners, fired at 
random, severely wounding Taylor, editor of the Nauvoo Neighbor. They 
finished by killing the two Smiths, after which they returned to their 
homes. 

In Sept. 1845, the old settlers of Hancock county, exasperated by the 
lawless conduct of the Mormons, determined to drive them from the state, 
and commenced by burning their farm houses, scattered through the county. 
The result was, that they were compelled to agree to emigrate beyond the 
settled parts of the United States. On the 16th of September, 1846, the 
Anti-Mormons took possession of Nauvoo. Whatever doubts might have 
then existed abroad, as to the justice of the course pursued by them, it is now 
evident by the subsequent history of the Mormons, that they are, as a people, 
governed by doctrines which render them too infamous to dwell in the heart 
of civilized communities. 



Eev. Peter Cartwright, the celebrated pioneer Methodist itinerant of Illi- 



ILLINOIS. 



327 



nois, gives this amusing account of an interview he had with Joe Smith, the 
father of Mormonism : 

At an eai'ly day after they were driven from Missouri and took up their residence 
in Illinois, it fell to my lot to become acquainted with Joe Smith, personally, and 
with many of their leading men and professed followers. On a certain occasion 1 
fell in with Joe Smith, and was formally and officially introduced to him in Spring- 
field, then our county town. We soon fell into a free conversation on the subject 
of religion, and Mormonism in particular. I found him to be a very illiterate and 
impudent desperado in morals, but, at the same time, he had a vast fund of low 
cunning. 

In the first place, he made his onset on me by flattery, and he laid on the soft 
Bodder thick and fast. He expressed great and almost unbounded pleasure in the 
high privilege of becoming acquainted with me, one of whom he had heard so 
many great and good things, and he had no doubt I was one among God's noblest 
creatures, an honest man. He believed that among all the churches in the world, 
the Methodist was nearest right, and that, as far as they went, they were right. 
But they had stopped short by not claiming the gift of tongues, of prophecy, and 
of miracles, and then quoted a batch of scripture to prove his positions correct. 
Upon the whole, he did pretty well for clumsy Joe. I gave him rope, as the sail- 
ors say, and, indeed, I seemed to lay this flattering unction pleasurably to my 
eoul. 

" Indeed," said Joe, " if the Methodists would only advance a step or two further, 
they would take the world. We Latter-day Saints are Methodists, as far as they 
have gone, only we have advanced further, and if you would come in and go with 
us, we could sweep not only the Methodist Church, but all others, and you would 
be looked up to as one of the Lord's greatest prophets. You would be honored 
by countless thousands, and have, of the good things of this world, all that heart 
could wish." 

I then began to inquire into some of the tenets of the Latter-day Saints. He 
explained. I criticized his explanations, till, unfortunately, we got into high de- 
bate, and he cunningly concluded that his first bait would not take, for he plainly 
saw I was not to be flattered out of common sense and honesty. The next pass he 
made at me was to move upon my fears. He said that in all ages of the world, 
the good and right way was evil spoken of, and that it was an awful thing to fight 
against God. 

"Now," said he, "if you will go with me to Nauvoo, I will show you many living 
witnesses that will testify that they were, by the Saints, cured of blindness, lame- 
ness, deafness, dumbness, and all the diseases that human flesh is heir to; and I 
will show you," said he, "that we have the gift of tongues, and can speak in un- 
known languages, and that the Saints can drink any deadly poison, and it will not 
hurt them; " and closed by saying, " the idle stories you hear about us are noth- 
ing but sheer persecution." 

I then gave him the following history of an encounter I had at a camp-meeting 
in Morgan county, some time before, with some of his Mormons, and assured him 
I could prove all I said by thousands that were present. 

The camp-meeting was numerously attended, and we had a good and gracious 
work of religion going on among the people. On Saturday there came some 
20 or 30 Mormons to the meeting. During the intermission after the eleven 
o'clock sermon, they cellected in one corner of the encampment, and began to 
sing, they sang well. As fast as the people rose from their dinners they drew up 
to hear the singing, and the scattering crowd drew until a large company sur- 
rounded them. I was busy regulating matters connected with the meeting. At 
length, according, I have no doubt, to a preconcerted plan, an old lady Mormon 
began to shout, and after shouting a while she swooned away and fell into the 
arms of her husband. The old man proclaimed that his wife had gone into a 
trance, and that when she came to she would speak in an unknown tongue, and 
that he would interpret. This proclamation produced considerable excitement, 
and the multitude crowded thick around. Presently the old lady arose and be- 
gan to speak in an unknown tongue, sure enough. 



328 ILLINOIS. 

Just then my attention was called to the matter. I saw in one moment that 
the whole maneuver was intended to bring the Mormons into notice, and break up 
the good of our meeting. I advanced, instantly, toward the crowd, and asked the 
people to give way and let me in to this old lady, who was then being held in the 
arms of her husband. I came right up to them, and took hold of her arm, and or- 
dered her peremptorily to hush that gibberish ; that I would have no more of it ; that 
it was presumptuous, and blasphemous nonsense. I stopped very suddenly her 
unknown tongue. She opened her eyes, took me by the hand, and said: 

" My dear friend, T have a message directly from God to you." I stopped her 
short, and said, " I will have none of your messages. If God can speak through 
no better medium than an old, hypocritical, lying woman, I will hear nothing of 
it." Her husband, who was to be the interpreter of her message, flew into a mighty 
rage, and said, " Sir, this is my wife, and 1 will defend her at the risk of my life. ' 
I replied, " Sir, this is my camp-me&ling, and I will maintain the good order of it 
at the risk of my life. If this is your wife, take her off from here, and clear your- 
selves in five minutes, or I will have you under guard." 

The old lady slipped out and was off quickly. The old man stayed a little, and 
began to pour a tirade of abuse on me. I stopped him short, and said, " Not an- 
other word of abuse from you, sir. I have no doubt you are an old thief, and if 
your back was examined, no doubt you carry the marks of the cowhide for your 
villainy." And sure enough, as if I had spoken by inspiration, he, in some of the 
old states, had been lashed to the whipping-post for stealing, and I tell you, the old 
man began to think other persons had visions besides his wife, but he was very 
clear from wishing to interpret my unknown tongue. To cap the climax, a young 
gentleman stepped up and said he had no doubt all I said of this old man was true, 
and much more, for he had caught him stealing corn out of his father's crib. By 
this time, such was the old man's excitement, that the great drops of sweat ran 
down his face, and he called out, 

^'^DoiH crowd me, gentlemen, it is mighty warm." 

Said I, " Open the way, gentlemen, and let him out." When the way was 
opened, I cried, " Now start, and don't show your face here again, nor one of the 
Mormons. If you do, you will get Lynch' s law." They all disappeared, and our 
meeting went on prosperously, a great many were converted to God, and the church 
was much revived and built up in her holy faith. 

My friend, Joe Smith, became very restive before I got through with my narra- 
tive ; and when I closed, his wrath boiled over, and he cursed me in the name of 
his God, and said, " I will show you, sir, that I will raise up a government in these 
United States which will overturn the present government, and 1 will raise up a 
new religion that will overturn every other form of religion in this country ! " 

"Yes,' said I, "Uncle Joe, but my Bible tells me 'the bloody and deceitful man 
shall not live out half his days,' and I expect the Lord will send the devil after you 
some of these days, and take you out of the way." 

"No, sir," said he, "I shall live and prosper, while you will die in your sins." 

" Well, sir," said I, " if you live and prosper, you must quit your stealing and 
abominable whoredoms ! " 

Thus we parted, to meet no more on earth ; for, in a few years after this, an 
outraged and deeply injured people took the law into their own hands, and killed 
him, and drove the Mormons from the state. They should be considered and 
treated as outlaws in every country and clime. The two great political parties 
in the state were nearly equal, and these wretched Mormons, for several years, 
held the balance of power, and they were always in market to the highest bidder, 
and I have often been put to the blush to see our demagogues and stump orators, 
from both political parties, courting favors from the Mormons, to gain a triumph in 
an election. 

Great blame has been attached to the state, the citizens of Hancock county, in 
which Nauvoo is situated, as well as other adjoining counties, for the part they 
acted in driving the Mormons from among them. But it shoruld be remembered 
they had no redress at law, for it is beyond all doubt that the Mormons would 
swear anything, true or false. They stole the stock, plundered and burned the 
houses and barns of the citizens, and there is no doubt they privately murdered 



ILLINOIS. 



329 



some of the best people in the county; and owing to the perjured evidence al- 
ways at their command, it was impossible to have any legal redress. If it had 
not been for this state of things, Joe Smith would not have been killed, and 
they would not have been driven with violence from the state. Repeated efforts 
were made to get redress for these wrongs and outrages, but all to no purpose ; 
and the wonder is, how the people bore as long as they did with the outrageous 
villainies practiced on them, without a resort to violent measures. 




View of Mi. Joliet. 

JoLiET is a thriving town, the county seat of Will co., situated on both 
sides of the Des Plaines River, and on the Illinois and Michigan canal, 148 
miles N. E. by N. from Springfield, 280 from Detroit, and 40 S. W. from 
Chicago. It was formerly known on the maps as " McGee's mill dam." 
On the eastern side of the river the city extends over a plain of considerable 
extent, rising as it recedes from the river. Upon the western side the land 
is formed into bluffs, beneath which is one of the principal streets. It 
is an important station on the Chicago and Rock Island, and the Chicago, 
Alton, and St. Louis Railroads, and is connected directly with the east by 
Joliet and Northern (cut-off) Railroads. The river affords valuable water 
power for mills. It is the center of considerable commerce, several manu- 
factories ; and in its vicinity is a rich farming country, and valuable quar- 
ries of building stone. The new state penitentiary is in the vicinity. Popu- 
ation about 7,000. 

Joliet received its name from Mt. Joliet, a mound supposed to be an arti- 
ficial elevation, situated about two and a half miles S. W. of the court house 
in this place, and so called from Louis Joliet, who was born of French pa- 
rents, at Quebec, in 1673. He was commissioned by M. de Frontenac to 
discover the Great River, some affluents of which had been visited by mis- 
sionaries and traders. Joliet chose, for his companion, Father Marquette^ 
whose name was thus connected with the discovery of the Mississippi. 

The first dwellings erected in this place was a log house built by Charles Reed, 
about half a mile north-west of the court house, back of the bluff, and the house 
erected by James McGee, from Kentucky, near the National Hotel. The original 
plat of the town was laid out by James B. Campbell, in 1834. West Joliet, by 
Martin H. Demmond, in Jan. 1835; East Joliet by Albert W. Bowen, in Feb. 1835, 
since which time many additions have been made. The city of Joliet was incor- 



330 ILLINOIS. 

porated in 1852. The first house of worship was erected by the Methodists, in 
] 838, about 15 rods south-west of the court house : it is now used for an engine 
house. The Catholic Church, still standing, was commenced the next year. The 
first Episcopal Church was organized in 1838, their house was erected in 1857. 
The Congregational Church was organized in 1844; the present Congregational 
and Methodist Church buildings were erected in 1857. The Universalista 
erected their first house in 1845; the Baptists about 1855. 

The Joliet Courier, now called Joliet Signal, was first printed by Gregg and 
Hudson, about 1836 or '37; the True Democrat, the second paper, was established 
in 1847, by A. Mackintosh, from New York. The first regular school house, a 
stone building now standing in Clinton-street, was built in 1843, at a cost of 
$700, considered at that time an extravagant expenditure. Among the first 
settlers on the east side of the river, were Dr. Albert W. Bowen, from N. Y., the 
first physician; Edward Perkins, Oneida Co., N. Y. ; Robert Shoemaker, Thomas 
Blackburn, Richard Hobbs, from Ohio; Joel A. Matteson, since governor of the 
state ; Daniel Wade, of Penn., and Lyman White, of N. Y. On the west side, Mar- 
tin H. Demmond, from N. Y. ; James McKee, or Gee, from Kentucky; John Cur- 
ry, G. H. Woodruff, Deac. Josiah Beaumont, John J. Garland, Deac. Chauncy, 
from N. Y. ; Charles Clement, from New Hampshire, and R. J. Cunningham, from 
Maryland. 

La Salle, is a flourishing city, on the right bank of Illinois River, at the 
head of steamboat navigation, one mile above Peru, and at the terminus of 
the Illinois Canal, 100 miles long, connecting it with Chicago. It has a 
ready communication, both with the northern and southern markets, by rail- 
road, canal and river, the latter of which is navigable at all stages of water. 
At this point the Illinois Central Railroad crosses the Chicago and Rock 
Island Railroad. This place has great facilities for trade and manufactures. 
A substantial railroad bridge, 900 feet in length, crosses the Illinois at La 
Salle. An extensive establishment for the manufacture of flint glass is in 
operation here, under the charge of a French gentleman. Large warehouses 
line the river bank, and the dwellings occupy the high bluffs a little back. 
The surrounding country is highly productive, and contains extensive beds 
of bituminous coal, which is extensively mined. The city of Peru received 
its charter in 1851 : it is separated from La Salle by only an imaginary line. 
Its manufacturing interests are well developed. The two cities are in effect 
one, so far as regards advantages of business, and are nearly equal in popu- 
lation. Peru and La Salle have several fine educational institutions, 11 
churches, 5 weekly newspapers, and about 7,000 inhabitants. 

Dixon, the capital of Lee county, is beautifully situated on the banks of 
Bock River, at the junction of a branch of the Galena Railroad, with the 
Illinois Central, 98 miles west of Chicago. It has about 5,000 inhabitants. 

Dunleith, a smaller town, is the north-western terminus of the Illinois 
Central Railroad, on the Mississippi opposite Dubuque. 

Kankakee City is a fine town of 3,500 inhabitants, 56 miles south of Chi- 
cago, on Kankakee River and Illinois Central Railroad, and at a spot that a 
few years since had not a single dwelling. 

St. Anne, on the Central Railroad, in Kankakee county, is a colony of 
800 French Canadian emigrants, under the pastoral care of Father Chiniquy, 
originally a Catholic priest, who, with his people, have embraced Protest- 
antism. Each settler has about 40 acres, and their farms are laid along par- 
allel roads, at right angles to the railroad. They exhibit signs of careful 
cultiyation, and the village and church of the colony are prettily situated 
near the woods on the river side. In the three years prior to 1860, the crops 
of these people were cut off", and but for benevolent aid they would have per- 
ished from famine. 



ILLINOIS. 332 

Decatur, in Macon county, at the junction of the Illinois Central with the 
Toledo, Wabash and Great Western railroad, is a substantial, thriving little 
city, within a few miles of the geographical center of the state. It is the 
seat of a large internal trade and extensive domestic manufactures, and has 
about 6000 inhabitants. An effort has been made to create it the state 
capital. 

Vaiidalia, capital of Fayette county, is on Kankakee River and Illinois 
Central Railroad, 80 miles south-easterly from Springfield. It was laid out 
in 1818, and until 1836 was the capital of Illinois. It is a small village. 

Sandoval is a new town, on the prairies, 230 miles from Chicago, and 60 
from St. Louis. It is a great railroad center, at the point whiere intersect the 
Illinois Central and Ohio and Mississippi Railroads. " Hei'e east meets west, 
and north meets south in the thundering conflict of propulsive motion, energy 
and speed." 

Elgin, Waukegan, St. Charles, Sterling, Moline, Naperville, Urhana, Bel- 
videre, Batavia, Aurora, Abingdon, Macomb, Belleville, Sycamore, and Otta- 
wa are all thriving towns, mostly in the northern part of the state, the largest 
of which may have 5,000 inhabitants. 

A few miles below Ottawa, on the Illinois River, are the picturesque hights 
of the Illinois, called the Starved Rock and the Lover s Leap. Starved Rock 
is a grand perpendicular limestone cliff, 150 feet in hight. It was named in 
memory of the fate of a party of Illinois Indians, who died on the rock 
from thirst, when besieged by the Pottawatomies. Lover's Leap is a pre- 
cipitous ledge just above Starved Rock, and directly across the river is 
Buffalo Rock, a hight of 100 feet. This eminence, though very steep on the 
water side, slopes easily inland. The Indians were wont to drive the buffa- 
loes in frightened herds to and over its awful brink. 



332 ILLINOIS. 

MISCELLANIES. 
THE BLACK HAWK WAR. 

The following account of the *' Black Hawk war" is taken from Mr. Peck's 
edition of Perkins' Annals: 

In the year 1804, Gen. Harrison made a treaty with the Sacs and Foxes— two 
tribes united as one — by which they ceded the lands east of the Mississippi, to the 
United States; but to these lands they had no original right, even in the Indian 
sense, as they were intruders on the country of the Santeaurs and lowas. By this 
treaty, they were permitted to reside and hunt upon these lands, until sold for set- 
tlement by the government. 

This treaty was reconfirmed by the Indians, in the years 1815 and 1816. Black 
Hawk, who was never a chief, but merely an Indian Wave, collected a few disaf- 
fected spirits, and refusing to attend the negotiations of 1816, went to Canada, 
proclaimed himself and party British, and received presents from them. 

The treaty of 1804, was again ratified in 1822, by the Sacs and Foxes, in "full 
council," at Fort Armstrong, Rock Island, on the Mississippi. In 1825, another 
treaty was held at Prairie du Chien, with the Indians, by William Clark and Lewis 
Cass, for the purpose of bringing about a peace between the Sacs and Foxes, the 
Chippewas and the lowas on the one hand, and the Sioux and Dacotahs on the 
other. Hostilities continuing, the United States, in 1827, interfered between the 
contending tribes. This offended the Indians, who thereupon murdered two whites 
in the vicinity of Prairie du Chien, and attacked two boats on the Mississippi, con- 
veying supplies to Fort Snelling, and killed and wounded several of the crews. 
Upon this, Gen. Atkinson marched into the Winnebago country, and made prison- 
ers of Red Bird and six others, who were imprisoned at Prairie du Chien. A part 
of those arrested, were convicted on trial, and in December of the following year 
(1828) executed. Among those discharged for want of proof, was Black Hawk, 
then about sixty years of age. 

About this time, the president issued a proclamation, according to law, and the 
country, about the mouth of Rock River, which had been previously surveyed, 
was sold, and the year following, was taken possession of by American families. 
Some time previous to this, after the death of old Quashquame, Keokuk was ap- 
pointed chief of the Sac nation. The United States gave due notice to the Indians 
to leave the country east of the Mississippi, and Keokuk made the same proclama- 
tion to the Sacs, and a portion of the nation, with their regular chiefs, with Keo- 
kuk at their head, peaceably retired across the Mississippi. Up to this period, 
Black Hawk continued his annual visits to Maiden, and received his annuity for 
allegiance to the British government. He would not recognize Keokuk as chief, 
but gathered about him all the restless spirits of his tribe, many of whom were 
young, and fired with the ambition of becoming "braves," and set up himself for a 
chief 

Black Hawk was not a Pontiac, or a Tecumseh. He had neither the talent nor 
the influence to form any comprehensive scheme of action, yet he made an abor- 
tive attempt to unite all the Indians of the west, from Rock River to Mexico, in a 
war against the United States. 

Still another treaty, and the seventh in succession, was made with the Sacs and 
Foxes, on the 15th of July, 1830, in which they again confirmed the preceding 
treaties, and promised to remove from Illinois to the territory west of the Mis- 
sissippi. This was no new cession, but a recognition of the former treaties by 
the proper authorities of the nation, and a renewed pledge of fidelity to the United 
States. 

During all this time, Black Hawk was gaining accessions to his party. Like 
Tecumseh, he, too, had his Prophet — whose influence over the superstitious savages 
was not without effect. 

In 1830, an arrangement was made by the Americans who had purchased the 
land above the mouth of Rock River, and the Indians that remained, to live as 
neit'-hbors, the latter cultivating their old fields. Their inclosures consisted of 
stakes stuck in the ground, and small poles tied with strips of bark transversely. 



ILLINOIS. 



333 



The Indians left for their summer's hunt, and returned when their corn was in 
the milk — gathered it, and turned their horses into the fields cultivated by the 
Americans, to gather their crop. Some depredations were committed on their hogs 
and other property. The Indians departed on their winter's hunt, but returned 
early in the spring of 1831, under the guidance of Black Hawk, and committed 
depredations on the frontier settlements. Their leader was a cunning, shrewd In- 
dian, and trained his party to commit various depredations on the property of the 
frontier inhabitants, but not to attack, or kill any person. His policy was to pro- 
voke the Americans to make war on him, and thus seem to fight in defense of In- 
dian rights, and the " graves of their fathers." Numerous affidavits, from persons 
of unquestionable integrity, sworn to before the proper officers, were made out and 
sent to Gov. Reynolds, attesting to these and many other facts. 

Black Hawk had about five hundred Indians in training, with horses, well pro- 
vided with arms, and invaded the slate of Illinois with hostile designs. These facts 
were known to the governor and other officers of the state. Consequently, Gov. 
Reynolds, on the 28th of May, 1831, made a call for volunteers, and communicated 
the facts to Gen. Gaines, of this military district, and made a call for regular troops. 
The state was invaded by a hostile band of savages, under an avowed enemy of 
the United States. The military turned out to the number of twelve hundred or 
more, on horseback, and under command of the late Gen. Joseph Duncan, marched 
to Rock River. 

The regular troops went up the Mississippi in June. Black Hawk and his men, 
alarmed at this formidable appearance, recrossed the Mississippi, sent a white flag, 
and made a treaty, in which the United States agreed to furnish them a large 
amount of corn and other necessaries, if they would observe the treaty. 

In the spring of 1832, Black Hawk, with his party, again crossed the Mississippi 
to the valley of Rock River, notwithstanding he was warned against doing so by 
Gen. Atkinson, who commanded at Fort Armstrong, in Rock Island. Troops, both 
regular and militia, were at once mustered and marched in pursuit of the native 
band. Among the troops was a party of volunteers under Major Stillman, who, on 
the 14th of May, was out on a tour of observation, and close in the neighborhood 
of the savages. On that evening, having discovered a party of Indians, the whites 
galloped forward to attack the savage band, but were met with so much energy and 
determination, that they took to their heels in utter consternation. The whites 
were 175 in number; the Indians from five to six hundred. Of this party, twenty- 
five followed the retreating battalion, after night for several miles. Eleven whites 
were killed and shockingly mangled, and several wounded. Some four or five In- 
dians were known to be killed. This action was at Stillman's run, in the eastern 
part of Ogle county, about twenty-five miles above Dixon. 

Peace was now hopeless, and although Keokuk, the legitimate chief of the na- 
tion, controlled a majority, the temptation of war and plunder was too strong for 
those who followed Black Hawk. 

On the 21st of May, a party of warriors, about seventy in number, attacked the 
Indian Creek settlement In La Salle county, Illinois, killed fifteen persons, and took 
two young women prisoners ; these were afterward returned to their friends, late 
in July, through the efiForts of the Winnebagoes. On the following day, a party 
of spies was attacked and four of them slain, and other massacres followed. 
Meanwhile 3,000 Illinois militia had been ordered out, who rendezvoused upon the 
20th of June, near Peru; these marched forward to the Rock River, where they 
were joined hj the United States troops, the whole being under command of Gen. 
Atkinson. Six hundred mounted men were also ordered out, while Gen. Scott, 
jvith nine companies of artillery, hastened from the seaboard by the way of the 
lakes to Chicago, moving with such celerity that some of his troops, we are told, 
actually went 1,800 miles in eighteen days ; passing in that time from Fort Mon- 
roe, on the Chesapeake, to Chicago. Long before the artillerists could reach the 
scene of action, however, the western troops had commenced the conflict in earn- 
est, and before they did reach the field, had closed it. On the 24th of June, Black 
Hawk and his two hundred warriors were repulsed by Major Demint, with but one 
hundred and fifty militia: this skirmish took place between Rock River and Ga- 
lena, The army then continued to move up Rock River, near the heads of which, 



334 ILLINOIS. 

it -was understood that the main party of the hostile Indians was collected ; and 
as provisions were scarce, and hard to convey in such a country, a detachment was 
sent forward to Fort Winnebago, at the portage between the Wisconsin and Fox 
Rivers, to procure supplies. This detachment, hearing of Black Hawk's army, 
pursued and overtook them on the 21st of July, near the Wisconsin River, and in 
the neighborhood of the Blue Mounds. Gen. Henry, who commanded the party, 
formed with his troops three sides of a hollow square, and in that order received 
the attack of the Indians ; two attempts to break the ranks were made by the na- 
tives in vain ; and then a general charge was made by the whole body of Ameri- 
cans, and with such success that, it is said, fifty-two of the red men were left dead 
upon the field, while but one American was killed and eight wounded.^ 

Before this action, Henry had sent word of his motions to the main army, by 
whom he was immediately rejoined, and on the 28th of July, the whole crossed the 
Wisconsin in pursuit of Black Hawk, who was retiring toward the Mississippi. 
Upon the bank of that river, nearly opposite the Upper Iowa, the Indians were 
overtaken and again defeated, on the 2d of August, with a loss of one hundred and 
fifty men, while of the whites but eighteen fell. This battle entirely broke the 
power of Black Hawk ; he fled, but was seized by the Winnebagoes, and upon the 
27th was delivered to the officers of the United States, at Prairie du Chien. 

Gen. Scott, during the months of July and August, was contending with a worse 
than Indian foe. The Asiatic cholera had just reached Canada; passing up the 
St. Lawrence to Detroit, it overtook the western-bound armament, and thenceforth 
the camp became a hospital. On the 8th of July, his thinned ranks landed at Fort 
Dearborn or Chicago, but it was late in August before they reached the Mississippi. 
The number of that band who died from the cholera, must have been at least seven 
times as great as that of all who fell in battle. There were several other skir- 
mishes of the troops with the Indians, and a number of individuals murdered ; 
making in all about seventy-five persons killed in these actions, or murdered on the 
frontiers. 

In September, th6 Indian troubles were closed by a treaty, which relinquished 
to the white men thirty millions of acres of land, for which stipulated annuities 
were to be paid ; constituting now the eastern portion of the state of Iowa, to 
which the only real claim of the Sacs and Foxes, was their depredations on the 
unoffending lowas, about 140 years since. To Keokuk and his party, a reserva- 
tion of forty miles square was given, in consideration of his fidelity; while Black 
Hawk and his family were sent as hostages to Fort Monroe, in the Chesapeake, 
where they remained until June, 1833. The chief afterward returned to his na- 
tive wilds, where he died. 

CAVEIN-ROCK. 

On the Ohio River, in Hardin county, a few miles above Elizabethtown, near the 
south- eastern corner of the state, is a famous cavern, known as Cave-in-Rock. Its 
entrance is a semi-circular arch of about 80 feet span and 25 feet in hight, and 
ascending gradually from the bed of the river, it penetrates to the distance of 
nearly 20o"feet. This cave, in early times, was the terror of the boatmen on the 
Ohio, for it was one of the haunts of Mason and his band of outlaws, whose acts 
of murder upon travelers through the wilderness are elsewhere detailed in this 
work. The pioneers of the west suffered greatly from the desperadoes, who in- 
fested the country in the early stages of its history. And there have not been 
wanting, even in more recent times, instances in which bands of villains have been 
forraed'^to set all law at defiance by preying upon society. 

About the year 1820, the southern counties of Illinois contained a gang of horse 
thieves, so numerous and well organized as to defy punishment by legal means, un- 
til a company of citizens was formed, called "regulators," who, taking the law into 
their own hands, at last drove the felons from the neighborhood. In 1841, a gang 
of these scoundrels existed in Ogle county and its vicinity, in the Rock River coun- 
try. Wm. CuUen Bryant was traveling there at the time, and in his published 
volume of letters, gives, substantially, this narrative of their operations : 

The thieves were accustomed to select the best animals from the drove, and these 
were passed from one station to another, until they arrived at some distant market, 



ILLINOIS. 



335 



where they were sold. They had their regular lines of communication from Wis- 
consin to St. Louis, and from the Wabash to the Mississippi. In Ogle county, it is 
said they had a justice of the peace and a constable among their associates, and 
they contrived always to secure a friend on the jury whenever one of their num- 
Rer was tried. Trial after trial had taken place at Dixon, the county seat, and it 
had been found impossible to obtain a conviction on the clearest evidence, until in 




Cave-ill- liock^ on the Ohio. 

April of this year, when two horse thieves being on trial, eleven of the jury threat- 
ened the twelfth juror with a taste of the cowskin, unless he would bring in a 
verdict of guilty. He did so, and the men were condemned. Before they were 
removed to the state prison, the court house, a fine building, just erected at"^an ex- 
pense of $20,000, was burnt down, and the jail was in flames, but luckily they 
were extinguished without the liberation of the prisoners. Such, at length, be- 
came the feeling of insecurity, that 300 citizens of Ogle, De Kalb and Winnebago 
counties formed themselves into a company of volunteers, for the purpose of clear- 
ing the country of these scoundrels. The patrons of the thieves lived at some 
of the finest groves, where they owned large firms. Ten or twenty stolen horses 
would be brought to one of these places of a night, and before sunrise, the despera- 
does employed to steal them were again mounted and on their way to some other 
station. In breaking up these haunts, the regulators generally proceeded with 
some of the formalities commonly used in administering justice, the accused being 
allowed to make a defense, and witnesses examined both for and against him. 

At this time, there lived at Washington Grove, in Ogle county, one Brid-e. a no- 
torious confederate and harborer of horse thieves and counterfeiters. In Julv two 
horse thieves had been flogged, and Bridge received a notice from the regulators 
that he must leave the county by the 17th, or become a proper subject" for the 
lynch law. Thereupon he came into Dixon, and asked for assistance to defend 
his person and dwelling from the lawless violence of these men. The people of 
Dixon then came together, and passed a resolution to the effect that thev fully ap- 
proved of what the association had done, and that they allowed Mr. Bridires the 
term of four hours to depart from the town. He Avent away immediately, "and in 
great trepidation, but made preparations to defend himself He kept 20 armed 
men about his place for two days, but thinking, at last, that the regulators did not 
mean to carry their threats into execution, he dismissed them. "The regulators 
subsequently removed his family, and demolished his dwelling. 

rsot long after, two men, mounted and carrying rifles, called at the residence of 



ggg ILLINOIS. 



a Mr. Campbell, living at Whiterock Grove, in Ogle county, who belonged to the 
company of regulators, and vrho acted as the messenger to convey to Bridges tne 
order to leave the county. Meeting Mrs. Campbell without the house, thoy toid 
her that they wished to speak to her husband. Campbell made his appearance '^t 
the door, and immediately both the men fired. He fell, mortally wounded, and dif^d 
in a few minutes. " You have killed my husband," said Mrs. Campbell to one ot 
the murderers, whose name was Driscoll. Upon this they rode off at full speed. 

As soon as the event was known, the whole country was roused, and every man 
who was not an associate of the horse thieves, shouldered his rifle to go in pursuit 
of the murderers. They apprehended the father of Driscoll, a man nearly 70 
years of age, and one of his sons, William Driscoll, the former a reputed horse 
thief, and the latter a man who had hitherto born a tolerably fair character, and 
subjected them to a separate examination. The father was wary in his answers, 
and put on the appearance of perfect innocence, but William Driscoll was greatly 
af'itated, and confessed that he, with his father and others, had planned the mur- 
der of Campbell, and that David Driscoll, his brother, together with another asso- 
ciate, was employed to execute it. The father and son were then sentenced to 
death ; they were bound and made to kneel. About 50 men took aim at each, and 
in three hours from the time they were taken, they were both dead men. A pit 
was dug on the spot where they fell, in the midst of the prairie near their dwelling. 
Their corpses, pierced with bullet holes in every part, were thrown in, and the 
earth was heaped over them. 

The pursuit of David Driscoll, and the fellow who was with him when Campbell 
was killed, went on with great activity, more than a hundred men traversed the 
country in every ^^irection, determined that no lurking place should hide them. 
The upshot was, that the Driscoll family lost another member, and the horse thieves 
and their confederates were driven from the country. «. ■, ^ 

Within a very few years, the thinly settled parts of Iowa have suffered from like 
oro-anized gangs of horse thieves, until the people were obliged to resort to a like 
summary process of dispelling the nuisance. To the isolated settler in a wilder- 
ness country, living many a long mile from neighbors, the horse is of a peculiar 
value, elsewhere unknown. So keenly is the robbery of these animals felt, tha,t, 
in the failure of ordinary penalties to stop the perpetration of this crime, public 
opinion justifies the generally recognized " Frontier Law," that death is to be 
meted out to horse thieves. 



THE TIMES 

OF 

THE EEBELLIOISr 

IN 

ILLINOIS. 



The attitude of several of the states of the union has been deter- 
mined by the conduct of a few noble men in the hour of trial. Where 
men of ability faltered or proved recreant, the people of that state 
became divided, and all the horrors of civil war were experienced, 
but, ^vhere they were loyal, the people united, and the war raged far 
from their borders. Had Kentucky, instead of a Magoffin, had a Mor- 
ton, and Missouri a Yates, instead of a Jackson, how different might 
have the history of those states been : what horrors they might have 
escaped. Illinois was peculiarly fortunate in her public men at the 
outbreak of the rebellion. With them love of country overruled every 
other consideration. 

Douglas, the great statesman of the west, in the hour of the na- 
tion's peril, forgot the claims of party in his devotion to his country, 
and spoke words that thrilled and inspired the heart of the people. 
Her executive was prompt, far-sighted and untiring in labor for the 
welfare of the soldiers of Illinois. 

It was his eye that discerned in a captain of infantry those high 
qualities which have made the name of Grant illustrious. And from 
Illinois, too, came Abraham Lincoln, that patient man, who, with 
singular calmness and wisdom, looking serenely aloft, bore the helm 
in the years of the people's great trouble. 

As a mournful interest now gathers around the name of Douglas, 
we give some of his last words — the noblest of his life. On the evening 
of the first of May, 1861, he reached Chicago from Washington, and 
there, to an immense concourse, made his last speech, which, it has 
been said, "should be engraved upon the tablet of every patriot 
heart." 

I will not conceal gratification at the uncontrovertible test this vast audience 
presents — that what political differences or party questions may have divided us, 
yet you all had a conviction that when the country should be in danger, my loyalty 
could be relied on. That the present danger is imminent, no man can conceal. 
If war must come — if the bayonet must be used to maintain the constitution — I 
can say before God my conscience is clean. I have struggled long for a peaceful 
22 (337) 



23g TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

solution of the difficulty. I have not only tendered those states what was theirs 
of right, but 1 have gone to the very extreme of magnanimity. 

The return we receive is war, armies marched upon our capital obstructions 
and dangers to our navigation, letters of marque to invite pirates to prey upon 
our commerce, a concerted movement to blot out the United btates ot America 
from the map of the globe. The question is, are we to maintain the country of 
our fathers, or allow it to be stricken down by those who, when they can no longer 

govern, threaten to destroy ? , , ^ , , • t.u^ x^^^t- ^^-^ 

What cause, what excuse do disunionists give us for breaking up the best gov- 
ernment on which the sun of heaven ever shed its rays? Ihey are dissatisfied 
Tvith the result of a presidential election. Did they never get beaten before ? 
Are we to resort to the sword when we get defeated at the ballot box ? I under- 
stand it that the voice of the people expressed in the mode appointed by the con- 
stitution must command the obedience of every citizen. Ihey assume, on the 
election of a particular candidate, that their rights are not safe in the union. 
What evidence do they present of this? I defy any man to show any act on 
which it is based. What act has been omitted to be done ? I appeal to these as- 
sembled thousands that so far as the constitutional rights of the southern states, 
I will say the constitutional rights of slaveholders are concerned, nothing has 
been done and nothing omitted of which they can complain. 

There has never been a time, from the day that Washington was inaugurated 
first president of these United States, when the rights of the southern states 
stood firmer under the laws of the land, than they do now; there never was a 
time when they had not as good a cause for disunion as they have to-day. What 
Eood cause have they now that has not existed under every administration ( . . . 

The slavery question is a mere excuse. The election of Lincoln is a mere 
pretext The present secession movement is the result of an enormous conspiracy 
formed by leaders in the Southern Confederacy more than twelve months ago. . . . 

But this is no time for a detail of causes. The conspiracy is now known. Ar- 
mies have been raised. War is levied to accomplish it. There are only two sides 
to the question. Kvery man must be for the United btates or against it Ihere 
can be no neutrals in this war, only patriots— or traitors. 

Thank God Illinois is not divided on this question. 1 know they expected to 
present an united south against a divided north. They hoped in the northern 
states party questions would bring civil war between democrats and republicans, 
when the south would step in with her cohorts, aid one party to conquer the 
other, and then make an easy prey of the victors. Their scheme was carnage and 

civil war in the north. . . . , . ^ e . ^ ■> 7 

There is but one way to defeat this. In Illinois it is being so defeated, by clos- 
ing up the ranks. War will thus be prevented on our soil. While there was a 
hope of peace, 1 was ready for any reasonable sacrifice or compromise to main- 
tain it But when the question comes of war in the cotton-fields of the south or 
the corn-fields of Illinois, I say the farther off the better. . . . . ... . 

The constitution and its guarantees are our birthright, and 1 am ready to en- 
force that inalienable right to the last extent We can not recognize secession. 
Recognize it once, and you have not only dissolved government, but you have de- 
stroyed social order, upturned the foundations of society. You have inaugurated 
anarchy in its worst form, and will shortly experience all the horrors ot the 
French revolution. , , . mi. ^ 

Then we have a solemn duty— to maintain the government The greater our 
unanimity the speedier the day of peace. We have prejudices to overcome from 
the few short months since of a fierce party contest Yet these must be allayed. 
Let us lay aside all criminations and recriminations as to the origin of these ditli- 
culties. When we shall have again a country with the United States flag float- 
ing over it, and respected on every inch of American soil, it will then be time 
enough to ask who and what brought all this upon ua. „-, ^ • j .. i. 

I have said more than I intended to say. [Cries of " Go on. ] It is a sad task 
to discuss questions so fearful as civil war; but, sad as it is, bloody and disas- 
trous as I expect it will be, I express it as my conviction before God, that it is the 
duty of every American citizen to rally around the flag of his country. 



IN ILLINOIS. 



339 



T thank you again for this magnificent demonstration. By it, you show you 
have laid aside party strife. Illinois has a proud position. United, firm, deter- 
mined never to permit the government to be destroyed. 

A few days later, and Stephen A. Douglas had done with all mortal 
conflicts. His dying words was a last message to his absent sons — 
" Tell them to obey the laws, and support the Constitution of the United 
States." 

Looking back over four years of war, in which Illinois had borne 
so conspicuous a part, her governor gives the following satisfactory 
record. 

As a state, notwithstanding the war, we have prospered beyond all former pre- 
cedents. Notwithstanding nearly 200,000 of the most athletic and vigorous of 
our population have been withdrawn from the field of production, the area of 
land now under cultivation is greater than at any former period, and our prosper- 
ity is as complete and ample as though no tread of armies or beat of drum had 
been heard in all our borders. 

Appreciating, before the first gun was fired at Sumter, the determination of 
treasonable political leaders to inaugurate rebellion, and, when war was actually 
made against the government, the great preparation made by them for revolt, and 
the magnitude of the struggle we would be compelled to pass through, I earnestly 
insisted upon and urged more extensive preparation for the prosecution of the 
war. 

After the war had progressed a year, and the mild measures which were still 
persistently advocated by many friends of the administration, and with all the 
evidence, on the part of the rebels, for complete preparation and determination to 
wage a long and desperate war against the government, I sent the president the 
following dispatch : 

Executive Department, Speinopibld, III., July 11, 1862 
President Lincoln, Washington, D. C. : 

The crisis of the war and our national existence is upon us. The time has come for the 
adoption of more decisive measures. Greater vigor and earnestness must be infused into 
our military movements. Blows must be struck at the vital parts of the rebellion. The 
government should employ every available means compatible with the rules of warfare to 
subject the traitors. Summon to the standard of the republic all men willing to fight for 
the union. Let loyalty, and that alone, be the dividing line between the nation and its 
foes. Generals should not be permitted to fritter away the sinews of our brave men in 
guarding the property of traitors, and in driving back into their hands loyal blacks, who 
offer us their labor, and seek shelter beneath the federal flag. Shall we sit supinely by, 
and see the war sweep ofiF the youth and strength of the land, and refuse aid from that 
class of men, who are at least worthy foes of traitors and the murderers of our government 
and of our children ? 

Our armies should be directed to forage on the enemy, and to cease paying traitors and 
their abettors exorbitant exactions for food needed by the sick and hungry soldier. Mild 
and concilatory means have been tried in vain to recall the rebels to their allegiance. The 
conservative policy has utterly failed to reduce traitors to obedience, and to restore the 
supremacy of the laws. They have, by means of sweeping conscriptions, gathered in 
countless hordes, and threaten to beat back and overwhelm the armies of the union. With 
blood and treason in their hearts, they flaunt the black flag of rebellion in the face of the 
government, and threaten to butcher our brave and loyal armies with foreign bayonets. 
They arm negroes and merciless savages in their behalf. 

Mr. Lincoln, the crisis demands greater and sterner measures. Proclaim anew the good 
old motto of the republic, " liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable," and 
accept the services of all loyal men, and it will be in your power to stamp armies out of 
the earth — irresistible armies that will bear our banners to certain victory. 

In any event, Illinois, already alive with beat of drum, and resounding with the tramp 
of new recruits, will respond to your call. Adopt this policy, and she will leap like a flam- 
ing giant into the fight. 

This policy, for the conduct of the war, will render foreign intervention impossible, and 
the arms of the republic invincible. It will bring the conflict to a speedy close, and secure 
peace on a permanent basis. Bicbard Yatrs, 

Governor of lUinoU, 



340 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

We have lost thousands of our best mpn, and whole regiments and batteries, 
in the conflicts of this fearful war; but we have not to deplore the decimation of 
the ranks of gallant regiments, led by timid and halting generals on fruitless and 
purposeless campaigns, prosecuted without skill or vigor, and with the deplorable 
morale of a fear to punish traitors not actually in arms, and the employment of 
the best strength of their armies in protecting rebel property. 

Belmont, Donelson, Island No. 10, Shiloh, Corinth, Parker's cross-roads, Port 
Gibson, Raymond, Champion hills, Black river, siege of Vicksburg, Perryville, 
Stone river, Chickamauga, Lookout mountain, Atlanta, Franklin, Nashville, and 
the triumphal march of Sherman, speak in thunder tones of the consolidated 
efforts of Illinois, vieing with the volunteers of other states in battling for the 
union. 

Our total quota, under calls of the president, prior to Dec. 1, 1864, was, 197,360. 

In prompt support of the government at home, and in response to calls for 
troops, the state stands preeminently in the lead among her loyal sisters; and 
every click of the telegraph heralds the perseverance of Illinois generals and the 
indomitable courage and bravery of Illinois sons, in every etigagement of the war. 
Our state has furnished a very large contingent to the fighting strength of our 
national army. In the west, the history of the war is brilliant with recitations 
of the skill and prowess of our general, field, staff and line ofiieers, and hundreds 
of Illinois boys in ^he ranks are specially singled out and commended by Generals 
Grant, Sherman, and other generals of this and other states, for their noble deeds 
and manly daring on hotly contested fields. One gallant Illinois boy is mentioned 
as being the first to plant the stars and stripes at Donelson ; another, at a critical 
moment, anticipates the commands of a superior oflBcer, in hurrying forward an 
ammunition train, and supervising hand grenades, by cutting short the fuses of 
heavy shell, and hurling them, with his own hands, in front of an assaulting col- 
umn, into a strong redoubt at Vicksburg; and the files of my office and those of 
the adjutant-general are full of letters mentioning for promotion hundreds of pri 
vate soldiers, who have, on every field of the war, distinguished themselves by 
personal gallantry, at trying and critical periods. The list of promotions from the 
field and staff of our regiments to lieutenant and major-generals, for gallant con- 
duct and the prerequisites lor efficient and successful command, compare brilliantly 
with the names supplied by other states, and is positive proof of the wisdom of 
of the government in conferring honors and responsibilities; and the patient, vigi- 
lant and tenacious record made by our veteran regiments, in the camp, on the 
march and in the field, is made a subject of praise by the whole country, and will 
be the theme for poets and historians of all lands, for all time. 

Prominent among the many distinguished names who have borne their early 
commissions from Illinois, I refer, with special pride, to the character and price- 
less services to the country of Ulysses S. Gkant. In April, 1861, he tendered 
his personal services to me, saying, "that he had been the recipient of a military 
education at West Point, and that now, when the country was involved in a war 
for its preservation and safety, he thought it his duty to offer his services in de- 
fense of the union, and that he would esteem it a privilege to be assigned to any 
position where he could be useful." The plain, straightforward demeanor of the 
man, and the modesty and earnestness which characterized his offer of assistance, 
at once awakened a lively interest in him, and impressed me with a desire to se- 
cure his counsel for the benefit of volunteer organizations then forming for gov- 
ernment service. At first, 1 assigned him a desk in the executive office; and his 
familiarity with military organization and regulations made him an invaluable 
assistant in my own and the office of the adjutant-general. Soon his admirable 
qualities as a military commander became apparent, and I assigned him to com- 
mand of the camps of organization at " Camp Yates," Springfield, " Camp Grant," 
Mattoon, and "Camp Douglas," at Anna, Union county, at which the 7th, 8th, 9th, 
10th, 11th, 12th, 18th, 19th and 21st regiments of Illinois volunteers, raised under 
the call of the president, of the 15th of April, and under the "ten regiment bill," 
of the extraordinary session of the legislature, convened April 23d, 1861, were 
rendezvoused. His employment had special reference to the organization and 
muster of these forces — the first six into United States, and the last three into 



IN ILLINOIS. 3^1 

the state service. This was accomplished about May 10, 1861, at which time he 
left the state for a brief period, on a visit to his father, at Covington, Kentucky. 
The 21st regiment of Illinois volunteers, raised in Macon, Cumberland, Piatt, 
Douglas, Moultrie, Edgar, Clay, Clark, Crawford and Jasper counties, for thirty- 
day state service, organized at the camp at Mattoon, preparatory to three years' 
service for the government, had become very much demoralized, under the thirty 
days' experiment, and doubts arose in relation to their acceptance for a longer 
period. 1 was much perplexed to find an efficient and experienced officer to take 
command of the regiment and take it into the three years' service. 1 ordered the 
regiment to Camp Yates, and after consulting Hon. J* sse K. Dubois, who had 
many friends in the regiment^ and Col. John S. Loomis, assistant adjutant-general, 
who was at the time in charge of the adjutantrgeneral's office, and on terms of 
personal intimacy with Grant, I decided to offer the command to him, and accord- 
ing telegraphed Captain Grant, at Covington, Kentucky, tendering him the colo- 
nelcy. He immediately reported, accepting the commission, taking rank as colo- 
nel of that regiment from the 15th day of June, 1861. Thirty days piev'ous to 
that time the regiment numbered over one thousand men, but in consequence of 
laxity in discipline of the commanding officer, and other discouraging obstacles 
connected with the acceptance of troops at that time, but six hundred and three 
men were found willing to enter the three years' service In less than ten days. 
Colonel Grant filled the regiment to the maxiuium standard, and brought it to a 
state of discipline seldom attained in the volunteer service, in so short a time. 
His was the only regiment that left the camp of organization on foot. He marched 
from Springfield to the Illinois river, but, in an emergency requiring troops to 
operate against Missouri rebels, the regiment was transported by rail to Quincy, 
and Colonel Grant was assigned to command for the protection of the Quincy and 
Palmyra, and Hannibal and St. Joseph railroads. He soon distinguished himself 
as a regimental commander in the field, and his increased rank was recognized 
by his friends in Springfield, and his promotion insisted upon, before his merits 
and services were fairly understood at Washington. His promotion was made 
upon the ground of his military education, fifteen years' service as a lieutenant 
and captain in the regular army, (during which time he was distinguished in the 
Mexican war,) his great success in organizing and disciplining his regiment, and 
for his energetic and vigorous prosecution of the campaign in north Missouri, 
and the earnestness with which he entered into the great work of waging war 
against the traitorous enemies of his country. His first great battle was at Bel- 
mont, — an engagement which became necessary to protect our southwestern army 
in Missouri from overwhelming forces being rapidly consolidated against it from 
Arkansas, Tennessee and Columbus, Kentucky. The struggle was a desperate 
one, but the tenacity and soldierly qualities of Grant and his invincible little 
army, gave us the first practical victory in the west. The balance of his shining 
record is indelibly written in the history of Henry, Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, 
Vicksburg, Chattanooga, the Wilderness, siege of Richmond, and the intricate 
and difficult command as lieutenant-general of the armies of the union — written 
in the blood and sacrifices of the heroic braves who have fallen, following him to 
glorious victory — written upon the hearts and memories of the loyal millions who 
are at the hearth-stones of our gallant and unconquerable "boys in blue." The 
impress of his genius stamps our armies, from one end of the republic to the 
other ; and the secret of his success in executing his plans, is in the love, enthu- 
siasm and confidence he inspires in the soldier in the ranks, the harmony and re- 
spect for and deference to the wishes and commands of the president, and his 
sympathy with the government in its war policy. 

As evidence of the materials of the State of Illinois for war purposes, at the 
beginning of the war, and a pleasing incident of Grant's career, 1 refer to an ar- 
ticle in a Vicksburg paper, the Weekly Sun, of May 13, 1861, which ridicules our 
enfeebled and unprepared condition, and says: "An official report made to Gov. 
Yates, of Illinois, by one Captain Grant, says that after examining all the state 
armories he finds the muskets amount to just nine hundred and four, and of 
them only sixty in serviceable condition." Now, the name of that man, who was 
lo^iking up the rusty muskets in Illinois, is glory-crowned with shining victories, 



342 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

and will fill thousands of history's brightest pages to the end of time. I know 
well the secret of his power, for, afterward, when I saw him at headquarters, 
upon the march, and on the battle-field, in his plain, thread-bare uniform, modest 
in his deportment, careful of the wants of the humblest soldier, personally in- 
specting all the dispositions and divisions of his array, calm and courageous 
amid the most destructive fire of the enemy, it was evident that he had the confi- 
dence of every man, from the highest ofiBcer down to the humblest drummer boy 
in his whole command. His generalship rivals that of Alexander and Napoleon, 
and his armies eclipse those of Greece and Rome, in their proudest days of impe- 
rial grandeur. He is a gift of the Almighty Father to the nation, in its extremity, 
and he has won his way to the exalted position he occupies through his own great 
perseverance, skill and indomitable bravery, and it is inexcusably vain for any 
man to claim that he has made Grant, or that he has given Grant to the country, 
or that he can control his great genius and deeds for the private ends of selfish 
and corrupt political ambition. 

With regard to our future course, T am here to-day to say in behalf of the loyal 
millions of Hlinois, and I trust this general assembly is prepared to say, and to 
throw into the face of Jeff Davis and of his minions, and of all traitors who would 
destroy our union, the determined response that in the booming thunders of Far- 
ragut's cannon, in the terrible onslaught of Sherman's legions, in the flaming 
sabers of Sheridan's cavalry, and in the red battle glare of Grant's artillery, our 
voice is still for war — war to the knife — all the dread enginery of war — persist- 
ent, unrelenting, stupendous, exterminating war, till the last rebel shall lay down 
his arms, and our flag float in triumph over the land. 

And when our own Hlinois, upon some national holiday, shall meet all our re- 
turning soldiers, as they shall pass in serried ranks, with their old battle scarred 
banners and shivered cannons, and rusty bayonets and sabers — with rebel flags 
and rebel trophies of every kind — at this mighty triumphal procession, surpassing 
th*^, proudest festivals of ancient Rome and Greece, in their palmiest days, then 
the loud plaudits of a grateful people will go up: All hail to the veterans who 
have given our flag to the God of storms, the battle and the breeze, and conse- 
crated our country afresh to union, liberty and humanity. 

The spirit of the people may be learned from the action of some of 
its religious bodies. The Synod of Illinois at its meeting in Jackson- 
ville, passed, unanimously, a series of resolutions, of which the follow- 
ing is the last. 

" And, finally, we urge all the members of our churches to sustain with a generous con- 
fidence the government and all who do its biddings, and to cherish such a view of the mo- 
mentous importance and sacredness of our cause that they will bear with cheerfulness all 
the sacrifices which the war imposes ; and whether it be long or short, cheerfully pour out, 
if needs be, the last ounce of gold, and the last drop of blood, to bring the contest to a right- 
eous issue." 

How, as the war progressed, sympathy with the south was met, is 
well-illustrated by the following account of a scene which took place 
in the state legislature. The writer says : 

A great sensation was created by a speech by Mr. Ftjnk, one of the richest 
farmers in the state, a man who pays over $3,000 per annum taxes toward the 
support of the government. The lobby and gallery were crowded with spectators. 
Mr. Funk rose to object to trifling resolutions, which had been introduced by the 
democrats to kill time and stave ofi" a vote upon the appropriations for the support 
of the state government. He said : 

Mr. Speaker, I can sit in my seat no longer and see such by-play going on. 
These men are trifling with the best interests of the country. They should have 
asses' ears to set off" their heads, or they are traitors or secessionists at heart. 

1 say that there are traitors and secessionists at heart in this senate. Their 
actions prove it. Their -speeches prove it. Their gibes and laughter and cheers 
here, nightly, when their speakers get up to denounce the war and the adminis- 
tration, prove it. 



IN ILLINOS. 343 

I can sit here no longer and not tell these traitors what I think of them. And 
while so telling them, 1 am responsible, myself, for what 1 say. 1 stand upon my 
own bottom. I am ready to meet any man on this floor in any manner from a 
pin's point to the mouth of a cannon upon this charge against these traitors. I 
am an old man of sixty-five, I came to Illinois a poor boy, I have made a little 
something for myself and family. I pay $3,000 a year taxes. I am willing to 
pay $6,000, aye, $12,000, [the old gentleman striking the desk with a blow that 
would knock down a bullock, and causing the inkstand to fly in the air,] aye, I 
am willing to pay my whole fortune, and then give my life to save my country 
from these traitors that are seeking to destroy it. 

Mr. Speaker, you must please excuse me, I could not sit longer in my seat and 
calmly listen to these traitors. My heart, that feels for my poor country, would 
not let me. My heart, that cries out for the lives of our brave volunteers in the 
field, that these traitors at home are destroying by thousands, would not let me. 
Yes, these traitors and villains in this senate [striking his clenched fist on the 
desk with a blow that made the senate ring again], are killing my neighbors hoys 
now fighting in the field. I dare to say this to these traitors right here, and 1 am 
responsible for what I say to any one or all of them. Let them come on now, 
right here. I am sixty-five years old, and 1 have made up my mind to risk my 
life right here, on this floor, for my country. [Mr. Funk's seat is near the lobby 
railing, and a crowd collected around him, evidently with the intention of pro- 
tecting him from violence, if necessary. The last announcement was received 
with great cheering, and I saw many an eye flash, and many a countenance grow 
radiant with the light of defiance.] 

These men sneered at Col. Mack a few days since. He is a small man. But I 
am a large man. 1 am ready to meet any of them, in place of Col. Mack. I am 
large enough for them, and 1 hold myself ready for them now and at any time. 

Mr. Speaker, these traitors on this floor should be provided with hempen collars. 
They deserve them. They deserve hanging, 1 say, [raising his voice and violently 
striking the desk,] the country would be the better for swinging them up. I go 
for hanging them, and I dare to tell them so, right here to their traitorous faces. 
Traitors should be hung. It would be the salvation of the country to hang them. 
For that reason I must rejoice at it. Mr. Speaker, I beg pardon of the gentlemen 
in this senate who are not traitors, but true, loyal men, for what 1 have said. 1 
only intend it and mean it for secessionists at heart. They are here in this sen- 
ate. I see them gibe, and smirk, and grin at the true union man.' Must I defy 
them ? I stand here ready for them, and dare them to come on. What man, 
with the heart of a patriot, could stand this treason any longer? I have stood it 
long enough. I will stand it no more. I denounce these men and their aiders 
and abettors as rank traitors and secessionists. Hell itself could not spew out a 
more traitorous crew than some of the men that disgrace this legislature, this 
state, and this country. For myself, 1 protest against and denounce their treason- 
able acts. 1 have voted against their measures ; I will do so to the end. 1 will 
denounce them as long as God gives me breath ; and I am ready to meet the trai- 
tors themselves here or anywhere, and fight them to the death. 

I said I paid $3,000 a year taxes. 1 do not say it to brag of it. It is my duty, 
yes, Mr. Speaker, my privilege, to do it. But some of these traitors here, who are 
working night and day to put their miserable little bills and claims through the 
legislature to take money out of the pockets of the people, are talking about high 
taxes. They are hypocrites as well as traitors. 1 heard some of them talking 
about high taxes in this way, who do not pay five dollars to the support of the 
government. I denounce them as hypocrites as well as traitors. 

The reason they pretend to be afraid of high taxes is that they do not want to 
vote money for the relief of the soldiers. They want to embarrass the govern- 
ment and stop the war. They want to aid the secessionists to conquer our boys 
in the field. They care about high taxes I They are picayune men any how, and 
pay no taxes at all, and never did, and never hope or expect to. This is an excuse 
of traitors. 

Mr. Speaker, excuse me. I feel for my country, in this her hour of danger, 
from the tips of my toes to the ends of my hair. Tliat is the reason I speak as I 



344 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

do. I can not help it. I am bound to tell these men, to their teeth, what they 
are, and what the people, the true, loyal people, think of them. [Tremendous 
cheering. The speaker rapped upon his desk, apparently to stop it, but really to 
add to its volume, for I could see by his flushed cheek and flashing eye that his 
heart was with the brave and loyal old gentleman.] 

Mr. Speaker: I have said my say; I am no speaker. This is the only speech I 
have made, and I do not know that it deserves to be called a speech. I could not 
sit still any longer and see these scoundrels and traitors work out their hellish 
schemes to destroy the union. They have my sentiments ; let them one and all 
make the most of them. I am ready to back up all I say, and I repeat it, to meet 
these traitors in any manner they may choose, from a pin's point to the mouth of 
a cannon. [Tremendous applause, during which the old gentleman sat down, af- 
ter he had given the desk a parting whack, which sounded loud above the din of 
cheers and clapping of hands.] 

I never before witnessed so much excitement in an assembly. Mr. Funk spoke 
with a force of natural eloquence, with a conviction and truthfulness, with a fer- 
vor and pathos which wrought up the galleries and even members on the floor to 
the highest pitch of excitement. His voice was heard in the stores that surround 
the square, and the people came flocking in from all quarters. In five minutes, he 
had an audience that packed the hall to its utmost capacity. After he had con- 
cluded, the republican members and spectators rushed up and took him by the 
hand to congratulate him. 

In the month of August, 1863, a riot took place at Danville, the de- 
tails of "which were thus given at the time : 

The difficulty grew out of a long standing hostility, fed and aggravated by the 
copperhead leaders of the neighborhood, which sooner or later would have pro- 
duced, as it has produced in many places in this state, collisions, and riots, but 
the immediate cause seems to have been a fuss between a Colonel Hawkins, of 
Tennessee, and a copperhead, about a butternut emblem worn by the latter on 
Friday. A melee followed in which Colonel Guinup, who was a spectator and 
took no part, was hit with a large stone by a copperhead, and repaid the compli- 
ment by whipping his assailant badly. Here the disturbance ended, and might 
have staid ended, if the copperheads had not been bent on war. On Saturday, 
Hawkins made a speech, in pursuance of an appointment previous to the fight 
The union men, desirous to avoid all chances of collision, urged him not to speak, 
but a good many people having come into town from the country to hear him, he 
spoke. There was no disturbance, and nothing to make it, but the copperheads 
prepared for battle. The Courier says : 

Saturday and Sunday passed without any open demonstration, though there 
were evidences on every hand of " something going on " among the copperheads. 
Horsemen came clattering into town after midnight, signal shots were heard at 
intervals until after dayliglit, in the direction of the mines. The union men were cool 
and collected. 'J'hey had been so clearly in the right and had sacrificed so much 
for the sake of peace, that forbearance had ceased to be a virtue, and maintain- 
ing the defensive, they were prepared for anything that might transpire. On Mon- 
day morning, before daylight, the signal guns were more frequent and lights were 
observed in the houses of well-known copperheads residing in the town. Before 
ten o'clock, rumors were rife of a grand rally of the Knights of the Golden Cir- 
cle a few miles distant, and, about noon, they came marching into town in regu- 
lar line of battle, armed with shot-guns, i-ifles, picks, axes, shovels, spades, clubs, 
corn-cutters, hatchets, and every conceivable weapon. Three fourths of the mot- 
ley army were coal-diggers. They marched to the public-square. The union 
men, in order to gain time, entered into a protracted negotiation, in which they 
agreed to deliver up certain leading unionists, who were especially obnoxious to 
the copperheads. This, of course, was a ruse to gain time, and the leading rebels 
su><pecting as much, precipitated a collision. 

It was not positively known which fired the first shot, they began and followed 
in such quick succession. Payne, the original cause of the difliculty, fell, pierced 
through the heart at the first discharge. The copperheads fired wildly and at 



IN ILLINOIS. 3^- 

random, while the union men took deliberate aim and made up in accuracy -what 
they lacked in numbers. Myers, another copperhead, was shot through the heart, 
and ran about a hundred yards, when he expired. An Irishman, whose name our 
informant did not learn, was also killed. Others were wounded. Shortly after 
Payne received his quietus, his brother, who is the sheriff of the county and a 
virulent copperhead, was wounded in the arm. The provost marshal attempted to 
summon a, posse to quell the disturbance. Wm. Lamb, an old and highly esteemed 
citizen and a leading merchant, was summoned among others. He was armed for 
the defense of his family and {)roperty against the raid which had been threat- 
ened for two days, but, up to this moment, had taken no part He advanced to- 
ward the curbstone, when a well-known copperhead, whose name we have foro-ot- 
ten,^ took deliberate aim and shot him through the heart. He fell and instantly 
expired. Here we record an act of atrocity akin to the inhuman butchery of 
Colonel O'Brien, by a brutal mob in the streets of New York, but without another 

Earallel outside of rebeldom. While he lay motionless and dead upon the ground, 
e was shot a second time, and, after this, another copperhead came up with a 
huge club and crushed the head of the corpse by a tremendous blow. 

Colonel Hawkins had a finger shot off. Colonel Guinup seemed to bear a 
charmed life. He was in the thickest of the fight, but escaped with a slight 
scratch from a half-spent ball. A number were wounded, but none mortally, be- 
yond those abovementioned. The union men remained in possession of the town, 
and the copperheads rallied at their place of rendezvous outside of the corpora- 
tion. Meanwhile, Captain Park, provost marshal of this district, had been sum- 
moned by telegraph to send a military force to Danville, and left about eight 
o'clock, with one hundred men of the 104th, under command of Captain Dutch, a 
veteran soldier. Upon his arrival, everything was reported quiet. The copper- 
heads were still in camp, however, and the union men, exasperated by the mur- 
der of Mr. Lamb and the brutal outrages to which his dead body had been ex- 
posed, were determined upon an attack. This was the situation at daylight, and 
we have watched every click of the telegraph from the west to-day with intense 
interest. But, happily for all concerned, better counsels have prevailed, and a 
dispatch reports all quiet and the excitement subsiding. 

How Gov. Yates regarded those guilty of acts of hostility against 
the government may be learned from the following letter. 

State of Illinois, Executive Department, ) 
Springfield, July 15, 1862. J 
John W. Hosworlh, Osknloosa, 111. : 

Dear Sir : I have just received yours of the 10th of July, in which you say that tho 
pole from which floated the stars and stripes on the Fourth of July, was cut down by se- 
cessionists, and that at a picnic which you are to have, it is threatened that the flag shall 
be taken down, and you ask me whether you would be justifiable in defending the flag 
with fire-arms ? 

I am astonished at this question. As much so as if you were to ask me whether you 
would have a right to defend your property against robbers or your life against murderers. 

You ask me what you shall do ? I reply, do not raise the American flag merely to pro- 
voke your secession neighbors — do not be on the aggressive — but whenever you raise it on 
your own soil, or on the public property of the state or county, or at any public celebra- 
tion, from honest love to that flag, and patriotic devotion to the country which it symboli- 
zes, and any traitor dares to lay hia vnhalloioed hand upon it to tear it doton, then, 1 say, shoot 
him doion as you xoould a dog, and I will pardon you for the offense. 

Richard Yates, Governor. 

Another eminent son of Illinois, Gen. John A. Logan, just from the 
conquest of Vicksburg, in which he bore a distinguished part, ad- 
dressed the i3eople of his state in words of great power and feeling. 
On one of these occasions, he said : 

Now, fellow-citizens, I have detained you on all these points at as great length 
as I desire. This lengthy speaking in the open air will, I am afraid, do me a 
great deal of injury, from the way 1 feel. But I want to say a few words to you 
in reference to our soldiers. I have no eulogies to pass, so far as I am concerned, 



nAQ TIMES OP THE REBELLION 

upon their conduct, more than what that conduct shows itself entitled to. The 
country knows it ; so far as the conduct of the soldiers of the United States is 
concerned, they know all about it. But I want to appeal to you io behalf of these 
men, that while they are traveling and marching about through the rebellious 
states almost naked, without food sometimes, in the burning sun and in the drench- 
ing storm, in the night and in the day — while they are sleeping upon the cold, 
wet ground, while they are suffering all the toils and privations gf camp life such 
as no other soldiers ever endured before, while they are doing that which they 
honestly believe to be their duty to themselves and their country, and to you aa 
their countrymen, 1 want you, as citizens of a loyal country, as citizens of the 
noble State of Illinois, to, at least, extend to them your sympathy, to, at least, feel 
in common with them that their cause is just, to, at least, think, if you can not 
alleviate their sufferings and lessen their privations in the field, that your feelings 
are with them. Say to them, " go on, boys, God bless you," and let the brave fel- 
lows know how you feel toward them. 

Let us have no more letters written from home to the boys who are in the field, 
grumbling and growling, and telling them you wish the unholy war had never be- 
gun, and that you wish they were at home, and all that sort of thing; for you only 
encourage them to desert the cause of their country. Let us have no more letters 
written to the army from parents, telling their children that if they come home, 
to come by a certain man's house, and he will tell them the best way to get where 
they can meet other deserters, and be protected. Let us have no more of this. 
Write to them in this way: say to them, my son, as long as there is an armed 
rebel in the government, as long as there is a traitor in arms against the United 
States, be true to the flag of your country; be true to the oath you took when you 
entered the army. Do your duty, and when your country needs you no longer in 
the field, come home, and we will welcome you with outstretched arms. If you 
die, my brave son, be buried as a faithful soldier, whose last act was in discharge of 
a patriot's duty. Let history render your name immortal as one of the gallant 
men who died that your country might live. Let your country be proud to in- 
scribe your name upon its banners as one of the heroic bead. Let your prayer he 
that the American flag may he your winding sheet, while your spirit wings its 
way to the haxien of rest reserved for the brave soldiers of the American union. 

Talk that way to your boys, to your husbands, to your friends, and you will 
hear such a shout of joy come up from the camps in the land of the foe, as will 
do your hearts good. Let the poor soldiers feel that in the performance of their 
arduous and fatiguing duties, they have comfort at home, as well as cheers in the 
army. Let men reflect that the graves of these many boys — some seven or eight 
thousand — that we lost in our campaign this summer, who were fighting for their 
country — only remember that their gaping wounds, while they lay weltering in 
their gore, like empty mouths, spoke out in thunder tones to their friends at home, 
" Dear friend and companion of mine, here, look at this bleeding gash that has 
been made by traitorous hands. Will you not avenge my blood ? Will you not 
unfurl the banner of your country and lift a single joyous anthem to the tune of 
this union, while -the shouts of victory are going up from each and every battle- 
field in the land ? Will you not avenge the blood of your brothers or your sons, 
killed by men who are attempting to destroy our national existence ? Swear 
that you will — that while there is a remnant of that battle-torn flag left, you will 
strike such blows as will assist my country in ridding the land of all its foes." 

You, citizens of Perry and Franklin counties, who are assembled here to-day, 
let the words of dying Dollins, and a dying Reese spe.ak to you. Let the last 
words of the noble boys who fell as brave soldiers in the ranks, speak in thunder 
tones to you, in reference to your conduct in future. Listen to the words of Col. 
Dollins, in the last agonies of death. He was a brave, true patriot, as ever bled 
for his country's cause. When he was pierced by the leaden messenger of death, 
he sank back, and said he, " Boys, go on, let me see the flag of my country planted 
on the enemy's ramparts." The brave Reese said : " Tell Logan to tell the peo- 
ple at home that 1 died an honest man and a brave soldier." So help me God, I 
will tell them as long as I live, that he died an honest man and a brave soldier. 
My countrymen, do not the words of such men as that speak to you with a voice 



IN ILLINOIS. 



347 



that can not be misunderstood ? They died because of traitorous hands. They 
died because of a rebellion against the best government on earth. They died be- 
cause they were patriots and loved their country and their friends — loved peace, 
harmony and good will. They died for that reason only ; and when in their 
graves, and a little board is put at their heads to mark the spot were they sleep 
the sleep of the fallen brave, you find inscribed upon it: This man died at the bat- 
tle of so-and-so; a loyal man, a true, union soldier, fighting under the flag of hia 
country. Can Jeff. Davis have such a history written on the head-board of hia 
grave ? Can it be said, he died a patriot and a lover of his country ? No. But, 
in a few brief words, his history may be written on the head-board that will mark 
the grave where he will lie — A traitor sleeps here! This is the difference that 
there is between a patriot and the men who are at war against the government. 

If you could only have seen the daring deeds performed by some of your sona 
and friends, you would never be heard again to utter a sentence against the cause 
they are engaged in. It would not do for me to attempt to describe them. The 
most magnificently grand history that can be written of the daring deeds of many 
men, is written on the flag that has been sent to Perry county, by the colonel of 
the old 31st regiment. It was planted upon the bulwarks and ramparts of Vicks- 
burg. The staff was cut down three times, and three times was put together 
again. One hundred and sixty-three bullet-holes through a flag is the grandest 
history of heroic deeds that can be written or made by any set of men. Let all 
look at that flag. These men, however, have not excelled others. There are men 
who have done just as daring deeds. In fact, all have performed the same kind 
of heroic actions. They have all won for themselves a name as brave, good, faith- 
ful and true soldiers of the union. They are united in a common cause, heart 
and hand ; they are truly a band of brothers. That little army is indeed a band 
of brothers. They live together, they love one another, they fight for one another, 
and they would die for one another. All they ask on earth is, that when they die 
they may be buried side by side one another. 

But there are many who object to the prosecution of this war. I hear it said, 
that enough blood has been spilt already ; that we ought to stop it; that this war 
ought to cease. I hear of men making speeches around through the country, and 
appealing to the women and children to know if this war has not gone on long 
enough, and if it ought not to be stopped before any more blood is shed ? They 
appeal to the old, gray-headed men, and they say, you have lost your brothers, 
your sons, and grandsons. The soil is wet with their blood. It is <a bloody war, 
an unnatural war, hence let us stop it. Fellow-citizens, it is true that ia.any a 
brave man has been lost. }Ve have lost many a brave .soldier. Perry county has 
buried many of her cherished sons. On the soil of the south we have buried 
viany more, who there sleep the sleep that knows no icaki)ig. But ive have buried 
them with honor. They have died like trite patriots and soldiers, shouting, " let 
me die like a soldier of the union." I wotild rather die like a soldier tAan live 
like a traitor. They want to stop the war to prevent the further effusion of blood. 
Fellow-citizens, this government is a government that we all love or once loved. 
We love the people, the country, the rivers, the rocks, the trees, every thing in it. 
They are ours. It is our people, our rivers, our lakes, our shores, our rocks, our 
mountains, our rills, our hollows. It is our people, our government — the best and 
brightest that ever existed on earth, and before I would see this war stop until 
the government is restored in all its former supremacy, 1 would rather see the 
graves of ourselves, our sons and our brothers, mountains high. I would rather 
see carcases sufficient to make bridges across the widest streams, before this war 
should stop, until the true soldier of the union could wave his saber in his strong 
right hand and cleave the head from every traitor in the land. This government 
is worth fighting for. It is worth generations and centuries of war. It is worth 
the lives of the best and noblest men in the land, and may they all be sacrificed 
before the war shall stop and leave an armed traitor in the land. We will fight 
for this government, for the sake of ourselves and our children. Our little ones 

SHALL READ IN HISTORY OF THE MEN WHO STOOD BY THE GOVERNMENT IN ITS DARK 
AND GLOOMY HOURS, AND IT SHALL BE THE PROUD BOAST OF MANY THAT THEIR FATHERS 
FELL IN THIS GLORIOUS STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN LIBERTY. 



348 



TIMES OF THE REBELLION. 



At the first great battle in tlie west — the taking of Fort Donelson — 
an unusual proportion of the soldiers of Illinois took part; and so con- 
spicuously that an eastern poet made it a subject of some congratula- 
tory verses, under the caption of 

NEW England's greeting to Illinois. 
O, gales that dash th' Atlantic's swell 

Along our rocky shores ; 
Whose thunders diapason well 

New England's glad hurrahs, — 

Bear to the prairies of the west 

The echoes of our joy; 
The prayer that springs in every breast, 
" God bless thee — Illinois ! " 

0, awful hours, when grape and shell 
Tore through th' unflinching line; 
" Stand firm, remove the men who fell, 
Close up and wait the sign." 

It came at last : " Now, lads, the steel I " 
The rushing hosts deploy ; 
" Charge, boys ! " — the broken traitors reel — 
Huzza for Illinois ! 

In vain thy rampart, Donelson, 

The living torrent bars ; 
It leaps the wall, the fort is won, 

Up go the stripes and stars. 

Thy proudest mother's eyelids fill, 
As dares her gallant boy, 

And Plymouth Kock and Bunker Hill, 
Yearn to thee — Illinois. 
A few years ago, Abraham Lincoln left Springfield to assume duties 
the most responsible that have ever fallen to the lot of man. At the 
depot, upon leaving his quiet village home, to assume the presidency 
of this great nation, he said: "A duty devolves ujjon me which is per- 
haps greater than that which has devolved upon any other man since 
the days of Washington. I hope you, my friends, will all prat that 
I may i-eceive Divine assistance, without which, I can not succeed ; 
but with which success is certain." " Yes, yes, we will pray for you," 
was the response of his townsmen, as bareheaded and in tears, they 
bade him the farewell, from which he was never to return, except to 
his burial, the most sublime and solemn in history. How he discharged 
those duties, has its answer in the hearts of the American people. On 
the 14th of April, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Never was 
such grief known since the world was. Never before had a human 
being accomplished so great a good. Such was the lot of this plain 
man, whom Illinois gave to the Nation in her day of sore trouble. 
"Washington is called the Father of his country ; Lincoln its Savior. 
As the memory of Washington is the most venerated, so the memory 
of Lincoln is the most beloved of mortals. 

On an adjoining page is his last message to his countrymen ; the most sublime 
document of the kind ever written. It is a sacred legacy of elevated Christian 
wisdom, of tender, beautiful benevolence. 



PEESIDENT LINCOLN'S INAUGUEAL ADDRESS, MAECH4, 1865. 
Fellow-Countrymkn : — 

At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office, there is 
less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then, a state- 
ment, somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. 
Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been 
constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still 
absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new 
crfuld be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly 
depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reason- 
ably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no pre- 
diction in regard to it is ventured. 

On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts were 
anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it — all sought to avert 
it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted alto- 
gether to SAVING the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking 
to DESTKOT it without war — seeking to dissolve the Union, and divide efiects, by 
negotiation. Both parties deprecated war ; but one of them would make war rather 
than let the nation survive ; and the other would accept war rather than let it 
perish. And the war came. 

One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally 
over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted 
a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the 
cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest, was the 
object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war, while the Gov- 
ernment claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of 
it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has 
already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease 
with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier 
triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, 
and pray to the same God ; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may 
seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing 
their bread from the sweat of other men' s faces : but let us judge not, that we 
be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered — that of neither has 
been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. " Wo unto the world 
because of oflFenses 1 for it must needs be that offenses come ; but wo to that man by 
whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of 
those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having 
continued through His appointed time. He now wills to remove, and that He gives 
to both North and South this terrible war, as the wo due to those by whom the 
offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes 
which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him ? Fondly do we hope — 
fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. 
Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman's two 
hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of 
blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was 
said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said : " The judgments of the 
Lord are true and righteous altogether." 

With malice toward none ; with charity for all ; -with firmness in the right, as 
God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in ; to bind 
up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and 
for his widow, and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just 
and a lasting peace among onrselves, and with all nations. 

_ 



MICHIGAN. 




The discovery and early settlement of Michigan is due to the French 
whose motives were the prosecution of the fur trade, and, incidentally, the 

conversion of the Indians. To pro- 
mote the latter object. Father Sagard 
reached Lake Huron in 1632, seven 
years after the founding of Quebec, 
but the present site of the city of 
Detroit appears to have been visited 
somewhat earlier. The tract of ter- 
ritory now embraced in the state of 
Michigan, derives its name, it is said, 
from the Indian word, Michi-saiog-ye- 
gan, the meaning of which, in the 
Algonquin tongue, is, the Lake 
Country. 

The Huron tribe of Indians were 
the aboriginal inhabitants of Michi- 
gan. They were anciently very nu- 
merous, brave and powerful, and their 
settlements extended as far north as 
Lake Superior. As early as 1634, 
the French Catholic missionaries 
founded a mission near Lake Huron, 
and in 1660, a station was established on the rocky and pine clad borders of 
Lake Superior. In 1668, the Mission at St. Marys Falls was founded, and 
in 1671, Father Marquette gathered a little flock of Indian converts at Point 
St. Ignatius, on the main land, north of the island of Mackinaw. The great 
body of the Hurons were converted to the profession of Christianity by the 
efforts of the missionaries. The Iroquois, or Five Nations, made war upon 
them, and massacred or dispersed most of their number. 

In 1667, Louis XIV sent a party of soldiers to this territory, to protect 
the French fur traders. In 1701, a French colony left Montreal, and begun 
the settlement of Detroit, which was a place of resort of the French mis- 
sionaries at a much earlier period. Having established military posts at this 
and other places in Michigan, they soon extended their commerce westward 
of Lake Michigan, to the Indians on the Mississippi. They were steadily 
opposed by the Iroquois, and the settlements being somewhat neglected by 
23 (353) 



Arms or MicniaAN. 

Motto — Tuebor si quccrU penitisulam amixnam cir- 
cumspice — If you seek a beautiful peninsula, look 
around you. 



354 MICHIGAN. 

the Frencli government, they never flourished as colonies. At the peace of 
1763, all the French possessions in North America came under the dominion 
of Great Britain. On the expulsion of the French, the celebrated Indian 
chief, Pontiac, seized the occasion to rid the country of the hated whites, by 
a general uprising, and simultaneous attacks on all the forts of the English 
on the lakes. Mackinaw was taken by stratagem, and the garrison butch- 
ered. Detroit was besieged some months, by Pontiac, with 600 Indians, but 
it held out until the Indian allies, becoming weary of the siege, retired, and 
left Pontiac no choice but to make peace. At the termination of the revo- 
lutionary war, by the peace of 1783, Michigan, being included in the North- 
west Territory, was ceded to the United States ; the British, however, did 
not surrender the post of Detroit until 1796. 

Soon after the treaty of Greenville, by Wayne, with the Indians, which 
was made in 1795, the settlements upon the Maumee (now wholly included 
in Ohio), upon the Raisin and Detroit Rivers, were organized under the 
name of Wayne county, and Detroit was the seat of justice. In 1796, the 
whole of the North-west Territory was organized into five extensive counties, 
of which Wayne, as described above, was one. The others, with their loca- 
tion, were as follows: "Washington county comprised all that portion of the 
present state of Ohio within forty miles of the Ohio River, and between the 
Muskingum and the Little Miami; Marietta was the seat of justice. Ham- 
ilton county comprised all that region of country between the Little and 
the Great Miami, within the same distance of the Ohio River; and Cincin- 
nati was the county seat. Knox county embraced the country near the Ohio 
River, between the Great Miami and the Wabash Rivers; and Vincennes was 
the county seat. St. Clair county embraced the settlements upon the Illinois 
and upon the Kaskaskia Rivers, as well as those upon the Upper Mississippi; 
and Kaskaskia was the seat of justice." 

In 1805, the territory of Michigan was organized, and Gen. Wm. Hull 
appointed governor; Detroit was the seat of government. The census 
of 1820 gave it an aggregate population of only 8,900. This included the 
''Huron District, on the west side of Lake Michigan, now known as the state 
of Wisconsin. "About the year 1832, the^ide of emigration began to set 
strong toward Michigan Territory. Steamboat navigation had opened a new 
commerce upon the lakes, and had connected the eastern lakes and their pop- 
ulation with the Illinois and Upper Mississippi. This immense lake navi- 
gation encircled the peninsula of Michigan. It became an object of explo- 
ration. Its unrivaled advantages for navigation, its immense tracts of the 
most fertile arable lands, adapted to the cultivation of all the northern grains 
and grasses, attracted the attention of western emigrants. The tide soon 
began to set strong into Michigan. Its fine level and rolling plains, its deep 
and enduring soil, and its immense advantages for trade and commerce had 
become known and duly appreciated. The hundreds of canoes, pirogues, 
and barges, with their half-civilized couriers du bois, which had annually 
visited Detroit for more than a century, had given way to large and splendid 
steamboats, which daily traversed the lakes from Bufi"alo to Chicago, from 
the east end of Lake Erie to the south-western extremity of Lake Michigan. 
Nearly a hundred sail of sloops and schooners were now traversing every 
part of these inland seas. Under these circumstances, how should Michigan 
remain a savage wilderness ? New York state and the New England states 
began to send forth their numerous colonies, and the wilderness to smile. 

At the end of two years more, or in 1834, the population of Michigan had 



MICHIGAN. 



355 



increased to 87,273 souls, exclusive of Indians. The following year the 
number amounted to more than ninety thousand persons, distributed over 
thirty-eight counties, comprised in the southern half of the peninsula, and 
the 'attached Huron, or Wisconsin District,' lying west of Lake Michigan. 
The town of Detroit, which in 1812 was a stockade village, had now become 
'a city,' with nearly 2,500 inhabitants. 

The humble villages and wigwams of the Indians, sparsely distributed over 
a wide extent of wilderness, had now given way to thousands of farms and 
civilized habitations. Towns and smiling villages usurped the encampment 
and the battle-field. The fertile banks of the 'River Raisin' were crowned 
with hamlets and towns instead of the melancholy stockade. A constitu- 
tion had been adopted on the 15th of June, 1836, and the 'state of Michi- 
gan ' was admitted into the Union on the 26th day of January, 1837, and 
Stephens T. Mason was made the first governor." 

In the war of 1812, the important fortress of Mackinaw, being garrisoned 
by only 57 men, under Lieut. Hanks, was surrendered to a party of British 
and Indians on July 17, 1812. On the 15th of August, Gen. Brock, 
with a force of 1,300 men, of whom 700 were Indians, summoned Gen. Hull 
to surrender Detroit, stating that he would be unable to control the Indians 
if any resistance should be ofiered. Although Hull had a force of 800 men, 
he supposed it would be useless to resist, and, to the astonishment of all, he 
surrendered the fort, and, in the capitulation, included the whole territory 
of Michigan. The indignation was great against him, and after he was ex- 
changed, he was tried by a court martial, sentenced to death, but on account 
of his age and services in the Revolution, the president remitted the punish- 
ment, but deprived him of all military command. In Jan., 1813, Gen. Win- 
chester, who was encamped at Frenchtown, on the River Raisin, was sur- 
prised by a force of British and Indians, under Gen. Proctor. After a severe 
contest. Gen. Winchester surrendered, under the promise of being protected 
from the Indians. The promise was broken: a large number of prisoners, 
mostly those who were wounded, were murdered by the Indians. The cele- 
brated naval victory of Perry occurred on the waters of Lake Erie, only a 
few miles from her shores, and the victory of the Thames, in which the Brit- 
ish and Indians were defeated by Harrison, and in which Tecumseh was 
slain, took place only a short distance from Detroit, within the adjacent 
Canadian territory. A brief outline of these events we present below : 

'■^ Perry s Victory. — The grand object of the Americans in the campaign of 1813, 
in the west, was to attack Maiden and reconquer Michigan from the enemy ; but 
this could not be effectually done, so long as the fleet of the enemy held possession 
of Lake Erie. To further the desired object, a number of vessels had been build- 
ing at Erie, on the south-east shore of the lake, and were finished early in August. 
They consisted of two twenty gun vessels, and seven smaller vessels, carrying from 
one to three each — the whole fleet numbering fifty-four guns. On the 10th of Sep 
tember, Perry fell in with, and gave battle to, the British fleet near the western 
end of the lake, under Commodore Barclay, consisting of six vessels, carrying in 
all sixty-four guns. The number of guns in both fleets, in some cases, is surpassed 
by those of a single battle-ship of the line. The engagement between these little 
fleets was desperate, and lasted three hours. Never was victory more complete ; 
every British ship struck her colors, and the Americans took more prisoners than 
they themselves numbered men. 

Gen. Harrison, at this time, lay with the main body of the Americans in the 
vicinity of Sandusky Bay and Fort Meigs; the British and their Indian allies, un- 
der Proctor and Tecumseh, were at Maiden, ready, in case of a successful issue, 
to renew their ravages upon the American borders. 



356 MICHIGAN. 

Battle of the Thames. — Harrison's army had received a reinforcement of 3,000 
Kentucky volunteers, under Gov. Shelby. On the 27th of September, the main 
body of the army sailed for Detroit River, intending to enter Canada by the valley 
of the Thames. Two days after, Harrison was at Sandwich, and M' Arthur took 
possession of Detroit. Proctor retreated up the Thames, was pursued, and come 
up with on the 5th of October, by Harrison's army; the Americans numbering 
something over 3,000, and their enemy about 2,000. The latter were badly posted 
in order of battle. Their infantry was formed in two lines, extending from the 
river to a small dividing swamp ; the Indians extended from the latter to a larger 
swamp. The Kentucky mounted men, under Col. Richard M. Johnson, divided 
into two parts. The one under the colonel in person, charged the Indians ; the 
other under his brother James, charged the infantry. The latter received the 
enemy's fire, broke through their ranks, and created such a panic, that they at 
once surrendered. Upon the left, the contest with the Indians was more severe ; 
but there the impetuosity of the Kentuckians overcame the enemy, Tecumseh, 
their leader, being among the slain. The battle was over in half an hour, with a 
loss to both armies of less than fifty killed. Proctor fled at the beginning of the 
action. In January, 1814, the enemy again took a position near the battle-field of 
the Thames. Capt. Holmes, while advancing to meet them, learned that a superior 
force was approaching. Having posted himself on a hill, and thrown up intrench- 
ments, he was vigorously attacked, but repulsed the enemy with considerable loss. 

Attack OH Mackinaw. — In the June following. Col. Croghan attempted to take 
the island of Mackinaw, but his force being insufficient, he was repelled with the 
loss of twelve men, among whom was Major Holmes. 

M' Arthur s Expedition. — The last movement of consequence in the north-west, 
during the war, was the expedition of Gen. M'Arthur. He left Detroit on the 26th 
of October, with seven hundred cavalry, intending to move to the relief of Gen. 
Brown, who was besieged by the enemy at Fort Erie, on the Niagara River, oppo- 
site Buffalo. When he had proceeded about two hundred and fifty miles, he ascer- 
tained that the enemy were too strong in front, and he changed his course, de- 
feated a body of opposing militia, destroyed several mills, and returned to Detroit, 
without the loss of a man, although pursued by about 1,200 regular troops." 

"The history of Michigan," says Lanman, "exhibits three distinct and 
strongly marked epochs. The first may properly be denominated the roman- 
tic, which extends to the year 1760, when its dominion was transferred from 
France to Great Britain. This was the period when the first beams of civili- 
zation had scarcely penetrated its forests, and the paddles of the French fur 
traders swept the lakes, and the boat songs of the traders awakened tribes a» 
wild as the wolves which howl around the wigwams. The second epoch m 
the military, commencing with the Pontiac war; and, running down through 
the successive struggles of the British, the Indians and the Americans, to 
obtain the dominion of the country, it ends with the victory of Commodore 
Perry, defeat of Proctor, and the death of Tecumseh, the leader of the Anglo- 
savage confederacy upon the banks of the Thames. The third epoch is the 
enterprising, the hardy, the practical, the working age of Michigan, and it 
commences with the introduction of the public lands into market. It is 
the age of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures; of harbors, cities, ca- 
nals, and railroads." 

Michigan consists of two peninsulas, lying between latitudes 41° 45' and 
48° N., and between longitudes 82° 25' and 90° 34" W. from Greenwich. 
It is bounded N., N. E. and E., by Canada, from which it is separated by 
Lake Superior, the Sault St. Marie, Lake Huron, the Strait and Lake St. 
Clair, Detroit Strait and Lake Erie; on the S. by the states of Ohio and 
Indiana; and on the W. by Lake Michigan and the state of Wisconsin. 
The total land surface comprises an area of more than 56,000 square miles, 
and the area of waters within the constitutional limits of the state, is computed 



MICHIGAN. 



357 



at 36,324 square miles. The lake coast of Michigan is more than 1,400 
miles long. The Southern Peninsula, or Michigan proper, comprises nearly 
two thirds of the land surface of the state. The Northern Peninsula has 
Lake Superior on the north, and Lake Huron and Lake Michigan on the 
south. It is about 220 miles from S. E. to N. W., and about 120 miles in 
its greatest width. The Southern Peninsula, about 283 miles from N. to S., 
and 200 from E. to W. in its broadest part. 

The Southern Peninsula of Michigan may be considered, generally, as one 
vast undulating plain, seldom becoming rough or broken. There are occa- 
sional conical elevations from 150 to 200 feet in hight, but generally much 
less. The shores of Lake Huron are often steep, forming bluffs; while those 
of Lake Michigan are coasted by shifting sand hills of from 100 to 200 feet 
in hight. The central part of the peninsula may be regarded as a fertile 
table land, elevated about 300 feet above the level the great lakes. To the 
traveler, the country presents an appearance picturesque and delightful. 
Through a considerable part, it is so even and free from brush as to permit 
carriages to be driven through with considerable facility. The lowerino- 
forest and grove, the luxuriant prairie, the numerous crystal lakes and lim^ 
pid rivulets, are so frequently and happily blended together, especially in the 
southern section, as to render this country one of the most beautiful in the 
Union. 

The part of the Southern Peninsula generally known to travelers, and 
containing seven eighths of the population and productive industry of the 
state, stretches north 100 miles or so, from the north line of Indiana, reach- 
ing from Toledo on the east to within some 50 miles of Chicago on the west, 
embracing some 20,000 square miles of mainly arable land, having the aver- 
age climate of New York, or Connecticut and Rhode Island, with° about the 
area of Vermont and New Hampshire combined. 

The Northern Peninsula exhibits a striking contrast to the Southern. 
While the latter is level or moderately undulating and quite fertile, the for- 
mer (sometimes called the Siberia of Michigan) is rugged, mountainous, and 
to a considerable extent, sterile in soil. The shores" of Lake Superior are 
composed of a sandstone rock, which, in many places, is worn by the action 
of the winds and waves into fancied resemblances of castles, etc., formino- 
the Ge\&hr^i&di '^ Pictured Rocks ;''' while the shores of Lake Michigan are 
composed of a limestone rock. 

The Northern Peninsula is primitive in formation, but rich in mineral 
wealth. Here are the richest copper mines in the world. A block of almost 
pure copper, weighing over a tun, and bearing the arms of the state rests 
imbedded in the walls of the national monument at Washington. 

Michigan has not advanced with equal rapidity to the prairie states; but 
she has enduring elements of solid wealth, which, in time, will render her 
among the most prosperous. Among these are her vast forests of valuable 
timber, her inexhaustible quarries of the finest of gypsum, her extensive 
fisheries; her recently discovered salt springs, and deposits of coal, and of 
copper and iron ore, a climate rendered equable and healthy by the vast 
bodies of water which nearly surround her, together with a soil that pays 
fairly the labors of the husbandman. A popular journalist gives us some 
substantial thoughts upon this subject. He says: 

At first view, Michigan would seem far less inviting to farmers in quest of a lo- 
cation, than her more western sisters, and^accordinglv her growth has, for the last 
20 years, been far slower than theirs. Her soil is^ in the average, not nearly so 
rich as that of the prairies, and is generally covered with heavy timber, while 



358 MICHIGAN. 

her untiinbered lands are apt to be swampy. There are some exceptions near 
her southern border; but in general, her low levels are covered with bog-grass, 
or with a growth of black ash or low spruce, and can not be made productive 
of grain nearly so soon, so cheaply, nor so abundantly, as can the prairies of 
Illinois or Iowa. Hence it is but natural that the great majority of eastern far- 
mers, in quest of new lands, should push on to the prairie states, there to secure 
lands that are readily made, broadly and generously productive. 

To buy a heavily timbered quarter section, let daylight in upon it, put up a log 
cabin, and move a fomily into it, with a determination to make there a farm, and 
get a living while making it, is an act of genuine courage. Many a man has 
been crowned a hero on considerably cheaper terms. He who does it, better de- 
serves a pension than the ex-soldiers, whom congress has seemed disposed to 
quarter for life on the treasury. For the first half dozen years or so, the growth 
of that farm will be scarcely perceptible, since five days' work must be done else- 
where to every one devoted to the enlargement of the clearing. Making roads, 
going to mill, hunting cattle astray in the dense forest, making fences, etc., with 
the necessity of working for others to procure those necessaries of life that the 
narrow patch of stumpy clearing refuses to supply, consume at least five sixths of 
the time; so that the poor man who, from the first, adds five acres per annum to 
the area of arable soil which surrounds his cabin, does very well. But when 15 
or 20 acres thus cleared, begin to furnish adequate bread for his family, and grass 
for his cattle, the case is bravely altered. Mills are by this time nearer and more 
easily reached; roads are better, and require less labor at his hands; each addi- 
tion to his clearing requires fencing on but two sides, instead of three or four as 
at first; the older stumps begin to yield to the plow ; wild animals and birds are 
less destructive of his growing crops than when the clearing was but a hand's 
breadth ; so that two or three days per week may now be given to clearing instead 
of one. After 40 acres have been cleared, the timber ceases to be an obstacle; 
the neighboring saw mill or embryo village will take some of it at a price that will 
at least pay for cutting and drawing ; the black ash swamp supplies in abundance 
the best of rail timber; a barn this year, a corn-crib next, and a wagon shed the 
3''ear after, absorb a good many trees ; the household fires lick up the residue ; so 
that acres are insensible swept off without an effort; the remaining woods break 
the force of the sharp winds, and furnish nuts and other food for swine; and when 
the eightieth acre has been cleared, the quarter-section is worth more than if it 
were all treeless, and clearing for clearing's sake may be suspended. Local or 
personal circumstances must necessarily modify this picture, but its essential and 
general truth will be conceded. And thus a state or section, like a single farm, 
when denuded of a portion of its timber, is far more inviting to the settler than if^ 
it had no timber at all. 

"Michigan is encompassed by five hikes, four of -whicli are the largest col- 
lections of fresh water on the globe. These are. Lake Superior, Lake Michi- 
gan, Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, and L^ke Erie, which are connected by 
the Straits of Detroit, St. Clair, Miehilimackinac, and St. Mary. Nor is this 
state merely surrounded by lakes, but the interior is interspersed with them 
from one border to the other. The country, indeed, is literally maculated 
with small lakes of every form and size, from an area of 1 to 1,000 acres, 
though, as a general rule, they do not, perhaps, average 500 acres in extent, 
they are sometimes so frequent that several of them may be seen from the 
same position. They are usually very deep, with gravelly bottoms, waters 
transparent, and of a cool temperature at all seasons. This latter fact is 
supposed to be in consequence of springs which furnish them constant sup- 
plies. Water fowl of various sorts inhabit their shores, and their depths are 
the domain of abundance of fish, trout, bass, pike, pickerel, dace, perch, cat- 
fish, sucker, bull-head, etc., which often grow to an extraordinary size. It 
is usual to find some creek or rivulet originating in these, but what is a sin- 
gular fact, and not easily accounted for, many of these bodies of living water 



MICHIGAN. 



359 



have no perceptible outlet, and yet are stored with fish. A lake of this de- 
scription, with its rich stores of fish and game, forms no unenviable append- 
age to a farm, and is properly appreciated. But with all its length of lake 
coast, Michigan can boast of but few good harbors, yet there are several that 
afford excellent shelter from the storms that frequently sweep over these 
great island seas, and lash them into turmoil." 

The fisheries of Michigan are an important element of her industry. The 
proceeds of these amount, annually, to more than half a million of dol- 
lars, exceeding, in value, the combined product of the rest of the fresh- 
water fisheries in the Union. 

Among them the white fish, Mackinaw trout, and the muscolonge, are un- 
surpassed for their delicacy of flavor. Mackinaw has been famous as the 
greatest fishing point on the lakes. The work in that vicinity is mostly 
done by half-breeds — of French and Indian blood — in the employ of mer- 
chants. Of late years colonies of Norwegians have embarked in the busi- 
ness. Trained in the severe school of their rugged northern homes, they 
exhibit the greatest daring, going out in their tiny craft during the heaviest 
gales. 

The settled parts of Michigan are well supplied with railroads, and others 
ire in progress which will bring her valuable lands on the north into mar- 
tet. Within the state are an unusually large number of plank road.s. In 
a country so full of lumber, these are easily constructed, and add much to 
the increase of business communication. 

The great bulk of the present population of Michigan, is of New England 
descent. About one third of its settlers came directly from the state of New 
York. The number of inhabitants in 1810, was 4,762; in 1830,31,639; 
in 1850, 397,654 : in 1860, 754,291. 




South-eastern vietc of Detroit. 

Showing the appearance of the city as seen from the Great Western Depot, at Windsor, on the Canada 
Bide of the river. The buildings of the Michigan Central Railroad appear ou the left. 

Detroit, the principal city, and formerly the capital of Michigan, is sit- 
uated on the N.W. or right bank of Detroit River, or strait, 82 miles E.8.E. 
from Lansing, the present capital. The name d'ctroif^ the French word for 
"strait," indicates its location. The city extends more than a mile and a half, 
the center of it being about 7 miles from Lake St. Clair, and 18 above the 
west end of Lake Erie, 526 from Washington, and, by steamboat, 327 from 



360 MICHIGAN. 

Buffalo. The width between the docks at Windsor, Canada West, and those 
of Detroit, opposite, is about half a mile, and the depth of water from 12 to 
48 feet. The current in the deepest part of the stream, opposite the city, 
flows at the rate of two and a half miles per hour. Such is its depth and 
uniformity, that it makes Detroit a secure and accessible harbor in all 
seasons. 

Bordering the river, and for 1,200 feet back from it, the plan of the city 
is rectangular — in rear of this triangular. The streets are spacious, and 
among the more noted are eight avenues; three of these are 200 feet, and 
five others 120 feet wide. Five of these center at a public ground called the 
Grand Circus. In the city are several public squares or spaces, the princi- 
pal of which are the Campus Martius and the Circus. A large portion of 
the buildings are of wood, but there are many handsome and substantial 
brick buildings. Among these may be mentioned, the old state house, now 
used for literary purposes ; the two Catholic cathedrals; the first Presbyte- 
rian church, and several others. There are in all about 30 churches. The 
Central Railroad freight depot, is one of the largest in the United States. 
The city is supplied with the purest of water from the Detroit River; the 
reservoir, which is of cast iron, is kept supplied by means of a steam engine. 
The business of Detroit is immense. It has several extensive manufactories, 
large steam saw mills, founderies, machine shops, etc. It is most admirably 
situated for trade, and is becoming a great commercial emporium. The nav- 
igation of the river and lake is open about eight months in the year; the 
arrivals and departures of steam and sailing vessels is very great, and con- 
stantly increasing. By this, and the numerous railroad communications, 
thousands of emigrants travel annually, and millions of dollars worth of 
produce are transported. A direct trade has, of late years, sprung up with 
Europe, by means of sailing vessels, from this and other lake ports, via the 
Welland Canal, of Canada, the St. Lawrence River, and Atlantic Ocean. In 
1859, 22 vessels in all sailed for Europe, laden with staves and lumber. The 
population of Detroit, in 1830, was 2,222; in 1840, 9,102; in 1850, 21,057; 
in 1853, 34,436; and in 1860, 46,834. 

Detroit was founded in 1701, by Cadillac, a French nobleman, acting under 
a commission from Louis XIV. In June of this year, he left Montreal with 
one hundred men, a Jesuit missionary, and all the necessary means for the 
erection of a colony; reached Detroit in July, and commenced the founda- 
tion of the settlement. Before this period, and as far back as 1620, it was 
the resort of the French missionaries: when first visited by them, its site 
was occupied by an Indian village, named Teuchsa Grondie. A rude fort 
wae erected by Cadillac, and surrounded with pickets, which inclosed a few 
houses, occupied by the French traders and the soldiers attached to the post. 
This establishment was, however, rude, frail, and mounted with small cannon, 
which were more adapted to overawe the Indians than for solid and effective 
defense.* 

In May, 1712, the Iroquois, or Five Nations, who were hostile to the 
French and friendly Indians, instigated the Ottagamies or Foxes, their allies, 
to capture Detroit. They were probably backed by the English, who wished 
to destroy this post and erect a fort of their own upon its ruins. At this 
period, the French had established three villages of friendly Indians in the 
immediate vicinity of the post, occupied by the Pottawatomies, the Ottawas, 



*Lanman's History of Michigan. 



MICHIGAN. 



361 



and tlie Hurons. The Foxes, having laid a secret plan for the destruction 
of the French fort, the plot was revealed by one of the friendly Indians, a 
convert to the Catholic faith. On the 13th of May, Detroit was attacked by 
the Foxes. At this critical juncture, the friendly Indians, to whom the 




Vieic in Woodward Avenue, Detroit. 

The City Hall and Market appear on the left ; the Kussell House in the central part. In the extreme 
distance on the right, at the foot of Woodward Avenue, on the opposite or Canada side of the river, is seen 
the depot of the Great Western Railroad. 

French commander, M. D'Buisson, had sent for aid, appeared through the 
wilderness, naked, painted and armed for battle; they were received into the 
fort, and the Foxes were obliged to retreat. They afterward endeavored to 
burn out the French, and for this purpose discharged blazing arrows upon 
the fort. Many of the roofs of the houses, being thatched with straw, were 
set on fire, but by covering the remainder with wet skins they were pre- 
served. ^ n J T 

The French power in Michigan ceased with the conquest of Canada. In 
the fall of 1760, Major Rogers, with an English detachment, proceeded to- 
ward Detroit, to take possession. De Bellestre, when he heard of the ad- 
vance of Rogers, erected a high flag-staff, with an effigy of a man's head on 
top, and upon this head he had placed the image of a crow. He told the 
Indians, who are strongly impressed with symbols, that the head represented 
Maj. Rogers, and the crow was himself The interpretation of this group 
was, that the French commandant would scratch out the brains of the En- 
glish. The Indians, however, were skeptical as to the truth of this emblem, 
and told him that the reverse would be the fact. Maj. Rogers, li^^'ng 
pushed his boats up the Detroit River, drew up his detachment in a held 
within half a mile of the fort. Lieuts. Lefflie and M'Cormick, accompanied 



362 



MICHIGAN. 



by tliirty-six Royal Americans, were sent forward to take possession of De- 
troit. The French garrison surrendered their arms, and the first British 
flag was raised upon the fort, amid the shouts of 700 Indians, collected 
around that station, who exulted that their prediction respecting the crow 
had been verified. 

The next event of importance in the history of Detroit, and, indeed, of 
the whole north-west, was the Indian outbreak called the "Pontiac War." 
The fort at Detroit was, at this time, garrisoned by 122 men and 8 officers, 
under the command of Maj. Gladwyn. Two armed vessels were anchored 
in front of the town for defense. The Indians who besieged it were 600 in 
number. 

" The plan which was devised by Pontiac to destroy the fort at Detroit; exhibited 
remarkable cunning; as well as strategy. He had ordered the Indians to saw off 
their rifles so as to conceal them under their blankets, gain admission to the fort, 
and, at a preconcerted signal, which was the delivery of a belt of wampum in a 
certain way, to rush upon the troops, massacre the officers, and open the gates to the 
warriors on the outside, who should stand ready to co-operate with those within. 
In order to carry this plan into execution, he encamped at a little distance from 
Detroit, and sent word to Major Gladwyn that he and his warriors wished to hold 
a council with the English commandant on the following day, that ' they might 
brighten the chain of peace.' This was the 8th of May, 1763. The council was 
granted. On the evening of that day, an Indian woman, who had been employed 
by Major Gladwyn to make him a pair of elk-skin moccasins, which he intended 
to present to a friend, brought them to the fort. These were finished in so hand- 
some a manner, that he requested the woman to take back the remainder of the 
skin, and make them into others for himself He then paid her for those which 
she had made, and ordered his servant to see her from the fort. Having arrived 
at the gate which looks out upon the Detroit River, she lingered as if her business 
had been unfinished ; and this conduct excited some remark. The servant of the 
commandant was ordered to inquire the reason of her delay, but he could procure 
no satisfactory answer. At length the commandant called her within the fort, and 
inquired why she loitered about the gate, and did not hasten home before they 
were shut, so that she might complete the moccasins at the proper time, ^he re- 
plied that the commandant had treated her with great kindness, and that she did 
not wish to take the skin away, as he prized it so much, because she could ' never 
bring it back' Something seemed to be struggling in her bosom for utterance, and 
at length, after a promise that the disclosure should not turn to her disadvantage, 
and that, if profitable, she might be rewarded, this Indian woman, named Catha- 
rine, developed the plot. Major Gladwyn mentioned his apprehensions to the officer 
next in command, but he deemed it a mere trick to frighten him, and not worthy 
of consideration. The night was occupied in making the proper preparations ; the 
ammunition was examined and arranged, and every man within the fort, both tra- 
der and soldier, was directed to be prepared for sudden and active service. The 
defenses of the fort were strengthened, the arms made ready, and during the night 
guards were kept upon the ramparts. The war songs and dances of the Indians, 
which generally precede any important enterprise, breaking upon the silence of 
midnight, only strengthened his suspicions that the Indian woman had told the 
truth. In the morning of the 9th, about ten o'clock, Pontiac and his warriors re- 
paired to the fort of Detroit, and they were immediately admitted to the council- 
house, where they were received by Major Gladwyn and his officers. During their 
progress toward the fort, the savages had noticed a remarkable parade of soldiers 
upon the ramparts and within the town, and that the officers in the council cham- 
ber, and also the governor, had each pistols in their belts. When the Indians were 
seated on their skins in the council chamber, Pontiac inquired what was the cause 
of this extraordinary military preparation ; and he was told that it was necessary 
to keep the soldiers to rigid discipline. The council commenced by a speech from 
Pontiac, in which he profes'sed the utmost friendship for the English ; and as he 
approached the period of the concerted signal, the delivery of the belt of warn 



MICHIGAN". 3g3 

puna, his gesticulations became more violent. Near the period which had been 
described by the Indian woman as the time when the belt was to be delivered, and 
the lire upon the garrison commenced, the governor and his officers drew their 
swords from their scabbards; and the soldiers of the fort, who had been drawn 
around the doors of the council-house, which had been intentionally left open, 
made a clattering upon the ground with their arms. Pontiac, whose eagle eye had 
never quailed in battle, turned pale and trembled, and delivered the belt in the 
usual manner; while his warriors looked at each other with, astonishment, but con- 
tinued calm. 

Pontiac's speech having been concluded. Major Gladwyn commenced his answer; 
but instead of thanking Pontiac for his professions of friendship, he accused him 
of being a traitor; and in order to convince him of his knowledge of the plot, he 
advanced toward the chief who sat nearest, and drawing aside his blanket, dis- 
closed the shortened rifle. He advised him at the same time, to leave the fort be- 
fore his young men should discover the design and massacre the Indians; and as- 
sured him that his person should be held safe until he had advanced beyond the 
pickets, as he had promised him safety. As soon as the warriors had retired from 
the gates of the fort, they gave the yell, and fired upon the English garrison. 

After this the fort was closely besieged, and the garrison reduced to great 
distress. On the 29th of July, the garrison was relieved by a detachment 
of 300 regular troops, under Capt. Dalyell. This officer, supposing that 
Pontiac might be surprised in his camp, marched out with 247 men, during 
the night of the 30th of July. The Indians, having information of the 
proposed attack, laid in wait for the party, concealed in the high grass, near 
a place since called the Bloody Bridge, upward of a mile from Detroit on 
the main road. Upon their arrival, a sudden and destructive fire was poured 
upon them, Capt. Dalyell and 19 others were killed and 42 wounded ; the 
rest made good their retreat to the fort. Pontiac, having invested Detroit 
for about twelve months, hearing that Gen. Bradstreet was advancing with 
3,000 men, gave up the siege and sued for peace, which was granted. 



In 1796, the post of Detroit was delivered up by the British to the United 
States, according to treaty. 

On tho 11th day of June, 1805, the smi rose in cloudless splendor, over the little town 
of Detvoit. A few minutes after a poor washer-woman kindled a fire in a back yard, to 
begin her daily toil, a spark set fire to some hay. At noon of the same day. but one soli- 
tary dwelling remained, to mark the site of the town. All the others were in ashes, and 
the whole population, men, women and children — the aged and the young, the sick, the 
halt, and the blind, were driven into the streets, houseless and homeless. All the boats, 
pirogues and skifts lying along the beach (as it then was), were loaded with goods, and 
pushed off into the stream; but burning shingles, driven by the wind, followed and de- 
stroyed them even there._ The town being built of dry pine, and very compact, the streets 
being but about twenty feet wide (the width of a sidewalk on JeflTerson Avenue), the pro- 
gress of the fire was extremely rapid, and the heat tremendous. The whole population, 
like Bedouins of the desert, pitched their tents, by the cooling embers of their late happy 
dwellings. Fortunately, Providence permitted the calamity to fall on them in summer. 
The Lea-light hearts of the French habitans rose above the pressure of misfortune, and to 
work they went, to repair damages. No grumbling at Providence. Their religion told 
them that repining was useless. So they worked, and fiddled, and danced, and sung, and 
soon a new town began to appear, in its present extended form; and with the regret of the 
moment, passed away all sorrow for the losses endured. — Witherell's Eeminiseenees. 



The following account of the invasion of Detroit, by Gen. Brock, and of 

its surrender by Gen. Hull, on the 15th of August, 1812, is from Perkins' 
History of the Late War: 

Gen. Brock had been educated in arms, and had sustained a distinguished rank 



364 MICHIGAN". 

and character in the army of Egypt. He arrived at Maiden with reinforcements 
in high spirits on the 13t"h, just as the American troops retired from the Canadian 
shore, dispirited, disappointed and disgusted with their commander. On the 15th, 
he planted batteries on the bank of the river opposite the fortress of Detroit, and 
sent a summons to the American general to surrender, stating that he should other- 
wise be unable to restrain the fury of the savages. This was answered by a spir- 
ited refusal, and a declaration that the fort and town would be defended to the 
last extremity. The firing from the batteries and the fort immediately commenced, 
and continued with little interruption, and without much eiFect, until the next day. 
The alarm and consternation of Gen. Hull had now become extreme, and appeared 
in a series of irregular and incoherent measures. On the 12th, the field officers 
suspecting the general intended a surrender of the fort, had determined on his 
arrest. This was prevented in consequence of Cols. Duncan M' Arthur and Lewis 
Cass, two very active, intelligent, and spirited officers, being detached on the 13th 
with four hundred men, on a third expedition to the River Raisin. They advanced 
about fourteen miles, when on the 15th they received orders to return. At day- 
light on the 16th, the British commenced crossing the river at Spring Wells, three 
miles below the town, under cover of two ships of war. They accomplished their 
landing by seven o'clock without opposition, and took up their line of march in 
close column of platoons, twelve in front, toward the fort along the bank of the 
river. The fourth regiment of United States troops was stationed in the fort ; the 
Ohio volunteers and a part of the Michigan militia behind the pickets, in a situa- 
tion where the whole flank of the enemy would have been exposed. The residue 
of the militia were in the upper part of the town to resist the incursions of the 
savages. Two twenty-four pounders loaded with grape were posted on a command- 
ing eminence, ready to sweep the advancing columns. Cols. M'Arthur and Cass 
had arrived within view of Detroit, ready to act on the rear of the enemy. In this 
situation the troops Avaited in eager expectation the advance of the British, antici- 
pating a brilliant victory. 

When the head of the British columns had advanced within five hundred yards 
of the line, and the artillery ready to sweep their ranks, orders were given for the 
troops to retire into the fort, and" for the artillery not to fire. A white flag was 
hoisted. A British officer rode up to inquire the cause. A communication passed 
between the commanding generals, which soon ended in a capitulation. The for- 
tress of Detroit, with all the public stores, property, and documents of every kind, 
were surrendered. The troops were made prisoners of war. The detachment un- 
der ^{'Arthur and Cass, and the troops at the River Raisin, were included in the 
capitulation.^ On the 17th, Gen. Brock dispatched a flag to Capt. Brush with the 
terms. He immediately called a council of his officers, who determined that they 
were not bound by the capitulation, and advised to break up the camp and return. 
In pursuance of their advice, Capt. Brush immediately broke up his camp, took 
with him what public stores and property he could, and commenced his retreat to 
Ohio. The Michigan militia who had not joined the army were paroled, on con- 
dition of not serving during the present war. No provision was made for the un- 
fortunate Canadians who had joined Gen. Hull, or accepted his protection. They 
were left exposed to suffer as traitors ; nine were executed at one time, and several 
more afterward. Gen. Hull in this measure took counsel only from his own fears. 
He held no council of war, knowing that all his officers would be opposed to the 
surrender. In his official report he expressly exempts them from any share in the 
disgraceful transaction. 

The British force at Maiden at the time Gen. Hull entered Canada, and until 
the 12th of August, consisted of one hundred regular troops, four hundred Cana- 
dian militia, and several hundred Indians. After the arrival of Gen. Brock with 
his reinforcements, the whole amounted to three hundred and thirty regulars, four 
huadred militia, and six hundred Indians. The troops surrendered by Gen. Hull 
amounted to twenty-five hundred, consisting of two troops of cavalry, one compa 
ny of artillery, the fourth United States regiment, and detachments Yrom the first 
and third ; three regiments of Ohio volunteers, and one regiment of Michigan 
militia, amounting to about twelve hundred. By this capitulation the Briti.'^h'ob- 
tainod 2,500 muskets stacked on the esplanade at the time of the surrender, 450 



MICHIGAN. 365 

broucrht in by the detachment under M' Arthur and Cass, 700 received from the 
Michigan militia, thirty-three pieces of ordnance, one thousand rounds of fixed 
ammimition, 200 tuns of ball, 200 cartridges of grape shot, 75,000 musket car- 
trid^res made up, 24 rounds in the possession of each man, 60 barrels of gunpow- 
der "l50 tuns of lead, provisions for the army for 25 days in the fort, and a large 
escurt at the River Raisin. An event so disgraceful to the American arms did not 
fail to excite universal indignation. When M' Arthur s sword was demanded he 
indignantly broke it, tore the epaulets from his shoulders, and threw himself on 
the ground. 

John Kinzie, Indian trader, so long identified with the annals of Chicago, 
was, at the time of the surrender, residing in Detroit. In '' Wau-bun, the 
'Early Day' in the North-west," is given this narrative, which shows the 
conduct of the British to their prisoners in no pleasing light: 

It had been a stipulation of Gen. Hull, at the surrender of Detroit, that the inhabitants 
of that place should be permitted to remain undisturbed in their homes Accordmgly the 
family of Mr. Kinzie took up their quarters with their friends m the old mansion, which 
many will still recollect as standing on the north-east corner of Jeflferson-avenue and 

ThrfeeHngs of indignation and sympathy were constantly aroused in the hearts of the 
citizens during the winter that ensued. They were almost daily called upon to witness the 
cruelties practiced upon the American prisoners brought in by their Indian captors. Those 
who could scarcely drag their wounded, bleeding feet over the frozen ground, were com- 
pelled to dance for the amusement of the savages, and these exhibitions sometimes took 
place before the Government House, the residence of Col. McKee. Some of the British 
officers looked on from their windows at these heartrending performances; for the honor 
of humanity we will hope such instances were rare. 

Everything that could be made available among the effects of the citizens were offered, 
to ransom their countrymen from the hands of these inhuman beings. The pnsonere 
brou-ht in from the River Raisin— those unfortunate men who were permitted after their 
surrender to Gen. Proctor, to be tortured and murdered by inches by his savage allies, ex- 
cited the sympathies and called for the action of the whole community. Private houses 
were turned into hospitals, and every one was forward to get possession of as many as pos- 
sible of the survivors. To effect this, even the articles of their apparel were bartered by 
the ladies of Detroit, as they watched from their doors or windows the miserable victims 

carried about for sale. , , ,,. ^- „<• ti,„ o.,p 

In the dwelling of Mr. Kinzie one large room was devoted to the reception ot the sut- 
ferers Few of them survived. Among those spoken of as objects of the deepest inter- 
est were two young gentlemen of Kentucky, brothers, both severely wounded, and their 
wounds aggravated to a mortal degree by subsequent ill-usage and hardships. Their so- 
licitude for each other, and their exhibition in various ways of the most tender fraternal 
•iffection, created an impression never to be forgotten. » u ^ *• ft^, 

Mr. Kinzie joined his family at Detroit in the month of January. A short time alter 
luspicions arose in the mind of Gen. Proctor that he was in correspondence with Gen. Har- 
fison, who was now at Fort Meigs, and who was believed to be meditating an advance up- 
m Detroit. Lieut. Watson of the British army waited upon Mr. Kmzie one day, with an 
invitation to the quarters of Gen. Proctor, on the opposite side of the river, saying he 
wished to speak with him on business. Quite unsuspicious, he complied with the invita- 
tion, when to his surprise he was ordered into confinement, and strictly guarded in the 
bouse of his former partner, Mr. Patterson, of Sandwich. Finding that he did not return 
.0 his home, Mrs. Kinzie informed some of the Indian chiefs, his particular friends who 
immediately repaired to the head-quarters of the commanding officer, demanded their 
«« friend's "release, and brought him back to his homo. After waiting a time until a la- 
vorable opportunity presented itself, the general sent a detachment of dragoons to arrest 
him. They had succeeded in carrying him away, and crossing the river with him. Just 
at this moment a party of friendly Indians made their appearance. 

" Where is the Shaw-nee-aw-kee? " was the first question. " There," replied his wife, 
pointing across the river, " in the hands of the red-coats, who are taking him away 

'^^The Indians ran to the river, seized some canoes that they found there, and crossing 
over to Sandwich, compelled Gen. Proctor a second time to forego his intentions. _ 

A third time this officer was more successful, and succeeded inari^esting Mr. Kinzie ana 
conveying him heavily ironed to Fort Maiden, in Canada, at the mouth of the Detroit 
River Here he was It first treated with great severity, but after a time the rigor of his 



366 



MICHIGAN. 



confinement was somewhat relaxed, and he was permitted to walk on the bank of the 
river for air and exercise. 

On the lOth of September, as he was taking his promenade under the close supervision 
of a guard of soldiers, the whole party were startled by the sound of guns upon Lake Erie, 
at no great distance below. What could it mean? It must be Commodore Barclay firing 
into some of the Yankees. The firing continued. The time allotted the prisoner for his 
daily walk expired, but neither he nor his guard observed the lapse of time, so anxiously 
were they listening to what they now felt sure was an engagement between ships of war. 
At length Mr. Kinzie was reminded that the hour for his return to confinement had arrived. 
He petitioned for another half-hour. 
• " Let me stay," said he, " till we can learn how the battle has gone." ~ 

Very soon a sloop appeared under press of sail, rounding the point, and presently two 
gun-boats in chase of her. 

" She is running — she bears the British colors," cried he, " yes, yes, they are lowering 
— she is striking her flag! Now," turning to the soldiers, " I will go back to prison con- 
tented — I know how the battle has gone." 

The sloop was the Little Belt, the last of the squadron captured by the gallant Perry on 
that memorable occasion which he announced in the immortal words: — " Vft have met the 
enemy, and they are ours! " 

Matters were growing critical, and it was necessary to transfer all prisoners to a place 
of greater security than the frontier was now likely to be. It was resolved, therefore, to 
send Mr. Kinzie tctlie mother country. Nothing has ever appeared, which would explain 
the course of Gen. Proctor, in regard to this gentleman. He had been taken from the 
bosom of his family, where he w%,s living quietly under the parole which he had received, 
and protected by the stipulations of the surrender. He was kept for months in confine- 
ment. Now he was placed on horseback under a strong guard, who announced that they 
had orders to shoot him through the head if he offered to speak to a person upon the road. 
He was tied upon the saddle in a way to prevent his escape, and thus they sat out for 
Quebec. A little incident occurred, which will help to illustrate the course invariably pur- 
sued toward our citizens at this period, by the British army on the north-western frontier. 

The saddle on which Mr. Kinzie rode had not been properly fastened, and owing to the 
rough motion of the animal on which it was, it turned, so as to bring the rider into a most 
awkward and painful position. His limbs being fastened, he could not disengage himself, 
and in this manner he was compelled by those who had charge of him to ride until he was 
nearly exhausted, before they had the humanity to release him- 

Arrived at Q.uebec, he was put on board a small vessel to be sent to England. The ves- 
sel when a few days out at sea was chased by an American frigate and driven into Hali- 
fax. A second time she set sail, when she sprung a leak and was compelled to put back. 

The attempt to send him across the ocean was now abandoned, and he was returned to 
Quebec. Another step, equally inexplicable with his arrest, was now taken. This was 
his release and that of Mr. Macomb, of Detroit, who was also in confinement in Quebec, 
and the permission given them to return to their friends and families, although the war 
was not yet ended. It may possibly be imagined that in the treatment these gentlemen 
received, the British commander-in-chief sheltered himself under the plea of their being 
" native born British subjects," and perhaps when it was ascertained that Mr. Kinzie was 
indeed a citizen of the United States, it was thought safest to release him. 

In the meantime. Gen. Harrison at the head of his troops had reached Detroit. He 
landed on the 29th September. All the citizens went forth to meet him — Mrs. Kinzie, 
leading her children by the hand, was of the number. The general accompanied her to 
her home, and took up his abode there. 



Watson visited Detroit in the summer of 1818, and has given in his Remi- 
niscences a sketch of his visit, descriptive of what then fell under his notice 
here: 

Here I am at the age of sixty in Detroit, seven hundred miles west of Albany. I little 
dreamed thirty years ago, that I should ever tread upon this territory 

The location of Detroit is eminently pleasant, being somewhat elevated, and boldly front- 
ing its beautiful river. The old town has been burnt, which was a cluster of miserable 
structures picketed in and occupied by the descendants of Frenchmen, who pitched their 
tents here early in the seventeenth century in prosecution of the fur trade. The city is 
now laid out upon a large scale, the streets spacious, and crossing at right angles. The 
main street is called Jefterson-avenue, and stretches the whole length of the city. De- 
troit must always be the emporium of a vast and fertile interior. By the existing estima- 
tion of the value of real estate here, it has, I think, been greatly overrated. Commerce 



MICHIGAN. 



367 



is languis^hing, and agriculture at its lowest degradation. In proof of this, I saw at the 
Grand Marie', four miles north of the city, a large, clumsy, wooden plow, such as doubt 
less were in use in France, at the period of the emigration from that country of the ances- 
tors of this people. It was drawn by two yoke of oxen and two horses,_and was con- 
ducted by three men, who Avere making as much noise as if they were moving a barn. 

The most attractive object I have seen on this beautiful river are its innumerable and 
lovely islands, most of which are cultivated. The dense forest approaches in close prox- 
imity to the city, and spreads over a level surface quite into the interior. From the high- 
est point of elevation I could attain, I discerned no uplands, all was a dead plain. The land 
belono-s to the government, and is of the richest quality, but has hitherto been represented 
as unhealthy. The territory of Michigan has not been adequately explored; but while I 
was at Detroit, several parties of enterprising and energetic young men penetrated into 
the woods with packs on their shoulders to investigate, and returned with the most glow- 
ino- and flattering accounts of a country of the choicest land, generally undulating, and 
requiring nothing but the vigorous arm of industry to convert it into the granary of 

America. , , , ,. . , . 

The near approach of the wilderness to Detroit, brings the howling wolves within a 
short distance of the citv, and I was frequently called on to listen to their shrill cries in 
the calm, hot nights. The numerous and large old orchards of the finest apples, origin- 
ally imported from France, and the extensive fisheries of white fish in the vicinity, greatly 
augment the wealth and comfort of the people. Although possessing the most fertile soil 
such is the wretched chanicter of their agriculture, that the inhabitants are mainly de- 
pendent upon the young and thriving state of Ohio, for their supplies of pork, beef, bread- 
stuffs, and even of potatoes. 




East view of the State House at Lansing. 

The engraving shows the front or the eastern side of the Michigan State Capitol. One of the Yn'oi» 
Public Schools is seen in the distance on the left, and the State building containing the office of the Secre- 
tary of State, Auditor, etc., on the right. 

I daily notice squaws fighting in the streets like wild-cats, and in conditions too revolt- 
ing to describe. They lay about the city like swine, begging for cats and dogs, which 
they devour at the river side half-cooked. The most disgusting and loathsome sight 1 
ever witnessed, was that of a coarse, fat, half-naked Indian, as filthy as a beast, under a 
tree immediately in front of my son's residence, filling his mouth with whisky until his 
cheeks were completely distended, and then two or three squaws in succession sucking it 
out of the corners. I called mv daughter-in-law to see the revolting sight, but she as 
sured me it was nothing unusual, and that the practice was common with this tribe of In- 
dians. I often visited the fort that my old friend Hull so fatally and ignominiously sur- 
rendered. Col. Mvers, who was in command of Fort George at its capture, informed me 
while a prisoner in'Pittsfield, that one half of Brock's army, at the surrender of, Detroit, 
wore Canadian militia dressed in British red coats. 

Lansing, the capital of Michigan, is situated on both sides of Grand 
River, here a large mill stream, 85 miles N. W. of Detroit, 20 from St. Johns 
on the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad, and 40 from Jackson on the Central 



368 MICHIGAN. 

Railroad. The town, which is laid out on an extended plan, has at present 
a scattered appearance. The state capitol (of wood) was erected in the sum- 
mer of 1847, at an expense of about $15,000. The state agricultural college 
is situated three and a half miles east from the capital, and has a model farm of 
about 700 acres : it is crowded with pupils, and the noble example set by 
Michigan, in founding this institution, has been followed by several other 
states. The house of Correction, for juvenile offenders, opened in 1856, is 
about three fourths of a mile east from the capital. In 1852, a plank road 
to Detroit was constructed, at an expense of $130,000. Plank roads also 
connect it with Jackson and Marshall. Population about 3,000. 

The lands comprising the northern part of Lansing were first entered from the 
United States, in 1836, by James Seymour, Frederic J3ushnell, and Charles M. Lee, 
of Rochester, New York. The first settler was John W. Burchard, a young lawyer, 
who bought, on the east side of Grand River, 109 acres of James Seymour, situated 
at the lower town bridge extending up the river to the school section. He built a 
log cabin still standing in the rear of the Seymour House. This was in 1843 ; and 
in June of the same year, he removed his family to this place, and immediately 
commenced building a saw-mill and dam. In the spring of 1844, he was drowned 
while amusing himself, in a boat, at the sheet of water which fell over the dam, 
which he had constructed. Approaching too near, his boat was overturned, and 
he perished amid the eddying waters. He was buried at Mason, 12 miles distant, 
universally lamented. He was a man of much promise, and was the first prose- 
cuting attorney in the county. On the death of Mr. Burchard, his family left the 
place, and the settlement was, for a short time, abandoned, and the lands and im- 
provements reverted back to Mr. Seymour. 

In Aug. 1844, Mr. Seymour employed Joab Page, and his two sons-in-law, Whit- 
ney Smith and Geo. D. Pease, all of Mason, to finish the mill, etc. All these 
lived in Burchard' s log house for several years. 

In Jan. 1847, Mr. Seymour made a proposition to the legislature of Michigan, 
that if they would remove the seat of government on to his lands, he would give 
20 acres, erect the capitol and buildings for the use of the state. This offer, how- 
ever, was not accepted; but they passed an act to locate the capital in the town- 
ship. A commission was appointed, consisting of the commissioner of the land 
office, James Seymour, and Messrs. Townsend and Brother, of New York, to make 
a definite location. The commission selected a spot on which to erect a capitol 
building, one mile from the Burchard Mill, on section 16, called the "School Sec- 
tion." The commission, in May of the same year, united in laying out a town 
plat, two and one fourth miles long, and one wide, compx-ising both sides of the 
river. At this period there were no settlers on the tract but the Page family, whose 
nearest neighbors, on the south and east, were four and a half miles distant, and 
one settler, Justus Gilkley, a mile and a half to the north-west. Within a few 
weeks after the town was laid out, one thousand persons moved into the 
place. 

The following are the names of some of the first settlers besides those already 
mentioned: 

E. B. Danforth, D. L. Case, James Turner, Charles P. Bush, George W. Peck, 
John Thomas, Whitney Jones, A. T, Grossman, Henry C. Walker, C. C. Darling, 
Dr. B. S. Taylor, J. C. Bailey, M. W. Quackenbush. 

Lansing received its name from Lansing in New York, from which some of the , 
settlers had emigrated. The first public worship in the place was held in the Bur- 
chard log house, by the Methodist traveling preachers. In 1849, the Methodists 
and Presbyterians united in building the first church in the place, now solely oc- 
cupied by the Methodists. The first Presbyterian clergyman here, was the Rev. 
S. Millard, from Dexter. The first school was kept in a little shanty built in 1847 
and stood near the Seymour House. The first physician was a Dr. Smith, who, 
soon after his arrival in 1847, died of a fever in Page's log house. The first post- 
master was George W. Peck, who, for a time, kept the office in Bush and Town- 
send' s store, near the upper town bridge. The first framed house in the township 



MICHIGAN. 369 

was erected in 1847, by James Turner, a native of New York, whose ancestors 
were from New London, Connecticut. This building is now standing, about 40 
rods below the lower town bridge. 




Southern view of the Penitentiary at Jackson. 

Showing its appearance as seen from the railroad. 

Jackson is a large, thriving, and well-built town, on the line of the 
Michigan Central Railroad, on and near the head of Grand River, 76 miles 
W. from Detroit, and 32 S. from Lansing, the capital. The streams here 
afford excellent water power, and the soil is well adapted to grass or grain. 
Coal and an abundance of white sand-stone and lime-stone are found in the 
vicinity. The inhabitants are extensively engaged in the manufactures of 
flour, leather, iron ware, machinery, etc. It contains the county buildings, 
a branch of the state university, the state penitentiary, 7 churches, and several 
banks. Its situation and facilities for travel give it a large trade. Popula- 
tion about 6,000. 

"In this, Jackson county, the matter of mining coal has recently become 
an enterprise of considerable magnitude. There are several 'workings' of 
coal in the vicinity of Jackson, and companies have been formed for the pur- 
pose of mining coal. Considerable coal has been mined and sold from these 
different workings and mines. The principal mine, and one which in all its 
arrangements and provisions, is equal to any mine in the country, is that of 
the Detroit and Jackson Coal and Mining Company. The works of this 
company are at Woodville station, on the line of the Michigan Central Rail- 
road, about three and a half miles west of Jackson city. The mine is situated 
on the north side of the railroad, and about half a mile from the main track. 
The Coal Company have built a side track from the Central Road to the 
mouth of their shaft. The shaft from which the coal is taken, is 90 feet 
deep, and at the bottom passes through a vein of coal about four feet in 
thickness. This vein has been opened in different directions, for several 
hundred feet from the shaft, and with a tram road through the different 
entries the coal is reached and brought from the rooms to the shaft, and 
then lifted by steam to the surface. This coal has been transported to 
different points in the state, and is rapidly coming into use for all ordinary 
purposes, taking the place of many of the Ohio coals, and at a reduced 
cost. The existence of valuable beds of coal, in Central Michigan, has 
only been determined within the past few years. Beside the openings in 
this county, there have been others made at Owesso and Corunna, in Shia- 
wassee county; at Flint in Genesee county, and at Lansing. Most of these 
have been upon veins outcropping at the surface of the ground." 

24 



370 



MICHIGAN. 



Adrian, a flourisliing town, is situated on a branch of the Raisin River, 
and on the Michigan Southern Raih'oad, 80 miles S. E. from Lansing; 37 
W. from Monroe, and 70 W. S. W. from Detroit. The Erie and Kalamazoo 
Railroad, which was opened in 1836, connects the town with Toledo, 32 
miles distant; and the Southern Railroad was extended westward to Chicago, 
in 1852. Adrian was incorporated as a city in 1853. Being in the midst 
of a fine, fertile, farming region, it has, since the construction of its railroads, 
increased with rapidity. It has several flouring mills, foundries, machine 
shops, etc. ; 10 houses of worship, and about 6,000 inhabitants. 

The village was surveyed and platted in 1828, by Addison J. Comstock, who 
made a location in 1826, and having erected a shanty, he brought his family here 
in the spring of 1827, and was soon joined by Noah Norton and others. The first 
sermon preached in the place, was in 1827, by Rev. John Janes, of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, at the house occupied by Mr. Norton. In 1830 a Methodis) 
Church was organized. Other churches were soon after established by the Bap 
tists and Presbyterians. The first house of worship was erected in 1832, on Church 
street, by the Presbyterians: it was afterward sold to the Episcopalians, and ii 
now owned by the Methodists. The first framed school house was erected in thi 
winter of 1831-2. It stood at the corner of Main and Winter-streets, and was used 
for some time, for the double purpose of school and church. Mr. Comstock built 
a saw mill in 1827, and soon after a flouring mill, the only one for many miles 
around. The seat of justice for Lenawee county was removed from Tecumseh to 
Adrian, in 1836. The city received its name from Mrs. Comstock. James Sword 
was the first mayor. Mr. S. is a native of the county of Kent, in England; he was 
a soldier in the Peninsular war, in Spain, and was in several important battles at 
that period. The Lenawee RepuhUcan and Adrian Gazette, R. W. Ingalls, editor 
and proprietor; the first paper in the county, was issued Oct. 22. 1834. Its name 
has been changed to "The Watch Tower.' In 1843, the Messrs. Jermain com- 
menced the publication of the ^'Expositor." The first physician was Dr. Ormsby, 
the second Dr. Bebee, who died of the small pox, and the third, Dr. P. J. Spalding, 
who came to Adrian in 1832. 

Ann Arbor, the county seat of Washtenaw county, is on Huron River, and 
on the Michigan Central Railroad. It is 37 miles W. from Detroit, and 51 

southerly from Lansing. It is 
considered one of the most beau- 
tifully situated places in the 
state. The site of the city is 
elevated, dry, and healthy, and 
it is regularly laid out. Tho 
state university, in this place, 
was established in 1837, and is 
now a flourishing and well en- 
dowed institution. The literary 
department was opened in 1841 ; 
the medical department in 1849, 
and in 1853 a scientific course was added. The buildings are large, in an 
elevated, commanding, and pleasant situation. Ann Arbor is surrounded by 
an excellent farming district, has considerable trade and manufactures of va- 
rious kinds. Population about 6,-000. 




University of Michigan. 



Monroe is near th^e head of Lake Erie, on one of the branches of the 
Michigan Southern Railroad, 41 miles from Detroit and 24 from Toledo, by 
the railroad connecting those cities. It is on both sides of the River Raisin, 
2 miles from its entrance into the lake. It has a fine harbor, and the soil 



MICHIGAN. 



371 




Winchester's Head Qu'artebs, 

On the River Raisin. 

This house, modernized, is now the Episcopal par- 
sonage in Monroe. It is of hewn logs: the himneys 
were built of stone from the river bed a few yards 
distant, and the original form of the house in the 
usual style of the French settlers, with a very steep 
roof. The grove of pear trees in the rear is sup- 
posed to be over 70 years old. 



is a limestone formation wliicli furnishes inexhaustible quarries for the manu- 
facture of lime. Papulation about 4,000. 

This point formerly called Frenchtown, and sometimes the settlement of 
the River Raisin, is one of the most noted in the history of Michigan. The 

following details are communicated 
for this work, by Edwin Willits, 
Esq., of Monroe, who has given 
much attention to the investigation 
of the history of this section : 

^lonroe w»s one of the earliest set- 
tlements in the state of Michigan, a 
small body of Canadians and French 
having settled there in 1784. In 1794, 
Detroit and Fi-enchto(vn (Monroe) were 
the principal towns on the eastern side 
of the peninsula. The latter consisted, 
however, of only a few log cabins bor- 
dering both banks of the Kiver Raisin, 
the claims on which they were situated 
being narrow and running back from 
the river a long distance. The culti- 
vated portions of the claims lay next to 
the river, and were inclosed by pickets 
which were very substantial, being split 
out roughly from logs,and driven or set in 
the ground closely together. The 
first American settlement was established there in 1793, and soon after a Catholic 
chapel was erected for the French. 

The region around about Frenchtown was originally inhabited and claimed by 
the Pottawatomie Indians. At a treaty concluded at Fort Mcintosh in 1785, these 
Indians and other tribes ceded to the United States a strip of territory six miles 
wide, extending from the southern bank of the River Raisin to Lake St. Clair. 
As late as the year 1800, the Pottawatomies had a village of a thousand warriors, 
beside their wives and children, at what is now called Chase's Mill, on the River 
Raisin, eight miles west of the city of Monroe. Their huts were made of bark, and 
were thatched with wild grass. This was their permanent dwelling place, save 
when they were absent on hunting expeditioriis. They cultivated the flat between 
the high grounds and the river for their cornfields : they were peaceable when 
sober. 

At HuU's treaty at Detroit, in 1807, the Indians ceded to the United States about 
14 of the present counties in the eastern part of Michigan, and two and one htilf 
counties in northern Ohio. After this, therefore, the Pottawatomies abandoned 
their village near Monroe, and moved west. They reserved, however, a tract of 
land in Monroe county, three miles square, called the Macon Reservation, 14 miles 
from the mouth of the River Raisin. 

In 1805, there were, according to the report of Judge Woodward, 121 settle- 
ments, or farms, on the River Raisin. These, however, must have included the 
neighboring settlement on Sandy and other creeks, as there could scarcely have 
been that number on the River Raisin, according to the memory of the oldest set- 
tlers. At this time there was no village, nor any collection of houses nearer than 
they would naturally be on the narrow French claims. In 1807 a block house and 
stockade were built on the spot now occupied by the residence of Hon. Charles 
Noble ; they were erected for the protection of the people from the Indians. The 
stockade was an acre in size, surrounded with pickets 12 feet high, and 12 to 15 
inches through, set closely together, forming a very substantial defense. For some 
time the upper part of the block house was used to hold courts in, and the lower 
part was the prison. 



372 



MICHIGAN. 



In consequence of the foot, that the settlement of the River Raisin was on the 
direct road from Detroit to Ohio, it was deemed a post of considerable importance 
during the difficulties that preceded, as well as during the actual hostilities of the 
war of 1812. Detroit depended, in a great measure, on Ohio and Kentucky for 
men and provisions, and as these, since Gen. Hull had cut a narrow wagon road 
through, would pass through Frenchtown, it was of importance that the place 
should be kept out of the hands of the enemy, who could easily cross over from 
Canada and cut oflF the supplies before they reached Detroit. For this reason, 
Monroe became the scene ot actual warfare, not on a very extended scale, it is true, 
but worthy of record among the incidents of the war of 1812. 

Just previous to, or about the first of August, 1812, Col. Brush was sent from 
Ohio at the head of two companies of Ohio militia, with 3 or 400 cattle, and a large 
stock of provisions, and some arms and ammunition, for Gen. Hull, then in com- 
mand of the American troops at Detroit. He got as far as Frenchtown, but learn- 
ing that a large party of British and Indians had been sent out from Maiden, 
Canada, to intercept him at Brownstown, a place some 20 miles from Frenchtown, 
on the road to Detroit, and fearing to advance farther without assistance from Gen. 
Hull, he occupied the block house and stockade. Two expeditions were sent out 
by Gen. Hull to relieve Col. Brush. The first consisting of 200 men under Maj. Van 
Horn, fell into an ambuscade of Indians at Brownstown, on the 8th of August, and, 
after fighting gallantly against a hidden and superior force, he thought it best, as 
his force was evidently too small, to return to Detroit, leaving 18 dead on the field. 
The second expedition was made by Col. Miller, on the 9th of August, with 600 
men, who met, fought and dispersed, after a desperate battle, a large body of 
British and Indians at Monguagon, a place 15 miles below Detroit. The British 
were commanded by Maj. Muir, the Indians by the celebi-ated Indian warrior and 
statesman, Tecumseh, who, on that day, fought with desperate valor, and although 
wounded, maintained his ground while the British regulars gave way. Col. IMiller 
was obliged to await provisions before he could advance further toward the Raisin, 
and was finally ordered back by Gen. Hull, who feared or expected "an attack on 
Detroit. Arrangements were now made to convey Col. Brush and the supplies in 
his charge by a more circuitous and less exposed route, which had been traveled by 
James Knaggs, who had carried a letter from Col. Brush to Gen. Hull. In order 
to effect this. Colonels MoArthur and Cass were sent to his relief with 350 of the 
best troops, on the 13th of August, but they had not arrived at the Raisin before 
the surrender of Detroit to the British, which occurred the 16th of August, their 
command, as well as that of Col. Brush and his supplies, being included in the 
capitulation. 

In order to secure the force under Col. Brush and the supplies in his chargo, 
Capt. Elliott, a British officer, accompanied by a Frenchman and a Wyandot In- 
dian, was sent to Frenchtown with a copy of the capitulation. Col. Brush, learn- 
ing from his scouts that Capt. Elliott was coming with a flag of truce, sent a guard 
out to meet him. He and his companions were blindfolded and brought into the 
stockade. Brush would not believe Elliott's story, and thought it was a hoax, and 
the copy of the capitulation a forgery, so utterly improbable did it seem that De- 
troit had been taken. For this reason he threw Elliott and his two companions 
into the block-house. The next day, however, the story was confirmed by an 
American soldier, who had escaped from Detroit. Upon this, Brush packed up 
what provisions he could, and, driving his cattle before him, escaped to Ohio, leav- 
ing orders to release Elliott on the next day, which was done. Elliott, of course, 
was indignant at his treatment, and at the escape of Brush with so much of the 
supplies. To add to his rage, a great portion of the provisions and ammunition 
left by Brush, had been carried ofi" and secreted by the inhabitants of the place, 
. before he had been released, they thinking it no great harm to take, for their own 
' use, what would otherwise fall into the hands of the rascally British, as they called 
them. These acts were certainly very injudicious, and all concur in attributing a 

freat portion of the calamities that befell the settlement to the manner in which they 
ad treated Elliott, and to their evasion of the terras of the capitulation. Elliott 
Bent for Tecumseh to pursue Brush, and permitted the Indians to ravage and plun- 



MICHIGAN. 



373 



der the settlement in spite of the remonstrances of Tecumseh.* The settlement 
was plundered not only of provision and cattle, but horses, saddles, bridles, house- 
hold furniture, and every valuable which had not been secreted. The place was 
so stripped of horses, that James Knaggs, who, for 15 days, lay hid in the set- 
tlement (a reward of $500 having been offered for his scalp), could find only one on 
which to escape to Ohio, and that one had been hidden by a tailor in a cellar: 
Knaggs gave his coat and a silver watch for it. After much peril he succeeded 
in escaping, and afterward was present at the battle of the Thames, under Col. K. 
M. Johnson, and was not far from Tecumseh at the time of his death. Mr. Knaggs 
is still living, and resides at Monroe. 

About this time, at the command of Elliott, the block-house was burned, and also 
a portion of the pickets were destroyed, as it was impossible for the British to oc- 
cupy the place then, and it would not answer to leave them standing. Elliott 
then left, and bands of Indians repeatedly came and plundered the settlement, until 
about October, when some British officers came with some militia and took per- 
manent possession of the place. They occupied the houses of Jerome and Con- 
ture, below the brick house now owned by Gibson, not far from the present rail- 
road bridge. This location was made from the fact that it was adjacent to, and 
commanded the road to Detroit, and because, from its elevation, it overlooked the 
opposite (south) side of the River Raisin, whence would come the attacks of the 
Americans, who were shortly expected to advance under Gen. Harrison to Detroit. 
Here they remained with a considerable force of British and Indians, until the ap- 
pearance of the advance troops under Gen. Winchester, on the 18th of January, 
I8I3. These advance troops were led by Colonels Lewis and Allen, and came 
from Maumee on the ice, and attacked, on the afternoon of that day. the ene- 
my, from a point below where the storehouses on the canal are now situated. 
The British had posted a six-pounder on the high ground in front of the camp, and 
with it attempted to prevent the Americans from crossing, by firing diagonally 
down the river, but the attack was made with such vigor, that the British were dis- 
lodged after a short contest, and compelled to retreat toward Maiden. The In- 
dians held out until dark, being protected, in a measure, by the rushes which con- 

*One incident we have never seen published, shows the character of the great Indian 
chieftain, Tecumseh, in a noble light. When he came to the Raisin, after the retreat 
of Col. Brush, he found that most of the cattle of the settlement had been driven ofiT, either 
by the settlers in order to save them, or by the Indians as plunder. Therefore he expe- 
rienced much difficulty in getting meat for his warriors. He, however, discovered a yoke 
of fine black oxen, belonging to a man by the name of Rivard, who resided up the river 
some distance above Monroe. Tecumseh took the cattle, but Rivard begged so hard, stat- 
ing that they were the only property he had left, and taking him into the house, showed 
the chieftain his father, sick and in need of medicine, and appealed so hard to Tecumseh's 
generosity, that Tecumseh said he must have the cattle, as his men were hungry, but that 
he would pay him $100 for them. The cattle were speedily killed, and during the evening 
a man who could write made out an order on Elliott for $100, and it was signed by Tecum- 
seh. The next morning Rivard went to the block-house to get the money, but Elliott 
would not pay the order, and treated Rivard harshly, telling him the oxen did not belong to 
him, but to the British who had conquered the country. Rivard returned and reported what 
had occurred. Tecumseh was indignant, declaring that if that was the way his orders 
were treated, he would pay the debt himself, and leave with his men. The truly insulted 
chieftain then strode into Elliott's presence, accompanied by Rivard, and demanded why 
his order had not been paid ? Elliott told him that he had no authority to pay such debts, 
that it was no more than right that the citizens should support the army for their willful- 
ness. Tecumseh replied that he had promised the man the money, and the monev he should 
have, if he had to sell all his own horses to raise it: that the man was poor and" had a sick 
father as he knew, having seen him, and that it was not right that this man should sutfer 
for the evil deeds of his government, and that if this was the way the British intended to 
carry on the war, he would pay the debt and then leave with his men for his home, and let 
the British do their own fighting. Elliott, subdued by the will of the Indian leader, 
brought out $100 in government scrip, but Tecumseh bade him take it back, as he had 
promised the man the moneij, and the money he should have, or he would leave. Elliott 
was therefore compelled to pay the specie, and then, in addition, Tecumseh made him give 
the man a dcUar extra for the trouble he had been at. 



374 



MICHIGAN. 



cealed them, on the low grounds below the British camp. Finally they retreated 
to the woods, and the Americans so heedlessly pursued them, that in the darkness 
they fell into an ambuscade, and had about 13 men killed and several wounded. The 
loss in the afternoon is not known, but is supposed to have amounted to as many more. 
Colonels Lewis and Allen took possession of the quarters vacated by the iJritish, 
and established "uards at the picket fences, some distance from the houses, and 
patrols in the woods. 

On the 19th, two hundred Americans, under Col. Wells, arrived and encamped 
on the Reaume tanu, about 80 rods below the other troops. On the 2Uth of Janu- 
ary, Gen. Winchester arrived and took up his quarters in the house of Col. Francis 
Navarre, on the opposite (south) side of the river, about three quarters of a mile 
above the position of Cols. LeAvis and Allen. The troops that came with him, un- 
der Major Madison, occupied the same camp that the others did. All the forces 
amounted to not far from 1,000 men. 

Immediately after the battle of the 18th, some of the French inhabitants who 
had sold provisions to the British, followed them to Maiden to get their pay. On 
their return, they brought word that the British and Indians were collecting in 
large force, to the amount of 3,000 to attack Frenchtown. Gen. Winchester paid 
but little attention to these reports, feeling considerable confidence in his own 
strength, and expecting reinforcements that would render him safe beyond a doubt, 
before the enemy could possibly attack him. The British seemed to be aware that 
they must make the attack before these reinforcements came up, if they wished to 
effect anything ; hence they hastened their preparations. On the 21st, several of 
the more prominent French citizens went to Winchester and told him fliat they 
had reliable information that the American camp would be attacked that night or 
the next day. lie was so infatuated that he paid no further deference to their 
statement than to order those soldiers who were scattered around the settlement, 
drinking cider with the inhabitants, to assemble and remain in camp all night. 

About daylight on the morning of the 22d of January, 1813, a large force of 
British and Indians, under Proctor and the celebrated Indian chiefs. Round Head 
and Split Log, attacked the camp of the Americans. The attack was made all 
along the lines, but the British forces were more particularly led against the upper 
camp, occupied by Major Madison and Cols. Lewis and Allen, and the Indians 
against the lower camp, occupied by Col. Wells. The British were unsuccessful 
at their part of the lines, where the iVmericans fought with great bravery, and were 

protected very much 
by the pickets, which 
being placed at some 
distance from the 
woods, afforded the 
Kentucky riflemen a 
fine opportunity t o 
shoot the enemy down 
as they were advanc- 
ing. An attempt was 
then made by the Brit- 
ish to use a field piece 
just at the edge of the 
woods, by which they 
hoped to prostrate the 
pickets and batter 
down the houses, but 
the Kentuckians with their sharpshooters picked the men off as fast as they at- 
tempted to load it, so that they were forced to abandon the attack and suffer a re- 
pulse. 

While these things were happening at the upper camp, a far different state of 
things existed at the lower one. The attack of the Indians was so impetuous, the 
pfisition so indefensible, and the American force so inadequate, consisting of only 
200 men, that, notwithstanding the bravery of Col. Wells and his men, it Avas im- 
possible to retain the position. Cols. Lewis and Allen attempted to take a rein- 




SiTE OF THE Stockade on the Rivee Raisin. 

The upper camp and wliere the wounded prisoners were massacred after 
their surrender, was on the site of the large house on the extreme left. 
The site of the lower camp appears in the distance below. The view was 
taken trom the railroad bridge on the Toledo, Monroe and Detroit R.B. 



MICHIGAN". 375 

forcement to the right wing, to enable Col. Wells to retreat up the river on the ice, 
under cover of the high bank, to the upper camp. But before they arrived at the 
lower camp, the fire of the savages had become so galling that Wells was 
forced to abandon his position. This he attempted to do in good order, but as soon 
as his men began to give way, the Indians redoubled their cries and the impetuos- 
ity of their attack, so that the retreat speedily became a rout. In this condition 
they were met by Col. Allen, who made every effort to call them to order and lead 
them in safety to the upper camp. But, notwithstanding the heroic exertions of 
Col. Allen, and his earnest protestations and commands, they continued their dis- 
ordered flight, and from some unaccountable reason, probably through an irre- 
sistible panic, caused by the terrible cries and on.slaught of the savages, instead 
of continuing up the river to the upper camp, they fled diagonally aci'oss 
to the IIuU road, so called, which led to Maumee, and attempted to escape 
to Ohio. And now the flight became a carnage. The Indians seeing the 
disorder of the Americans, who thought of nothing save running for their 
lives, and escaping the tomahawks of the savages, having warriors posted all 
along the woods which lined or were within a short distance of the river, now 
raised the cry that the Americans were flying, which cry was echoed by thousands 
of warriors, who all rushed to the spot and outstripped the fleeing soldiers. Some 
followed them closely in their tracks and brained them with their tomahawks from 
Dchind; some posted themselves both sides of the narrow road and shot them 
down as they passed ; and finally some got in advance, and headed them oS" at 
Plumb creek, a small stream about a mile from the River liaisin. Here the panic 
~ ijtricken soldiers, who had thrown away most of their arms to facilitate their flight, 
huddled together like sheep, with the brutal foe on all sides, were slaughtered, and 
so closely were they hemmed in, that tradition says, that after the battle, forty 
dead bodies were found lying scalped and plundered on two rods square. 

Gen. Winchester, impressed with the foolish idea that an attack would not be 
made, had retired the night before without having made any arrangements for 
safety or dispatch in case of an attack. Therefore when awakened by the firing, 
he and his aids made great confusion, all crying for their horses, which were in 
Col. Navarre's stable, the servants scarcely awake enough to equip them with haste. 
The luckless commander became very impatient to join his forces, nearly a mile 
distant, and, to gratify his desire, Col. Navarre oS"ered him his best and fleetest 
horse, which had been kept saddled all night, as Navarre, in common with all the 
French inhabitants, expected an attack before morning. On this horse he started 
for the camp, but, on the way, finding that a large number of the troops were then 
fleeing on the Hull road, he followed after them to rally them, and, if possible, re- 
gain the day, but on his way he was taken prisoner by an Indian (said to have 
been Jack Brandy), who knew by his clothes that he was an ofiicer, and therefore 
spared his life. !Proctor persuaded the Indian to deliver him over into his hands. 
Col. Allen was also taken prisoner about the same time; he had behaved with ex- 
traordinary courage during the whole action, although wounded in the thigh. 
He was finally killed by an Indian while held a prisoner. 

With Winchester as his prisoner, Proctor felt that he could dictate terms to that 
portion of the American troops under the command of Major Madison in the upper 
camp, who had thus far made a successful resistance. Proctor sent with a flag 
one of Gen. Winchester's aids, with the peremptory orders of the latter, directing 
Major Madison to surrender. Col. Proctor had demanded an immediate surrender,, 
or he would burn the settlement, and allow the Indians to massacre the prisoners- 
and the inhabitants of the place. Major Madison replied, that it was customary 
for the Indians to massacre the wounded and prisoners after a surrender, and he 
would not agree to any capitulation Gen. Winchester might make, unless the safe- 
ty and protection of his men were guaranteed. After trying in vain to get an un- 
conditional surrender. Major Madison and his men being disposed to sell their lives 
as dearly as possible, rather than run the risk of being massacred in cold blood. 
Proctor agreed to the terms demanded, which were, that private property should 
be respected, that sleds should be sent nest morning to take the sick and wounded 
to Maiden, and that their side arms should be restored to the officers on their ar- 
rival there. 



376 



MICHIGAN. 



These terms completed, the surrender was made, and the prisoners and British 
and Indians started for Maiden : not, however, until the Indians had violated the 
first article of the agreement, by plundering the settlement. But finally all de- 
parted, except the sick and wounded American soldiers, who were left in the two 
houses of the upper camp, to await the coming of the sleds on the morrow. Only 
two or three persons were left in charge of them, a neglect which was nearly or 
quite criminal on the part of Proctor. The last and most disgraceful scene in this 
bloody tragedy was yet to be enacted. The sleds that were to take the ill-fated 
sufferers to Maiden never came. In their stead came, the next morning, 300 In- 
dians, painted black and red, determined on massacreing the wounded Americans, 
in revenge for their loss the day before. The slaughter soon commenced in earn- 
est. Breaking into the houses where the Americans were, they first plundered 
and then tomahawked them. The houses were set on fire, and those within were 
consumed; if any attempted to crawl out of the doors or windows they were 
wounded with the hatchet and pushed back into the flames: those that happened 
to be outside were stricken down, and their dying bodies thrown into the burning 
dwellings. Major Wolfolk, the secretary of Gen. Winchester, was killed in the 
massacre. Thus ended the ^'■Massacre of the River Raisin." Thus perished in 
cold blood some of Kentucky's noblest heroes : their death filled with sorrow many 
homes south of the Ohio. No monument marks the place of their death : but lit- 
tle is known of the private history of those brave spirits who traversed a wilder- 
ness of several hundred miles, and gave up their lives for their country : who died 
alone, unprotected, wounded, in a settlement far from the abode of civilization. 

But few of the killed were ever buried. Their bones lay bleaching in the sun 
for years. On the 4th of July, 1818, a company of men under the charge of Col. 
Anderson, an old settler of Frenchtown, went to the spot of the battle and col- 
lected a large quantity of the bones, and buried them, with appropriate ceremo- 
nies, in the old graveyard in Monroe. For years after, however, it was not un- 
common to find a skull, fractured by the fatal tomahawk, hidden away in some 
clump of bushes, where the dogs and wild beasts had dragged the body to devour 
its flesh. 

In addition to the preceding communication, we annex extracts from Dar- 
nall's Journal of Winchester's Campaign, which gives additional light upon 
the disaster of the River Raisin : 

Jan. I9th. Frenchtown is situated on the north side of this river, not more than three 
miles from the place it empties into Lake Erie. There is a row of dwelling houses, about 
twenty in number, principally frame, near the bank, surrounded with a fence made in the 
form of picketing, with split timber, from four to five feet high. This was not designed 
as a fortification, but to secure their yards and gardens. 

21s/. A reinforcement of two hundred and thirty men arrived in the afternoon: also 
Gen. Winchester, Col. Wells, Major M'Clanahan, Capt. Hart, Surgeons Irvin and Mont- 
gomery, and some other gentlemen, who came to eat apples and drink cider, having been 
deprived of every kind of spirits nearly two months. The officers having viewed and laid 
off a piece of ground for a camp and breastworks, resolved that it was too late to remove 
and erect fortifications that evening. Further, as they resolved to remove early next day, 
it was not thought worth while, though materials were at hand, to fortify the right wing, 
which therefore eucamped in the open field; this want of precaution was a great cause of 
our mournful defeat. Col. Wells, their commander, set out for the Rapids late in the 
eveuing. A Frenchman arrived here late in the evening from Maiden, and stated that a 
large number of Indians and British were coming on the ice, with artillery, to attack us; 
he judged their number to be three thousand; this was not believed by some of our lead- 
in" men, who were regaling themselves with whisky and loaf sugar; but the generality of 
the troops put great confidence in the Frenchman's report, and expected some fatal disas- 
ter to befall us; principally because Gen. Winchester had taken up his head-quarters near- 
ly half a mile from any part of the encampment, and because the right wing was exposed, 
liii-i'i-n Harrow, who was sent with a party of men, some time after night, by the orders 
of Col. Lewis, to bring in all the men, either officers or privates, that he might find out 
of thoir quarters; after finding some and giving them their orders, went to a brick house 
about a mile up the river, and entered a room; finding it not occupied, he immediately 
went above stairs, and saw two men whom he took to be British officers, talking with the 
landlord; the landlord asked him to walk down into a store room, and handing his bottle, 
asked him to drink, and informed him " there was no danger, for the British had not a 



MICHIGAN. 



377 



force sufficient to whip us." So Harrow returned about 1 o'clock, and reported to Col. 
Lewis what he had seen. Col. Lewis treated the report with coolness, thinking the per- 
sons seen were only some gentlemen from town. Just at daybreak the reveille began to 
beat as usual; this gave joy to the troops, who had passed the night under the apprehen- 
sions of being attacked before day. The reveille had not been beating more than two 
minutes, before the sentinels fired three guns in quick succession. This alarmed our 
ti-oops, who quickly formed, and were ready for the enemy before they were near enough 
to do execution. The British immediately discharged their artillery, loaded with balls, 
bombs, and grape-shot, which did little injury. They then attempted to make a cliarge on 
those in the pickets, but were repulsed with great loss. Those on the right being less 
secure for the want of fortification, were overpowered by a superior force, and were ordered 
to retreat to a more advantageous piece of ground. They got in disorder, and could not 
be formed.* The Indians pursued them from all quarters, and surrounded, killed, and 
took the most of them. The enemy again charged on the left with redoubled vigor, but 
were again forced to retire. Our men lay close behind the picketing, through which they 
had port holes, and every one having a rest, took sight, that his ammunition might not be 
spent in vain. After a long and bloody contest, the enemy finding they could not either 
by stratagem or Ibrce drive us from our fortification, retired to the woods, leaving their 
dead on the ground (except a party that kept two pieces of cannon in play on our right.) 
A sleigh was seen three or four hundred yards from our lines going toward the right, sup- 
posed to be laden with ammunition to supply the cannon; four or five men rose up aud 
fired at once, and killed the man and wounded the horse. Some Indians who were hid 
behind houses, continued to annoy us with scattering balls. At this time bread from the 
commissary's house was handed round among our troops, who sat composedly eating and 
watching the enemy at the same time. Being thus refreshed, we discovered a white flag 
advancing toward us; it was generally supposed to be for a cessation of arms, that our ene- 
mies might carry ofi' their dead, which were numerous, although they had been bearing 
tiway both dead and wounded during the action. But how were we surprised and mortified 
when we heard that Gen. Winchester, with Col. Lewis, had been taken prisoners by the 
Indians in attempting to rally the right wing, and that Gen. Winchester had surrendered 
us prisoners of war to Col. Proctor! M;ijor Madison, then the highest in command, did not 
agree to this until Col. Proctor had promised that the prisoners should be protected from 
the Indians, the wounded taken care of, the dead collected and buried, and private proper- 
ty respected. It was then, with extreme reluctance, our troops accepted this proposition. 
"There was scarcely a person that could refrain from shedding tears! some plead with the 
ofiicers not to surrender, saying they would rather die on the field! We had only five 
killed, and twenty-five or thirty wounded, inside of the pickets. 

The British collected their troops, and mai-ched in front of the village. We marched 
out and grounded our arms, in heat and bitterness of spirit. The British and Indians took 
possession of them. All the prisoners, except those that were badly wounded, Dr. Todd, 
Dr. Bowers, and a few attendants, were marched toward Maiden. The British said, as 
they had a great many of their wounded to take to Maiden that evening, it would be out 
of their power to take ours before morning, but they would leave a sufBcieut guard so that 
they should not be interrupted by the Indians. 

As they did not leave the promised guard, I lost all confidence in them, and expected 
we would all be massacred before morning. I being the only person in this house not 
wounded, with the assistance of some of the wounded, I prepared something for about 
thirty to eat. 

We passed this night under the most serious apprehensions of being massacred by the 
tomahawk, or consumed in the flames: — I frequently went out to see if the house was set 
on fire. At length the long wished for morn arrived, and filled each heart with a cheerful 
hope of being delivered from the cruelty of these merciless savages. We were making 
every preparation to be ready for the promised sleighs. But, alas! instead of the sleighs, 
about an hour by sun, a great number of savages, painted with various colors, came yell- 
ing in the most hideous manner! These blood-thirsty, terrific savages (sent here by their 
more cruel and perfidious allies, the British), rushed into the houses where the desponding 
wounded lay, and insolently stripped them of their blankets, and all their best clothes, and 
ordered them out of the houses! I ran out of the house to inform the interpreters f what 
the Indians were doing; at the door, an Indian took my hat and put it on his own head; I 

* When the right wing began to retreat, it is said orders were given by some of the officers 
to the men in the eastern end of the picketing, to march out to their assistance. Captain 
Price, and a number of men sallied out. Captain Price was killed, and most of the men. 

fl was since informed that Col. Elliott instructed the interpreters to leave the wounded, 
after dark, to the mercy of the savages. They all went off except one half-Indian. 



378 MICHIGAN. 

then discovered that the Indians had been at the other house first, and had used the 
wounded in like manner. As I turned to go back into the house, an Indian taking hold 
of me, made signs for me to stand by the corner of the house. I made signs to him I 
wanted to go in and get my hat; for I desired to see what they had done with the wounded. 
The Indians sent in a boy who brought out a hat and threw it down to me, and I could not 
get in the house. Three Indians came up to me and pulled off my coat. My feeble pow- 
ers can not describe the dismal scenes here exhibited. I saw my fellow soldiers naked and 
wounded, crawling out of the houses, to avoid being consumed in the flames. Some that 
had not been able to turn themselves on their beds for four days, through fear of being 
burned to death, arose and walked out and about the yard. Some cried for help, but there 
was none to help them. "Ah! " exclaimed numbers, in the anguish of their spirit, " what 
shall we do? " A number, unable to get out, miserably perished in the unrelenting flames 
of the houses, kindled by the more unrelenting savages. Now the scenes of cruelty and 
murder we had been anticipating with dread, during last night, fully commenced. The 
savages rushed on the wounded, and, in their barbarous manner, shot and tomahawked, and 
scalped them; and cruelly mangled their naked bodies while they lay agonizing and wel- 
tering in their blood. A number were taken toward Maiden, but being unable to march 
with speed, were inhumanly massacred. The road was, for miles, strewed with the mangled 
bodies, and all of them were left like those slain in battle, on the 22d, for birds and beasts 
to tear in pieces and devour. The Indians plundered the town of every thing valuable, 
and set the best houses on fire. The Indian who claimed me, gave me a coat, and when 
he had got as much plunder as he could carry, he ordered me, by signs, to march, which I 
did with extreme reluctance, in company with three of the wounded, and six or seven In- 
dians. In traveling about a quarter of a mile, two of the wounded lagged behind about 
twenty yards. The Indians, turning round, shot one and scalped him. They shot at the 
other and missed him; he, running up to them, begged that they would not shoot him. He 
paid he would keep up, and give them money. But these murderers were not moved with 
his doleful cries. They shot him down, and rushing on him in a crowd, scalped him. In 
like manner, my brother Allen perished. He marched with difficulty after the wounded, 
about two or three hundred yards, and was there barbarously murdered. 

In traveling two miles, we came to a house where there were two British officers; the 
Indian made a halt, and I asked one of the officers what the Indian was going to do with 
nie; he said he was going to take me to Amherstburgh (or Maiden.) I judged these vil- 
lains had instructed the Indians to do what they had done 

During my captivity with the Indians, the other prisoners were treated very inhumanly. 
The first night they were put in a woodyard; the rain commenced early in tlie night and 
put out all their fires; in this manner they passed a tedious night, wet and benumbed with 
cold. From this place they were taken to a cold warehouse, still deprived of fire, with 
their clothes and blankets frozen, and nothing to eat but a little bread. In this wretched 
condition they continued two days and three nights. 

Captain Hart, who was among those massacred, was the brother-in-law of 
Henry Clay. Timothy Mallary, in his narrative of his captivity, says on 
this point: 

The Indians ordered several other prisoners and myself to march for Maiden. We had 
not proceeded far before they tomahawked four of this number, amongst whom was Capt. 
Hart, of Lexington. He had hired an Indian to take him to Maiden. I saw part of this 
hire paid to the Indian. After having taken him some distance, another Indian demanded 
him, saying that he was his prisoner; the hireling would not give him up; the claimant, 
finding that he could not get him alive, shot him in the left side with a pistol. Captain 
Hart still remained on his horse; the claimant then ran up, struck him with a tomahawk, 
pulled him oft" his horse, scalped him, and left him lying there. 

Hon. B. F. H. Witherell, of Detroit, in his Reminiscences, gives some 
facts upon the inhuman treatment of the prisoners taken at the River Raisin. 
He says : 

Our fellow-citizen, Oliver Bellair, Esq., at that time a boy, resided with his parents at 
Maiden. He states that, when the prisoners, some three or four hundred in number, ar- 
rived at Maiden, they were pictures of misery. A long, cold march from the states in 
mid winter, camping out in the deep snow, the hard-fought battle and subsequent robbery 
of their effects, left them perfectly destitute of any comforts. Many of the prisoners were 
also slightly wounded; the blood, dust, and smoke of battle were yet upon them. At 
Maiden, they were driven into an open woodyard, and, without tents or covering of any 
kind, thinly clad, they endured the bitter cold of a long January night; but they were 
Boldiers of the republic, and suffered without murmuring at their hard lot. They were 



MICHIGAN. 



379 



surrounded by a strong chain of sentinels, to prevent their escape, and to keep the savages 
off, who pressed hard to enter the inclosure. The inhabitants of the village, at night, in 
large numbers, sympathizingly crowded around, and thus favored the escape of a few of 
the prisoners. 

The people of Maiden were generally kind to prisoners. It is not in the nature of a 
Frenchman to be otherwise than kind to the suffering. 

Mr. Bellair tells me, that, at the time these prisoners were brought into Maiden, the vil- 
lage presented a horrid spectacle. The Indians had cut off the heads of ttiose who had 
fallen in the battle and massacre, to the number of a hundred or more, brought them to 
Maiden, and stuck them up in rows on the top of a high, sharp-pointed picket fence; and 
there they stood, their matted locks deeply stained with their own gore — their eyes wide 
open, staring out upon the multitude, exhibiting all variety of feature; some with a pleas- 
ant smile; others, who had probably lingered long in mortal agony, had a scowl of de- 
fiance, de.spair, or revenge; and others wore the appearance of deep distress and sorrow — 
they may have died thinking of their far-off wives and children, and friends, and pleasant 
homes which they should visit no more; the winter's frost had fixed their features as they 
died, and they changed not. 

The savages had congregated in large numbers, and had brought back with them from 
the bloody banks of the Raisin, and other parts of our frontiers, immense numbers of 
scalps, strung upon poles, among which might be seen the soft, silky locks of young chil- 
dren, the ringlets and tresses of fair maidens, the burnished locks of middle life, and the 
silver gray of age. The scalps were hung some twenty together on a pole; each was ex- 
tended by a small hoop around the edge, and they were all painted red on the flesh side, 
and were carried about the town to the music of the war-whoop and the scalp-yell. 

That the British government and its officers did not attempt to restrain the savages is 
well known; on the contrary, they were instigated to the commission of these barbarous 
deeds. Among the papers of Gen. Proctor, captured at the battle of the Thames, was 
found a letter from Gen. Brock to Proctor, apparently in answer to one asking whether he 
should restrain the ferocity of the savages. The reply was: " The Indians are necessary 
to his Majesty's service, and 7nust be indulged." If the gallant Brock would tolerate the 
atrocious conduct of his savage allies, what could be expected from others? 




The State Asylum for Deaf Mutes and the Blind, Flint. 

The cut shows the west front of the .Asylum. (Inscription on the corner stone.) 1857. Erected by the 
State of Michigan. J. B. Walker, Building Commissioner ; J. T. Johnson, foreman of the inasou work ; 
B. VautifHiu, foreman of the joiner work. 

Flint, the county seat for Genesee county, on both sides of the river of 
its own name, is situated in the midst of a beautiful and fertile country, 46 
miles E.N.E. from Lansing, and 58 N.W. from Detroit. It has considerable 
water power. The Michigan Asylum for Deaf Mutes and the Blind, 
one of the most elegant and beautiful buildings in the state, is at this 
place. The city was incorporated in 1855, comprising three localities or 
villages, viz: Flint, Flint River, and Grand Traverse. Population about 
4,000. 



380 MICHIGAN. 

In 1832, Olmsted Chainberlin and Gideon O. Whittemore, of Oakland, Mich., 
made a location in Flint of 40 acres, and Levi Gilkey, of 50 acres. John Todd, 
with his wife, originally Miss P. M. Smith, of Cayuga county. Now York, with 
their children, Edwin A. and Mary L. Todd, were the first white settlers of Flint. 
They arrived here April 18, 1833, with two wagons, on the second day after leav- 
ing Pontiac. They moved into a log hut on the bank of the river, then a trading 
house, a few rods from the bridge, and used afterward as a stopping place. The 
next regular settler was Nathaniel Ladd, who located himself on Smith's reserva- 
tion, on the north side of the river, in a hut which had been occupied by two In- 
dian traders. Lyman Stow, from Vermont, who bought out Mr. Ladd, came next. 
At the time of the arrival of Mr. Todd, the whole country here was an entire for- 
est, excepting a small tract cleared by the Indian traders. The silence of the wil- 
derness was nightly broken by the howling of wolves. The " wild forest serenade," 
as not inaptly termed by Mrs. Todd, began with a slight howl, striking, as it were, 
the key note of the concert ; this was soon succeeded by others of a louder tone, 
which, still rising higher and louder, the whole forest finally resounded with one 
almost continuous yell. 

In 1834, there were only four buildings at this place, then without a name: at 
this period there was a fort at Saginaw, and the U. S. government was opening a 
military road from Detroit to Saginaw. They had just built the first bridge across 
Flint Kiver, where previously all travelers had been ferried over in an Indian 
canoe. Among the first settlers was Col. Cronk, from New York, who bought land 
for his children, among whom were James Cronk, who died in the Mexican war, . 
and his son-in-law, Elijah Davenport, now Judge Davenport, of Saginaw. Col. 
Cronk died at the house of John Todd, after an illness of eight days. He was dis- 
tinguished for his aSability and benevolence, and was much respected. The first 
religious meeting was held by Rev. O. F. North, a Methodist traveling preacher, at 
the dwelling of Mr. Todd, who built a frame house the fall after his arrival ; the 
lumber used was sawed at Thread mill, about one and a half miles from Flint. 
Rev. W. H. Brockway, an Indian missionary, was for a time the only regular 
preacher in the wide range of the counties of Lapeer, Genesee, Shiawasse, and 
Saginaw. He traveled on foot, and usually alone. Once in four weeks he visited 
Flint, and preached in Todd's log cabin, afterward in a room over the store of 

& Wright. Daniel Sullivan commenced the first school near the close of 

1834, and had some 10 or 12 scholars, comprising all the white children in the 
neighborhood. His compensation was ten cents weekly for each scholar. Miss 
Lucy Kiggs, the daughter of Judge Riggs, it is believed, was the first female teacher; 
she kept her school in a kind of shanty in Main-street, some 60 or 70 rods from 
the river. 

Thcij^wnship of Flint was organized under the territorial government, in 1836. 
The first, election for township oflicers was held in the blacksmith shop of Kline & 
Freeman, Kufus W. Stephens, acting as moderator, and David Mather as clerk. 
The first church erected was the Presbyterian : it stood on Poney Row, a street 
said to have been named from the circumstance that, at an early period, a number 
of men who lived there were short of stature. The Episcopalians erected the 
second church ; Kev. Mr. Brown was their first minister. The Methodist church 
was the third erected, the Catholic the fourth, and the Baptist the fifth, the first 
minister of which was the Rev. Mr. Gamble. The Episcopal church of St. Paul 
was raised in 1844. The present Methodist church was built in 1845. The Pres- 
byterian church was erected about the year 1847. The first regular physician was 
John Hayes, from Massachusetts; the second was Dr. Lamond. The first printing 
press was introduced about 1836; the "Genesee Whi^" was established in 1850; 
the first newspaper printed by steam power was the "Wolverine Citizen," by F. H. 
Rankin, a native of Ireland. 

Grand Rapids, first settled in 1833, laid out as a village in 1836, and in- 
corporated in 1850, is the second city in importance in Michigan. It is the 
county seat of Kent county, on the line of the Detroit and Milwaukie Rail- 
road, at the Rapids of Grand River; 60 miles W. N.W. of Lansing, and 150 
from Detroit. 



MICHIGAN. 



381 



Grand River is here about 900 feet wide, and has a fall of 18 feet which 
gives an immense water power. The city contains a large number of mills 
of various kinds, as flouring, saw, plaster; also founderies, lime-kilns, lura- 
ber dealers, marble gypsum, gravel sand, and manufactpries of staves, hubs, 
etc Buildinc^ material of every description is found in the neighborhood, 
and also salt" springs of extraordinary strength, far greater than those at 
Syracuse, requiring but 29 gallons to produce a bushel of salt. 

The manufacture of salt, now in its infancy here, is destined to work mar- 
velous changes in this 
region of country. — 
"Grand Rapids also has 
in its vicinity inexhausti- 
ble quarries of the finest 
gypsum, of which 20,000 
tuns per annum are al- 
ready used in agriculture 
by the farmers of Michi- 
gan, which amount will 
be doubled, and soon 
trebled, on the construc- 
tion of the north and 
south land-grant road 
from Indiana through 
Kalamazoo and Grand 
Rapids, to some point 
near Mackinaw, of which 
road a part has already 
been graded." 

Grand Rapids now haa 
a population of about 
10,000, and it is the re- 
mark of the editor of the 




View in Monroe-street, Grand Rapids, 



New York Tribune, after visiting this place, that in view of its natural ad- 
vantages, he shall be disappointed if the census of 1870 does not swell its 
population to 50,000. 

Grand Rapids is a handsome city, and is remarkable for the energy and 
fsnterprise of its population. It is the great seat of the lumber trade in west- 
urn Michigan. This being a branch of industry of primary importance, not 
rtnly to this point, but to the whole state, we introduce here an extract from 
u recent article in the Detroit Tribune, from the pen of Kay Haddock, Esq., 
Its commercial editor, which will give an idea of the amount of wealth Michi- 
gan possesses in her noble forests. These although repelling the early emi- 
grants to the west, in view of the easy tillable lands of the prairie states, will 
in the end add to her substantial progress, and educate for her a population 
rendered more hardy by the manly toil required to clear up and subdue vast 
forests of the heaviest of timber. Careful estimates show that, in prosper- 
ous times, the annual products of the pineries of the state even now amount 
to about TEN MILLIONS of dollars. 

It is no?o almost universally admitted that the state of Michigan possesses in 
her soil and timber the material source of immense wealth. While in years past 
it has been difficult to obtain satisfactory information concerning the real condi- 
tion and natural resources of a large portion of the surface of the Lower Penin- 
sula, the re-survey of portions of the government land, the exploration of the coud- 



382 



MICHIGAN. 




Ltjmbeeman's Camp, 
In the Pine Forests of Michigan. 



try by parties in search of pine, the developments made by the exploring and sur- 
veying parties along the lines of the Land Grant Railroads, and the more recent 
examinations by the different commissions for laying out the several state roads 
under the acts passed by the last legislature, have removed every doubt in refer- 
ence to the subject. The universal testimony from all the sources above mentioned, 
seem to be that in all the natural elements of wealth the whole of the northern 
part of the peninsula abounds. 

The pine lands of the state, which are a reliable source of present and future 
wealth, are so located and distributed as to bring almost every portion of the state, 
sooner or later in connection with the commerce of the lakes. The pine timber 

of Michigan is generally interspersed 
with other varieties of timber, such 
as beech, maple, whiteash, oak, cher- 
ry, etc., and in most cases the soil is 
suited to agricultural purposes. This 
is particularly the case on the west- 
ern slope of the peninsula, on the 
waters of Lake Michigan, and along 
the central portion of the state. On 
the east and near Lake Huron, tlve 
pine districts are more extensively 
covered with pine timber, and gener- 
ally not so desirable for farming pur- 
poses. There are good farming lands, 
however, all along the coast of Lake 
Huron and extending back into the 
interior. 
A large proportion of the pine lands 
of the state are in the hands of the Canal Company, and individuals who are hold- 
ing them as an investment, and it is no detriment to this great interest, that the 
whole state has been thus explored, and the choicest lands secured. The develop- 
ments which have thus been made of the quality and extent of the pine districts, 
have given stability and confidence to the lumbering interest. And these lands 
are not held at exorbitant prices, but are sold upon fair and reasonable terms, such 
as practical business men and lumbermen will not usually object to. 

It is a remarkable fact that almost every stream of water in the state, north of 
Grand River, penetrates a district of pine lands, and the mouths of nearly all these 
streams are already occupied with lumbering establishments of greater or less 
magnitude. These lumber colonies are the pioneers, and generally attract around 
them others who engage in agriculture, and thus almost imperceptibly the agricul- 
tural interests of the state are spreading and developing in every direction. The 
want of suitable means of access alone prevents the rapid settlement of large and 
fertile districts of our state, which are not unknown to the more enterprising and 
persevering pioneers, who have led the way through the wilderness, and are now 
engaged almost single-handed in their labors, not shrinking from the privations and 
sufferings which are sure to surround these first settlements in our new districts. 

The Grand Traverse region, with its excellent soil, comparatively mild climate, 
and abundance of timber of every description is attracting much attention, and 
extensive settlements have already commenced in many localities in that region. 
The coast of Lake Michigan, from Grand River north, for upward of one hundred 
miles to Manistee River, presents generally a barren, sandy appearance, the sand 
hills of that coast almost invariably shutting out from the view the surrounding 
country. 

North of the Manistee, however, this characteristic of the coast changes, and 
the hard timber comes out to the lake, and presents a fine region of country ex- 
tending from Lake Michigan to Grand Traverse Bay and beyond, embracing the 
head waters of the Manistee River. This large tract of agricultural land is one 
of the richest portions of the state, and having throughout its whole extent ex- 
tensive groves of excellent pine timber interspersed, it is one of the most desirable 
portions of the peninsula. Grand Traverse Bay, the Manistee River, and the 



MICHIGAN. 383 



River Aux Bees Scies are the outlets for the pine timber, and afford ample means 
of communication between the interior and the lake for such purposes. The 
proposed state roads will, if built, do much toward the settlement of this region. 
A natural harbor, which is beinc; improved by private enterprise, is found at the 
mouth of the River Aux Bees Scies, and a new settlement and town has been 
started at this point. This is a natural outlet for a considerable portion of the re- 
gion iust described. The lands here, as in other localities in the new portions of 
the state, are such as must induce a rapid settlement whenever the means of com- 
munication shall be opened. ^ -i j .• v j • 
The valley of the Muskegon embraces every variety of soil and timber, and is 
one of the most attractive portions of the peninsula. The pme lands upon this 
river are scattered all along the valley in groups or tracts containing several thous- 
and acres each, interspersed with hard timber and surrounded by fine agricultnral 
lands. The Pere Marquette River and White River, large streams emptying into 
Lake Michigan, pass through a region possessing much the same characteristics. 
This whole recion is underlaid with lime rock, a rich soil, well watered with living 
springs, resembling in many features the Grand River valley. Beds of gypsum 
have been discovered on the head waters of the Pere Marquette. 1 he unsettled 
counties in the northern portion of the state, the northern portion of Montcalm, 
and Gratiot, Isabella, Gladwin, Clare, and a portion of Midland, are not inferior to 
any other portion. There is a magnificent body of pine stretching from the head 
of Flat River, in Montcalm county, to the upper waters of the Tettjbewassee, and 
growinn- upon a fine soil, well adapted to agriculture. This embraces a portion of 
.the SagTnaw valley, and covers the high ground dividing the waters of Lakes Huron 
and Michigan. . n •■, j x- v 

The eastern slope of the peninsula embraces a variety ot soil and timber some- 
what difi'erent in its general features from other portions of the state. The pine 
lands of this region are near the coast of the lake, and lie in large tracts, but with 
good agricultural land adjoining. o.aaaaaa r 

There are in the lower peninsula, in round numbers, about 24,UUU,UUU acres ot 
land Takino- Houghton Lake, near the center of the state, as a point of view, the 
<reneral surface maybe comprehended as follows: The Muskegon valley to the 
south-west, following the Muskegon River in its course to Lake Michigan. The 
western slope of the'peninsula directly west, embracing the pine and agricultural 
districts along the valleys of several large streams emptying into Lake Michigan. 
The large and beautiful region to the north-west, embracing the valley of the Ma- 
nistee and the undulating lands around Grand Traverse Bay. Northward, the re- 
gion embraces the head waters of the Manistee and Au Sauble, with the large 
tracts of excellent pine in that locality, and beyond, the agricultural region extend- 
ino- to Little Traverse Bay and the Straits of Mackinaw. To the north-east, the 
vaTley of the Au Sauble, and the pine region of Thunder Bay. To the east, the 
pine and hard timber extending to Saginaw Bay. To the south-east, the Saginaw 
valley; and to the south, the high lands before described in the central counties. 

That portion of the state south of Saginaw and the Grand River valley, is so well 
known that a description here would be unnecessary. Thus we have yet "ndevel- 
oped over half of the surface of this peninsula, embracing, certainly, 12,000,000 to 
15,000,000 of acres, possessing stores of wealth in the timber upon its surface, re- 
serving soil for the benefit of those, who, as the means of communication are 
opened, will come in and possess it, and thus introduce industry and prosperity into 
our waste places. i r v. 

We have not the figures at hand, but it is probable that at least one tenth ot the 
area north of the Grand River is embraced m the pine region. The swamp lands 
granted to the state will probably cover nearly double the area of the pine lands 
proper. The remainder, for the most part, is covered with a magnificent growth 
of hard timber suited to the necessities of our growing populntion and commerce. 
The trade in pine timber, lumber, shingles, and other varieties of lumber, with 
the traffic in staves form one of the most important branches of manufacture 
and commerce in our own state, and this trade alone is now accomplishing more 
for the development and settlement of the country than all other causes in opera- 



tion. 



384 MICHIGAN. 

Saginaio, the county seat of Saginaw county, is 57 miles N. E. of Lansing, 
and 95 N. N. W. of Detroit, and is built on the site of a trading post which, 
during the war of 1812, was occupied as a military post. It is on the W. 
bank of Saginaw River, elevated about 30 feet above the water, 22 miles 
from the mouth of the river at Saginaw Bay, an inlet of Lake Huron. It 
possesses advantages for commerce, as the river is large, and navigable 
for vessels drawing 10 feet of water. The four branches of this river 
coming from various directions, unite a few miles above the town, and afford 
intercourse by boats with a large portion of the state. Population about 
3,000. 

A very extensive lumber business is carried on at Saginaw. Within a 
short time the manufacture of salt has begun here, from brine obtained at 
the depth of 620 feet. The salt is of extraordinary purity, and the brine of 
unusual strength. This industry, when developed, will greatly increase tho 
prosperity of the Saginaw valley. 

Pontiac, named after the celebrated Indian chieftain, is situated on Clin- 
ton River, on the line of the railroad, 25 miles N. W. from Detroit. It is a 
flourishing village, and the county seat of Oakland county. Is an active 
place of business, and is one of the principal wool markets in the state. It 
has quite a number of stores, mills, and factories, and six churches. Popu- 
lation about 3,000. 

Mr. Asahel Fuller, a native of Connecticut, emigrated to Michigan in 1827, and 
located himself at Waterford, seven miles north-west from Pontiac, on the Old In- 
dian trail from Detroit to Saginaw, and was a long period known as an inn-keeper 
in this section of the state. The Chippewa Indians who received their annuities 
from the British government at Maiden, Canada West, in their journeyings, often 
camped or stopped near his house, sometimes to the number of 2 or 300. On 
one occasion he saw them go through their incantations to heal a sick man, one 
of their number. They formed a circle around him, singing a kind of hum drum 
tune, beating a drum made of a hollow log with a deer skin stretched over it. The 
Indian priest or powaw would occasionally throw into the fire a little tobacco, 
which had been rubbed in the hand, likewise pour whiskey into the fire after 
drinking a little himself, evidently as a kind of sacrifice. On another occasion a 
man breathed into a sick child's mouth, and prayed most fervently to the Great 
Spirit to interpose. In 1830, Mr. Fuller purchased the first lot of government 
lands in Springfield, 12 miles from Pontiac. He removed there in 1831, and 
erected the first house in the place, his nearest neighbor being 5 miles to the south- 
east, and 15 to the north-west. Here he kept a public house on the Indian trail 
on a most beautiful spot, called Little Spring, near two beautiful lakes; a favorite 
place of resort for the Indians, and where they sometimes held the " White Dog 
Feast," one of their sacred observances. Mrs. Julia A. O'Donoughue, the daughter 
of Mr. F., and wife of Mr. Washington O'Donoughue, was the first white child 
born in Springfield. 

Port Huron is in St. Clair county, 77 miles from Detroit, at the junction 
of Black and St. Clair Rivers, two miles south from Lake Huron, and one 
mile from Fort Gratiot, a somewhat noted post. It has a good harbor and su- 
perior facilities for ship building, and is largely engaged in the lumber busi- 
ness. Great amounts of excellent pine timber are sent down Black River, 
and manufactured or shipped here. It is the eastern terminus of the Port 
Huron and Lake Michigan Railroad, the western terminus of the Grand 
Trunk Railroad, which extends from the eastern to the western limits of the 
Canadas. It is one of the greatest lumber markets in the west. Its annual 
exports amount to $2,000,000. Population about 3,500. 

On the line of the Michigan Central Railroad, beside those already de- 
scribed, are the following large and flourishing towns, all having abundance 



MICHIGAN. 3gg 

of water power mills, factories, etc., and each containing from 3,000 to 7 000 
inhabitants. Ypsilanti^ 30 miles from Detroit on Huron River is the seat 
of the state normal school, a branch of the state university. Marshall is 
107 miles from Detroit. Battle Creek 120 miles from Detroit Kalamazoo 
23 miles farther west, contains a United States land office, the state asylum 
for the insane, and a branch of the state university. This is one of the most 
beautiful of villages : it is planted all over with trees, every street beino- 
lined with them. iWfes, 191 miles from Detroit, has a branch of the state 
university, and is the principal market for south-western Michigan. The St. 
Joseph River is navigable beyond this point for small steamers. 

Farther south, in the state, are other important towns, containing each 
about 3,000 inhabitants. They are: Tecumseh, 10 miles N. E. of Adrian 
and connected by a branch railroad, eight miles in length, with the Michio-an 
Southern Railroad. Hillsdale, on the last named railroad, 110 miles from 
Detroit, and noted as the seat of Hillsdale College, a thriving and hio'hly 
popular institution, chartered in 1855. Coldivater is also on the same 
railroad, 22 miles westerly from Hillsdale. St. Joseph, at the entrance of 
St. Joseph River into Lake Michigan, 19-1 miles west of Detroit, has a fine 
harbor and an extensive trade in lumber and fruit, with Chicago. 

In 1679, the noted explorer. La Salle, built a fort at the mouth of St. 
Joseph's River. Afterward there was a Jesuit mission here, which Charle- 
voix visited in 1721. When the west came into possession of Great Britain, 
they had a fort also at this point. This was twice captured in the war of 
the revolution, by expeditions of the brave frontiersmen of Cahokia Illi- 
nois. The annexed sketch of these exploits is thus given in Perkins' Annals 
Peck's edition: 

" There was at Cahokia, a restless, adventurous, daring man, by the name 
of Thomas Brady, or as he was familiarly called, 'Tom Brady;' a native 
of Pennsylvania, who, by hunting, or in some other pursuit, found him- 
self a resident of Cahokia. He raised a company of 16 resolute persons, 
all of Cahokia and the adjacent village of Prairie du Pont, of which the 
father of Mr. Boismenue, the informant, was one. After becoming organ- 
ized for an expedition, the party moved through a place called the ' Cow 
Pens,' on the River St. Joseph, in the south-western part of Michigan. 
Here was* a trading-post and fort originally established by the French 
but since the transfer of the country, had been occupied by the British 
by a small force, as a protection of their traders from the Indians. In 1777, 
it consisted of 21 men. 

Brady, with his little band of volunteers, left Cahokia about the 1st of 
October, 1777, and made- their way to the fort, which they captured in the 
night, without loss on either side, except, a negro. This person was a slave 
from some of the colonies on the Mississippi, who, in attempting to escape, 
was shot. One object of this expedition, probably, was the British goods 
in the fort. 

The company started back as far as the Calumet, a stream on the border 
of Indiana, south-east of Chicago, when they were overtaken by a party of 
British, Canadians and Indians, about 300 in number, who attacked the Ca- 
hokians and forced them to surrender. Two of Brady's party were killed, 
two wounded, one escaped, and 12 were made prisoners. These remained 
prisoners in Canada two years, except Brady, who made his escape, and re- 
turned to Illinois by way of Pennsylvania. M. Boismenue, Sr., was one of 
the wounded men. 

25 



386 



MICHIGAN. 



The next spring, a Frenchman, by the name of Paulette Maize, a daring 
fellow, raised about 300 volunteers from Cahokia, St. Louis, and other French 
villages, to re-capture the fort on the River St. Joseph. This campaign was 
by land, across the prairies in the spring of 1778. It was successful ; the 
fort was re-taken, and the peltries and goods became the spoil of the victors. 
The wounded men returned home with Maize. One gave out; they had no 
horses; and he was dispatched by the leader, to prevent the company being 
detained on their retreat, lest the same disaster should befall them as hap- 
pened to Brady, and his company. Some of the members of the most an- 
cient and respectable families in Cahokia, were in this expedition. Thomas 
Brady became the sheriff of the county of St. Clair, after its organization by 
the governor of the North-western Territory in 1790. He was regarded as 
a trust-worthy citizen, and died at Cahokia many years since." 

Almont, Mt. Clemens, Romeo, Allegan, and Grand Haven, are flourishing 
towns in the Southern Peninsula of Michigan. Almont is in Lapeer county, 
49 miles north of Detroit. Mt. Clemens is the county seat of Macomb, and 
is 20 miles from Detroit, on Clinton River, 4 miles from its entrance into 




The Isle, Mackinaw. 

Engraved from a drawing by the late Francis Howe, of Chicago, taken about the year 1840. 

Lake St. Clair. It is well situated for ship building, and has daily steam 
boat communication with Detroit. Romeo is also on Clinton River, 40 miles 
from Detroit. Allegan, distant from Kalamazoo 28 miles, at the head of 
navigation on Kalamazoo River, is a young and thrifty lumbering village. 
Grand Haven is at the mouth of Grand River, at the termination of 
the Detroit and Milwaukie Railroad. It has a noble harbor, and does an 
enormous lumber trade. Lumber is shipped from here to Chicago, and other 
ports on the west side of the lake; and steamers ply regularly between this 
point and Chicago, and also on the river to the flourishing city of Grand 
Rapids, above. 

Mackinaw, called "<^e Gem of the Lakes,'' is an exquisitely beautiful 
island in the straits of Mackinaw. It is, by water, 320 miles north of De- 



MICHIGAN. 



387 



troit, in Lat. 45° 54' N. Long. 84° 30' W. Its name is an abbreviation of 
Micl'iiliniackinac, which is a compound of the word missi or wrtsstY, signifying 
" ti;reat," and Mackinac, the Indian word for " turtle," from a fancied resem- 
blance to a great turtle lying upon the water. 

Amono- the curiosities of the island, are the Arched Rock, the Natural 
Pyramid^and the Skull Rock. The Arched Rock is a natural arch project- 
ing from the precipice on the north-eastern 
side of the island, about a mile from the 
town, and elevated 140 feet above the water. 
Its abutments are the calcareous rock com- 
mon to the island, and have been created by 
the falling down of enormous masses of rock, 
leaving the chasm. It is about 90 feet in 
hight, and is crowned by an arch of near 60 
feet sweep. From its great elevation, the 
view through the arch upon the wide expanse 
of water, is of singular beauty and grandeur. 
The Natural Pyramid is a lone standing 
rock, upon the top of the bluff, of probably 
oO feet in width at the base, by 80 or 90 in 
hight, of a rugged appearance, and support- 
ing in its crevices a few stunted cedars. It 
ple.ises chiefly by its novelty, so unlike any- 
tliiiig to be found in other parts of the world ; 
and ou the first view, it gives the idea of 
a work of art. The Skull Rock is chiefly 
noted for a cavern, which appears to have 
been an ancient receptacle of human bones. 
The entrance is low and narrow. It is here 
that Alexander Henry was secreted by a friendly Indian, after the horrid 
massacre of the British garrison at old Machilimackinac, in 1763. 

"The world," says the poet Bryant, "has not many islands so beautiful as 
Mackinaw — the surflice is singularly irregular with summits of rocks and 
pleasant hollows, open glades of pasturage, and shady nooks." 

It is, in truth, one of the most interesting spots on the continent, and is 
becoming a great summer resort, from its natural attractions ; its bracing, 
invigorating atmosphere, and the beauty of its scenery. Its sky has a won- 
derful clearness and serenity, and its cold deep waters a marvelous purity, 
that enables one to discover the pebbles way down, fathoms below. To 
mount the summits of Mackinaw, and gaze out northward upon the expanse 
of water, with its clustering islets, and the distant wilderness of the Northern 
Peninsula ; to take in with the vision the glories of that sky, so clear, so 
pure, that it seems as though the eye penetrated infinity; to inhale that 
life-giving air, every draught of which seems a luxury, were well worth 
a toilsome journey, and when once experienced, will remain among the 
most pleasant of memories. 

The island is about nine miles in circumference, and its extreme elevation 
above the lake, over 300 feet. The town is pleasantly situated around a 
small bay at the southern extremity of the island, and contains 1,000 inhabi- 
tants, which are sometimes nearly doubled by the influx of voyagers, 
traders, and Indians. On these occasions, its beautiful harbor is seen 
checkered with American vessels at anchor, and Indian canoes rapidly shoot 



/fc- - -^ 


''.} 


HHpp 

P'/ |1S\ 


^1 


»(i^ 


^1 




JHIMai 



The Arched Eock, 
On the Isle of Mackinaw. 



588 



MICHIGAN. 



ing across the water in every direction. It was formerly the seat of an ex- 
tensive fur trade: at jjresent it is noted for the great amount of trout and 
white fish annually exported. Fort Mackinaw stands on a rocky bluff over- 
looking the town.- The ruins of Fort Holmes are on the apex nf the island. 
It was built by the British in the war of 1812, under the name of Fort 
George, and changed to its present appellation by the Americans, in com- 
pliment to the memory of Maj. Holmes, who fell in an unsuccessful attack 
upon the island. This occurred in 1814. The expedition consisted of a 
strong detachment of land and naval forces under Col. Croghan, and was 
shamefully defeated, the death of the gallant Holmes having stricken 
them with a panic. 

Tlie first white settlement in this vicinity was at Point Ignace, the south- 
ern cape of the upper peninsula of Michigan, and shown on the map where 
Father Marquette established a mission in 1671. 

The second site was on the opposite point of the straits, now called Old 
Mackinaw, nine miles south, being the northern extremitv of the lower pe- 
ninsula, or Michigan Proper. 

"In the summer of 1679, the Griffin, built by La Salle and his company on the 
shore of Lake Erie, at the present site of the town of Erie, passed up the St. Clair, 
sailed over the Huron, and entering the straits, found a safe harbor at Old Mack- 
inaw. La Salle's expedition passed eight or nine years at this place, and from 
hence they penetrated the country in all directions. At the same time it continued 
to be the summer resort of numerous Indian tribes, who came here to trade and 
engage in the wild sports and recreations peculiar to the savage race. As a city 
of peace, it was regarded in the same light that the ancient Hebrews regarded their 
cities of refuge, and among those who congregated here all animosities were for- 
gotten. The smoke of the calumet of peace always ascended, and the war cry 
never as yet has been heard in its streets. 

In Heriot's Travels, published in 1S07, we find the following interesting item: 
" In 1671 Father ^larquette came hither with a party of Hurons, whom he pre- 
vailed on to form a settlement. A. fort was constructed, and it afterward became 

an important spot. It was the 
place of general assemblage for all 
the French who went to traffic with 
the distant nations. It was the 
asylum of all savages who came to 
exchange their furs for merchan- 
dise. When individuals belonging 
to tribes at war with each other 
came thither, and met on commer- 
cial adventure, their animosities 
Avere suspended." 

" Notwithstanding San-ge-man 
and his warriors had braved the 
dangers of the straits and had slain 
a hundred of their enemies whose 
residence was here, yet it was not 
in the town that they were slain. 
No blood was ever shed by Indian hands within its precincts up to this period, and 
had it remained in possession of the French, the terrible scenes subsequently 
enacted within its streets would in all probability never have occurred, and Old 
Mackinaw would have been a city of refuge to this day. 

The English, excited by the emoluments derived from the fur trade, desired to 
secure a share in this lucrative traffic of the north-western lakes. They accord- 
ingly, in the year 1686, fitted out an expedition, and through the interposition of 
the Fox Indians, whose friendship they secured by valuable presents, the expedi- 




RuiNS OF OLD Fort Mackinaw. 

Drawn hy Capt. S. Eastman, U.S.A. Mackinaw Island 
is seen on tlie right : Point St. Ignace, on tiie nortli side 
of the straits, on the left. 



MICHIGAN. 3S9 

tion reached Old Mackinaw, the "Queen of the Lakes," and found the El Dorado 
they had so long desh-ed." 

The following interesting description, from Parkman's " History of the Conspir- 
acy of Pontiac," of a voyage by an English merchant to Old Mackinaw about this 
time, will be in place here : " Passing "the fort and settlement of Detroit, he socm 
enters Lake St. Clair, which seems like a broad basin filled to overflowing, while 
along its far distant verge a faint line of forests separates the water from the sky. 
He crosses the lake, and his voyagers next urge his canoe against the cOrrent of 
the great river above. At length Lake Huron opens before him, stretching its 
liquid expanse like an ocean to'the furthest horizon. His canoe skirts the ea.stern 
shore of Michigan, where the forest rises like a wall from the water's edge, and as 
he advances onward, an endless line of stiff and shaggy fir trees, hung with long 
mosses, fringe the shore with an aspect of desolation. Passing on his right the ex- 
tensive Island of Bois Blanc, he sees nearly in front the beautiful Island of Mack- 
inaw rising with its white cliffs and green foliage from the broad breastof waters. He 
does not steer toward it, for at that day the Indians were its only tenants, but keeps 
along the main shore to the left, while his voyagers raise their song and chorus. 
Doubling a point he sees before him the red flag of England swelling lazily in the 
wind, and the palisades and wooden bastions of Fort Mackinaw standing close up- 
on the margin of the lake. On the beach canoes are drawn up, and Canadians and 
Indians are idly lounging. A little beyond the fort is a cluster of white Canadian 
houses roofed with bark and protected by fences of strong round pickets. The 
trader enters the gate and sees before him an extensive square area, surrounded by 
high palisades. Numerous houses, barracks, and other buildings form a smaller 
square within, and in the vacant place which they inclose appear the red uniforms 
of British soldiers, the gray coats of the Canadians and the gaudy Indian blankets 
mingled in picturesque confusion, while a multitude of squaws, with children of 
every hue, stroll restlessly about the place. Such was old Fort Mackinaw in 
1763." 

In 1763, during the Pontiac war, Old Mackinaw, or Michilimackinac, was 
the scene of a horrid massacre, the fort being at the time garrisoned by the 
British. It had come into their possession after the foil of Quebec, in 1759. 
It inclosed an area of two acres, surrounded by pickets of cedar. It stood 
near the water, and with western winds, the waves dashed against the foot 
of the stockade. Within the pickets were about thirty houses with families, 
and also a chapel, in which religious services were regularly performed by a 
Jesuit missionary. Furs from the upper lakes were collected here for trans- 
portation, and outfits prepared for the remote north-west. The garrison con- 
sisted of 93 men ; there were only four English merchants at the fort. 
Alexander Henry was invested with the right of trafficking with the Indians, 
and after his arrival was visited by a body of 60 Chippewas, whose chieftain, 
Minavavana, addressed him and his companions in the following manner: 

Englishmen, it is to you that I speak, and I demand your attention. You 
know that the French King is our father. He promised to be such, and we in turn 
promised to be his children. This promise we have kept. It is you that have made 
war with this our father. You are his enemy, and how then could you have the 
boldness to venture among us, his children. You know that his enemies are ours. 
We are informed that our father, the King of France, is old and infirm, and tliat 
being fatigued with making war upon your nation, he has fallen asleep. During 
this sleep you have taken advantage of him, and possessed yourselves of Canada. 
But his nap is almost at an end. I think I hear him already stirring and inquirini: 
for his children, and when he does awake what must become of you? He will 
utterly destroy you. Although you have conquered the French, you have not con 
quered us. We are not your slaves. These lakes, these woods and mountains are 
left to us by our ancestors, they are our inheritance and we will part with them to 
none. Your nation supposes that we, like the white people, can not live without 
bread, and pork, and beef, but you ought to know that He, the Great Spirit and 



390 MICHIGAN. 

Master of Life, has provided food for us in these spacious lakes and on these 
woody mountains. 

Our father, the King of France, employed our young men to make war upon 
your nation. In this warfare many of them have been killed, and it is our custom 
to retaliate until such time as the spirits of the slain are satisfied. But the spirits 
of the slain are to be satisfied in one of two ways; the first is by the spilling the 
blood of the nation by which they fell, the other by covering the bodies of the 
dead, and thus allaying the resentment of their relations. This is done by making 
presents. Your king has never sent us any presents, nor entered into any treaty 
with us, wherefore he and we are still at war, and until he does these things we 
must consider that we have no other father or friend among the white men than 
the King of France. But for you, we have taken into consideration that you have 
ventured among us in the expectation that we would not molest you. You do not 
come around with the intention to make war. You come in peace to trade with 
us, and supply us with necessaries, of which we are much in need. We shall re- 
gard you, therefore, as a brother, and you may sleep tranquilly without fear of the 
Chippewas. As a token of friendship we present you with this pipe to smoke. 

Previous to the attack the Indians were noticed assembling in great num- 
bers, with every appearance of friendship, ostensibly for the purpose of trade, 
and during one night 400 lay about the fort. In order to celebrate the king's 
birth day, on the third of June, a game of ball was proposed to be played 
between the Chippewas and Sacs for a high wager. Having induced Major 
Etherington, the commandant, and many of the garrison to come outside the 
pickets to view the game, it was the design of the Indians to throw the ball 
within tlie pickets, and, as was natural in the heat of the game, that all the 
Indians should rush after it. The stratagem was successful — the war cry 
was raised, seventy of the garrison were murdered and scalped, and the re- 
mainder were taken prisoners. 

'' Henry witnessed the dreadful slaughter from his window, and being unarmed he 
hastened out, and springing over a low fence which divided his house from that of 
M. Langlade, the French Interpreter, entered the latter, and requested some one 
to direct him to a place of safety. Langlade hearing the request, replied that he 
could do nothing for him. At this moment a slave belonging to Langlade, of the 
Pawnee tribe of Indians, took him to a door which she opened, and informed him 
that it led to the garret where he might conceal himself. She then locked the door 
and took away the key. Through a hole in the wall Henry could have a complete 
view of the fort. He beheld the heaps of the slain, and heard the savage yells, 
until the last victim was dispatched. Having finished the work of death in the 
fort, the Indians wont out to search the houses. Some Indians entered Langlade's 
house and asked if there were any Englishmen concealed in it. He replied that 
he did not know, they might search for themselves. At length they opened the 
garret door and ascended the stairs, but Henry had concealed himself amid a 
heap of birch-bark vessels, which had been used in making maple sugar, and thus 
escaped. P^atigued and exhausted, he lay down on a mat and went to sleep, and 
while in this condition he was sui-prised by the wife of Langlade, who remarked 
that the- Indians had killed all the English, but she hoped he might escape. Fear- 
ing, however, that she would fall a prey to their vengeance if it was found that an 
Englishman was concealed in her house, she at length revealed the place of Henry's 
concealment, giving as a reason therefor, that if he should be found her children 
Avould be destroyed. Unlocking the door, she was followed by several Indians, 
who were led by Wenniway, a noted chief At sight of him the chief seized him 
with one hand, and brandishing a large carving knife was about to plunge it into 
his heart, when he dropped his arm, saying, "1 won't kill you. My brother, Mu- 
sini<r(>n, was slain by the P^nglish, and you shall take his place and be called after 
him." He was carried to L'Arbre Croche as a prisoner, where he was rescued by 
a band of three hundred Ottawas, by whom he was returned to Mackinaw, and 
finally ransomed by his friend Wawatara. At the capture of the place only one 
trader, M. Tracy, lost his life. Capt. Etherington was carried away by some In- 



MICHIGAN. 



}01 



dians from the scene of slaughter. Seventy of the English troops were shun. An 
En.^lishman, by the name of Solomon, saved himself by hiding under a heap of 
corn, and his boy was saved by creeping up a chimney, where he remained two 
days. A number of canoes, filled with English traders arriving soon after the 
massacre, they were seized, and the traders, dragged through the water, were 
beaten and marched by the Indians to the prison lodge. After they had completed 




Map of Mackinaw and vicinity. 
the work of destruction, the Indians, about four hundred in number, entertaining 
apprehensions that they would be attacked by the English and the Indians who 
hlid joined them, took refuge on the Island of Mackinaw, Wawatam fearing that 
Heni-v would be butchered by the savages in their drunken revels, took him out to 
a cave where he lay concealed for one night on a heap of human bones. As the 
fort was not destroyed, it was subsequently reoccupied by British soldiers, and the 
removal to the island did not take place until about the year 17^0. 

The station on the island was called New Mackinaw, while the other, on 
the main land, has since been termed Old Mackinaw. The chape , fort nnd 
colleoe at the latter place, have long since passed away, but relics ot the 
stone" walls and pickets remain to this day. To the Catholic, as the site ot 
their first college in the north-west, and one of their earliest mission stations, 
this must be ever a spot of great interest. 



392 MICHIGAN. 

New Mackinaw formerly received its greatest support from the fur trade, 
when in the hands of the late John Jacob Astor, being at that time the out- 
fitting and furnishing place , for the Indian trade. This trade became extinct 
in 1834, and the place since has derived its support mainly from the fisheries. 
The Isle of Mackinaw, in modern times, has been a prominent point for 
Protestant missions among the Indians. The first American missionary was 
the Rev. David Bacon, who settled here in 1802, under the auspices of the 
Connecticut Missionary Society, the oldest, it is believed, in America. This 
gentleman was the father of Dr. Leonard Bacon, the eminent New England 
divine, who was born in Michigan. Prior to settling at Mackinaw, Mr. Bacon 
attempted to establish a mission upon the Maumee. The Indians in council 
listened to his arguments for this object, with due courtesy : and then, through 
one of their chiefs. Little Otter, respectfully declined. The gist of the reply 
is contained in the following sentence: 

Brother — Your religion is very good, hut it is only good for white people. 
It will not do for Indians: they are quite a different sort of folks. 

Old Mackinaw, or Mackinack, is the site of a recently laid out town, Mack- 
inaw City, which, its projectors reason, bids fair to become eventually an im- 
portant point. Ferris says, in his work on the west: "If one were to point 
out, on the map of North America, a site for a great central city in the lake 
region, it would be in the immediate vicinity of the Straits of Mackinaw. A 
city so located would have the command of the mineral trade, the fisheries, 
the furs, and the lumber of the entire north. It might become the metropo- 
lis of a great commercial empire. It would be the Venice of the Lakes." 
The climate would seem to forbid such a consummation ; but the tempera- 
ture of this point, softened by the vast adjacent bodies of water, is much 
milder than one would suppose from its latitude : north of this latitude is a part 
of Canada which now contains a million of inhabitants. Two important rail- 
roads, running through the whole of the lower peninsula of Michigan, are to 
terminate at this point — one passing through Grand Rapids, and the other 
through Saginaw City. These are building by the aid of extensive land 
grants from the general government to the state, and are to give southern Mich- 
igan a constant communication with the minei'al region in the upper peninsula, 
from which she is now ice locked five or six months in the year, and which, 
in time is destined to support a large and prosperous population. The min- 
eral region is also to have railroad com:nunications through Wisconsin south, 
and through Canada east to the Atlantic, extensive land grants having been 
made by the American and Canadian governments for these objects, com- 
prising in all many millions of acres. 

The Beaver Islands are a beautiful cluster of Islands in Lake Michigan, 
in the vicinity of Mackinaw. Big Beaver, the largest of them, contains 
about 25,000 acres, and until within a few years was in the possession of a 
band of Mormons. 

When the Mormons were driven from Nauvoo, in 1845, they were divided into 
three factions — the Twelveites, the Rigdonites, and the Strangites. The Twelveites 
were those who emigrated to Utah, the Rigdonites were the followers of Sidney Rig- 
don, and were but few in number, and the Strangites made Beaver Ishind their head- 
quartf rs. Their leader, Strang, ayoung lawyer originally of western I*i. York, chiimed 
to have a revelation from God, appointing him the successor of Joe Smith. "These 
Mormons held the entire control of the main island, and probably would have con- 
tinued to do so for some time, but from the many depredations committed by them, 
the neighboring fishermen and others living and trading on the coasts, became de- 
termined to root out this band of robbers and pirates, as they believed them to be. 




MICHIGAN. 393 

After or2;anizin2; a strong force, they made an attack upon these Mormons, and 
succeeded, though meeting with obstinate resistance, in driving them from the 
island. The attivcking party found concealed a lai-ge number of hides and other 
goods, which were buried to avoid detection. The poor, deluded followers of this 
monstrous doctrine are now dispersed. Some three or four hundred were sent to 
Chicago, and from thence spread over the country. Others were sent to ports on 
Lake Erie. Strang was wounded by one of the men he had some time previous to 
this attack robbed and beaten. He managed to escape the island, but died in Wis- 
consin shortly after, in consequence of his wounds." 

Sault de Ste. Marie, the county seat of Chippewa county, is situated 

on St. Marys River, or Strait, 400 miles 
N.W. of Detroit, and about 18 from the 
entrance of Lake Superior. The vil- 
lage has an elevated situation, at the 
Falls of St. Mary, and contains about 
1,000 inhabitants. It is a famous fish- 
ing place, immense quantities of white 
fish being caught and salted here for the 
niarkets of the west. The falls are 
merely rapids, having a descent of 22 
The Sault oe Falls of St. Mary. feet in a mile. The Sault Ste. Marie is 

The view is looking down the Rapids. ^^^^ of the prominent historic localities 

of the north-west. 

"On the l7th of September, 1G41, the Fathers Joguesand Raymbault embarked 
in their frail birch bark canoes for the Sault Ste. Marie. They floated over the clear 
waters between the picturesque islands of Lake Huron, and after a voyage of sev- 
enteen days arrived at the Sault. Here they found a large assembly of Chippewas. 
After numerous inquiries, they heard of the Nadowessies, the famed Sioux, who 
dwelt eighteen days' journey further to the west, beyond the Great Lake. Thus 
did the religious zeal of the French bear the cross to the banks of the St. Mary 
and the confines of Lake Superior, and look wistfully toward the homes of the 
Sioux in the valley of the Mississippi, five years before the New Enghuu' Elliott 
had addressed the tribe of Indians that dwelt within six miles of Boston harbor." 

In lfi6S, James Marquette and Claude Dablon founded a mission here. During 
the whole of the French occupancy of the west, this was a great point for their 
missions and fur traders. In the late war with Great Britain, the trading station 
of the British North-west Fur Company, on the Canadian side, was burnt by Maj. 
Holmes: this was just before the unsuccessful attack on Mackinaw. Fort Brady, 
at this place, was built in 1823, and was at the time the most northerly fortress iu 
the United States. 

Before the construction of the great canal, the copper from the Lake Su- 
perior mines was taken around the falls by railway, the cars being drawn by 
horses. It has added 1,700 miles of coast to the trade of the lakes, and is 
of incalculable advantage to the whole of the business of the Lake Superior 
country. 

St. Marys Strait, which separates Canada West from the upper peninsula of 
Michigan, is about 64 miles long, and is navigable for vessels drawing eight feet 
of water to within about a mile of Lake Superior. At this point the navigation is 
impeded by the Falls — the ^^ sault" (pronounced soo) of the river. Congress 
oflered Michigan 750,000 acres of land to construct a ship canal around these 
rapids ; and the state contracted to give these lands, free of taxation for five years, 
to Erastus Corning and others, on condition of building the canal by the 19th of 
May, 1855. The work was completed in style superior to anything on this conti- 
nent, and the locks are supposed to be the largest in the world. The canal is 12 
feet deep, being mostly excavated through solid sandstone rock. It is 100 teet wide 
at the tup of the water, and 115 at the top of its banks ; and the largest steamboats 



394 MICHIGAN. 

and vessels which navigate the Great Lakes can pass through it with the greatest 
ease. 

The Upper Peninsula, or Lake Superior country, of Michigan, has, of late 
years, attracted great attention from its extraordinary mineral wealth, 
especially in copper and iron. The territory comprised in it, together with 
that portion of the Lake Superior region belonging to the state of Wiscon- 
sin, has interests so peculiar to itself, that the project of ceding this 
whole tract, by the legislatures of Wisconsin and Michigan, to the general 
government, for the purpose of erecting a new state to be called Superior, 
has been seriously agitated and may, in some not distant future, be consum- 
mated. 

Lake Superior, the largest body of fresh water on the globe, is an object of in- 
terest to the traveler. It is 1,500 miles in circumference, and in some parts more 
than a thousand feet in depth. Among its many islands Isle Royal is the largest, 
being nearly of the size of the state of Connecticut. The country along the l.ake 
is one of the most dreary imaginable. Everywhere its surface is rocky and broken ; 
but the high hills, the rugged precipices, and the rocky shores, with their spare 
vegetation, *re relieved by the transparency and purity of the waters that wash 
their base ; these are so clear that the pebbles can often be distinctly seen at the 
depth of thirty feet. A boat frequently appears as if suspended in the air, so trans- 
parent is the liquid upon which it floats. Among the natural curiosities, the Pic- 
tured Rocks and the Doric Arch, on the south shore near the east end, are promi- 
nent. The first are a series of lofty bluffs, of a light gray sandstone, .30t) feet 
high, which continue for twelve miles along the shore. They consist of a group 
of overhanging precipices, towering walls, caverns, waterfalls, and prostrate ruins. 
The Doric Arch is an isolated mass of sandstone, consisting of four natural pillars, 
supporting an entablature of the same material, and presenting the appearance of 
a work of art. The waters of Lake Superior, being remarkably pure, abound with 
fish, particularly trout, sturgeon and white fish, which are an extensive article of 
commerce. The siskowit of Lake Superior, supposed to be a cross of the trout 
and white fish, is considered by epicures to possess the finest flavor of any fish in 
the world, fresh or salt, and to which the brook trout can bear no comparison. It 
loses its delicacy of flavor when salted ; its common weight is four pounds, and 
length 16 inches. So exhilarating is the winter atmosphere here, that it is said 
that to those who exercise much in the open air, it produces, not unfreqently, an 
inexpressible elasticity and buoyancy of spirits, that can be compared to nothing 
else but to the effects of intoxicating drinks. 

The climate of the Lake Superior region is not, by any means, so severe 
as its northern latitude would indicate. A writer, familiar with it says : 

"No consideration is, perhaps, more important to those seeking a country suita- 
ble for residence and enterprise, than the character of its climate. Health is the 
first, and comfort the next great object, in selecting a permanent abode. Tested 
by these qualities, the Lake Superior region presents prominent inducements. Its 
atmosphere is drier, more transparent and bracing than those of the other states on 
the same parallel. A healthier i-egion does not exist; here the common diseases 
of mankind are comparatively unknown. The lightness of the atmosphere has a 
most invigorating effect upon the spirits, and the breast of the invalid swells with 
new emotion when he inhales its healthy breezes, as they sweep across the lake. 
None of the American lakes can compare with Lake Superior in healthfulness of 
climate during the summer months, and there is no place so well calculated to re- 
store the health of an invalid, who has suffered from the depressing miasms of the 
fever-breeding soil of the south-western states. This opinion is fast gaining ground 
among medical men, who are now recommending to their patients the healthful 
climate of this favored lake, instead of sending them to die in enervating south- 
ern latitudes. 

The waters of this vast inland sea, covering an area of over 32,000 square miles, 
exercise a powerful influence in modifying the two extremes of heat and cold. 



MICHIGAN. 



395 



The uniformity of temperature thus produced, is highly favorable to animal and 
vegetable life. The most delicate J ruits and plants are raised without injury; 
wliile four or five degrees further south, they are destroyed by the early frosts. It 
is a singular fact, that Lake Superior never freezes in the middle ; and along the 
shores, the ice seldom extends out more than fifteen to twenty miles. The temper- 
ature of its waters rarely, if ever change, and are almost always at 40 deg. Fahren- 
heit—the maximum density of water. I i-arely omitted taking a morning bath 
during my exploring cruises along the south shore of the lake, in the months of 
August and September, and found the temperature of the water near the shore, 
much warmer than that along the north shore. I also observed a rise and fall in 
the water — or a tidular motion, frequently. In midsummer, the climate is delight- 
ful beyond comparison, while, at the same time, the air is softly bracing. The 
winds are variable, and rarely continue for more than two or three days in the 
same quarter. We have no epidemics, no endemics; miasmatic affections, with 
their countless ills, are unknown here ; and the luster of the languid eye is restored, 
the paleness of the faded cheek disappears when brought into our midst. The 
purity of the atmosphere makes it peculiarly adapted to ail those afflicted with pul- 
monary complaints, and such a thing as consvmption produced by the climate, is 
wholly unknown. Fever and ague, that terrible scourge of Illinois, Kanzas and 
Iowa, is rapidly driven away before the pure and refreshing breezes which come 
down from the north-west; and thousands of invalids from the states below, have 
already found here a safe retreat from their dreaded enemy. It is also a singular 
fact, that persons suffering from asthma or phthisis, have been greatly relieved, or, 
in some instances, permanently cured by a residence in this climate. Having had 
much experience in camping out on the shores of Lake Superior, sleeping con- 
stantly on the sandy beach, with and without a tent, a few feet fi'om the water's 
edge, I would say,«give me the open air in summer to the confinement of the best 
houses ever constructed. It is never very dark in this latitude, and the northern 
lights are usually visible every clear night. Although myself and companions 
were exposed to all kinds of weather on our exploring excursions — with feet wet 
every day, and nearly all day, sleeping on the beach, exposed to heavy dew, yet not 
one of the party ever suffered from exposure! Dr. Owen, the celebrated United 
States geologist, says: 'At the Pembina settlement (in latitude 49 deg.), to a popu- 
lation of five thousand, there was but a single physician, and he told me, that with- 
out an additional salary allowed him by the Hudson Bay Company, the diseases of 
the settlement would not afford him a living.' " 



Tlie Copper districts are Ontonagon, Portage Lake and Kewenaw Point. The 
principal iron district, Marquette. The principal mines in the Ontonagon district 
are the Minnesota, Central and Rockland; in the Portage Lake, Pewaubie, Quincy, 
li'ranklin and Isle Royale ; and in the Kewenaw Point, Cliff, Copper Falls, North- 
west and Central. The value of the copper product, in 1860, was about three mil- 
lions of dollars. 

The existence of rich deposits of copper in the Lake Superior region, has been 
known from the earliest times. Father Claude Allouez, the Jesuit missionary, who 
founded the mission of St. Mary, in 1668, says that the Indians respect this lake 
as a divinity, and make sacrifices to it, partly, perhaps, on account of its magni- 
tude, or for its goodness in furnishing them with fishes. He farther adds, that be- 
neath its waters pieces of copper are found of from ten to twenty pounds, which 
the savages often preserved as so many divinities. Other published descriptions 
speak of it. Charlevoix, who visited the west in 1722, says that the copper here 
is so pure that one of the monks, who was bred a goldsmith, made from it several 
sacramental articles. 

Recent developments show that the mines were probably worked by the same 
mysterious race who, anterior to the Indians, built the mounds and ancient works 
of the west. In the latter have been found various copper trinkets bespangled 
with silver scales, a peculiar feature of the Lake Superior copper, while on the 
shores of the lake itself, abandoned mines, filled by the accumulation of ages, have 
recently been I'e-opened, the existence of which was unknown, even to the tradi- 



396 



MICHIGAN. 



tions of the present race of Indians. There have been found remains of cop- 
per utensils, in the form of knives and chisels; of stone hammers to the amount of 
cart loads, some of vi^hich are of immense size and weight; of wooden bowls for 
boilinii; water from the mines, and numerous levers of wood, used in raising mass 
copper to the surface. 




The Cupper and Iron Region on Lake Superior. 

The first Englishman who ever visited the copper region was Alex. Henry, the 
trader. In August, 1765, he was shown by the Indians a mass of pure copper, on 
Ontonagon River, ten miles from its mouth, that weighed 3,800 pounds; it is now 
in Washington City, and forms part of the Washington monument. He cut oif a 
piece of 100 lbs. weight with an axe. 'I'he first mining company on Lake ."-'uperior 
was organized by this enterprising explorer. In 1770, he, with two others, having 
interested the Duke of Gloucester and other English noblemen, built a barge at 
Point aux Pius, and laid the keel of a sloop of forty tuns. They were in search 
of gold and silver, and expected to make their fortunes. The enterprise failed, 
an(f the American Revolution occurring, for a time caused the mineral resources 
of the country to be forgotten. 

Dr. Franklin, commissioner for negotiatintc the peace between England and her 
lost colonies, purposely drew the boundary line through Lake Superior, so as to 
throw this rich mineral region, of the existence of which he was then aware, with- 
in the possession of the United States. He afterward stated that future genera- 
tions would pronounce this the greatest service he had ever given to his country. 

The celebrated Connecticut-born traveler, Capt. Jonathan Carver, visited these 
reo-ions in 1769, and in his travels dwells upon their mineral wealth. The first 
definite information in regard to the metallic resources of Lake Superior, was pub- 
lished in 1841, by Dr. Douglas Houghton, geologist to the state of Michigan. In 
1843, the Indian title to the country was extinguished by a treaty with the Chip- 
pewas, and settlers came in, among them sevei-al Wisconsin miners, who selected 
laru-e tracts of land,* including many of those now occupied by the best mines in 
the^ country. In the summer of 1844, the first mining operations were commenced 



«Byanactof congress, in 1850, the mineral lands of Lake Superiorwere thrown into mar- 
ket with the right of pre-emption, as to occupants of other public lands; and to occupants 
and lessees, theVivilege of purchasing one full section at the minimum price of $2 60 per 



MICHIGAN. 397 

on Eagle River, by the Lake Superior Copper Company. They sold out after twc 
or three years' labor, and at the very moment vehen they were upon a vein which 
proved rich in copper, now known as the Cliff Mine. 

The first mining operations brought to light many masses of native copper which 
contained silver. This caused great excitement in the eastern cities, and, with the 
attendant exaggerations, brought on " the copper fever " so that the next year, 1845, 
the shores of Keweenaw Point were whitened with the tents of speculators. The 
next year the fever reached its hight, and speculations in worthless stocks con- 
tinued until 1847, when the bubble had burst. Many were ruined, and the coun- 
try almost deserted, and of the many companies formed few only had actually en- 
gaged in mining. They were, mostly, merely stock gambling schemes. Now, 
about one third of all the copper produced on the globe comes from this region. 
Such is its surprising richness, that the day may not be very distant when its an- 
nual product will exceed the present product from all the other mines worked by 
man combined. 

We continue this subject from a valuable article, published in 1860, in the 
Detroit Tribune, on the copper and iron interest of Michigan. The notes 
are entirely from other sources: 

This great interest of Michigan was first brought into public notice by the enor- 
mous speculations and the mad fever of 1845. The large spur of country which pro- 
i'ects far out into the lake, having its base resting on a line drawn across from 
I'Anse Bay to Ontonagon, and the Porcupine Mountains for its spine, became the 
El Dorado of all copperdom of that day. In this year the fir.st active operations 
were commenced at the Cliff Mine, just back of Eagle River harbor. Three years 
later, in 1848, work was undertaken at the Minesota, some fifteen miles back from 
the lake at Ontonagon. 

The history of the copper mines on Lake Superior shows that even the best mines 
disappointed the owners in the beginning. We give the facts relative to the three 
mines at present in the Lake Superior region to illustrate this. The Cliff Mine 
was discovered in 1845, and worked three years without much sign of success; it 
changed hands at the very moment when the vein was opened which proved after- 
ward to be so exceedingly rich in copper and silver, producing now on an average 
1,500 tuns of stamp, barrel, and mass copper per annum. 

The Minesota Mine was discovered in 1848, and for the first three years gave 
no very encouraging results. The first large mass of native copper of about seven 
tuns was found in a pit made by an ancient race. After that discovery much mo- 
ney was spent before any further indications of copper were found. This mine 
yields now about 2,000 tuns of copper per annum, and declared for the year 1858 
a net dividend of $300,000. The dividends paid since 1852 amount to upward of 
$1,500,000 on a paid up capital of $66,000.* 

* The cost to the stockholders of the Cliff Mine was $18 50 per share on 6,000 shares, and 
the total cash paid in was .?! 10,905. The highest selling price per share has been .$245. 
The years 1845, 1846 and 1847 not a dollar of returns came from the enterprise. In 1848 
the mine was so far opened as to be worked with profit. Since then the dividends in round 
numbers have been, in 1849, .$60,000 ; 1850, .$84,000 ; 1851, $60,000 ; 1852, $60,000 ; 1853, 
$90,000; 1854, $108,000; 1855, $78,000 ; 1856, $180,000 ; 1857, $180,000 ; and 1858, $209,000. 
Up to Jan. 1, 1859, the dividends paid stockholders, added to the cash, copper and copper 
ore on hand, amounted to over $3,700,000. 

The cost to the stockholders of the Minesota Mine was $3 per share on 20,000 shares, and 
the total cash paid in, as above stated, $66,000. The highest selling price per share has 
been $110. In 1848, $14,000 was expended, and $1,700 worth of copper produced ; in 1849, 
expenditures, $28,000, copper produced, $14,000 ; 1850, expenditures, $58,000, copper pro- 
duced. $29,000 ; in 1851, expenditures, .$88,000, copper produced, $90,000. In 1852, the filth 
year from the beginning, the mine had been so far opened that ore in greater quantities 
couM bo taken out, and the first dividend was declared ; it was $30,000 ; in 1853, dividend, 
$60,000; 1854, $90,000; 1855, 200,000; and in 1856, $300,000; since then the dividends 
hnve been about $200,000 per annum. In all the stockholders have received more than a 
million of money for their original investment of $66,000, a fair reward for their five years 
waiting on a fir.st dividend. 

These statistics, astonishing as they may seem, are equaled in mining experience in othe? 



398 MICHIGAN. 

The same has been experienced at the Pewabic Mine. That mine commenced 
operations in the year 18.55, with an expenditure of $26,357, which produced 
$1,080 worth of copper; the second year it expended $40,820, and produced $31,- 
492 of copper; in 1857, $54,484 of expenses produced $44,058 worth of copper; in 

countries. That correct information should be disseminated upon this subject, is due to the 
assistance required for an early development of the immense natural mineral wealth that our 
country possesses. Hence we lengthen this note by statistics of successful British mines, as 
given by a writer familiar with the subject : 

"He has struck a mine! " is one of those sentences in every one's mouth to indicate extra- 
ordinary good fortune. Phrases like these, passing into popular every day use, must orig- 
inate in some great truth impressed upon the public mind. This expression is doubtless of 
foreign origin, for the Americans know so little of mining, that all enterprises of this kind 
are by them reproachfully termed spectilotive. Yet, when conducted on correct business 
principles, and with knowledge, few investments are more certain than those made in this 
useful branch of industry. 

" This statement can now well be believed which has lately been made by the London Min- 
ing Journal, that 'taking all the investments made in thatcountry (England) in mining enter- 
prises (other than coal and iron) good, bad and indifferent, at home and abroad, the returns 
from the good mines have paid a larger interest upon the entire outlay than is realized in any 
other species of investments.' 

" The exact figures are, for mining, an annual interest of 13 1-2 per cent. Other invest- 
ments 4 8-10 per cent. Amount of dividends paid upon investments in mining, 111 per 
cent. 

This is doubtless owing to the fact that in England mining is treated as a regular busi- 
ness, and is never undertaken by those who are not willing to devote the same attention, 
time, and money to it, that are considered necessary to the success of any other business." 
We have before us a list of twenty three English Mining Companies, showing, first, the 
number of shares of each ; second, the cash cost per share ; third, the present selling price 
per share; ana fourth, the amount paid in dividends per share. The mines worked are 
principally copper and lead. 

From this list we gather the following facts, which we express in round numbers : These 
twenty-three companies invested in their enterprises one million and forty thousand dollars. 
The present value of their property is eight millions of dollars. The shareholders have re- 
ceived in dividends fourteen millions of dollars. The average cost per share was sixty -five 
dollars. The present selling price per share is five hundred and two dollars; and the 
amount of dividends received per share, eight hundred and seventy-three dollars. 

What other branch of industry will average such returns as these? And is it not owing 
to the ignorance of the business men of the United ritates as to the actual facts of mining, 
when legitimately pursued, that has, in a measure, prevented our industry from being purlly 
directed in that channel? 

From the list we group some of the most successful of the mines, arranging the statistics 
so that they can be seen at a glance. They dwarf by comparison all ordinary investments 
by the immensity of their returns. 

Jamaica, Lead Mine. No. of shares 76. Amount paid per share $19. Present price per 
share, .$250. Total amount paid in, $1,444. Present value, $190,000. Increase value on 
the original investment, thirteen times. 

Wheal Basset, Copper. No. of shares, 512. Amount paid per share, $25 25. Present 
price per share, $2,050. Total amount paid in, $12,800. Present value, $1,049,600. In- 
crease in value, eighty times. 

South Caradon, Copper. No. of shares, 256. Cost per share, $12 30. Present price per 
share, $1,500. Total amount paid in, $3,200. Present value, $384,000. Increase in value, 
one hundred and twenty-two times. 

Wheal Buller, Copper. No. of shares, 256. Amount paid per share, $25. Present price 
per share, $3,095. Total cash capital, $6,500. Presentcash value, $792,000. Increase value, 
one hundred and twenty-four times. 

Devon Great Consols, Copper. No. of shares, 1,024. Amount paid per share, $5. Pres- 
ent price per share, $2,050. Total cash capital, $5,120. Present cash value, $2,099,200, 
Increase value per share more than four hundred times. 

Taking the above five mines together, and the sum of the original cash capital paid in 
by the stockholders was, in round numbers, seventy-nine thousand dollars, and the present 
combined value of the investments, reckoning them at the present selling price of the shares, 
is over four and a half millions of dollars. 

Since the foregoing was written, later sta-tistics than these have come to handfrom Gryll's 
Annual Mining Sheet, containing statistics of the copper mines of Cornwall, for the year 
ending June 30, 1859. 

It appears from these that during the past year the last mentioned mine — the ' Devon 
Great Consols,' turned out 23,748 gross tuns of copper. On the 1st of June last, the lucky 



MICHIGAN 



399 



1858, the amount expended was $109,152, and the receipts for copper $76,53!^ ; the 
total expense amounts to $235,816, and the total receipts for copper to $153^168. 




Outline view of the Minesota Mine. 

The view shows only a small part of the surface works. The aggregate extent of openings under ground 
throughout the mine, by shafts and levels, is 31,893 feet, or over six miles in extent. The deepest shaft is 
712 feet. The entire working force at the mine is 718, and the total population supported there by it 1,215. 

It is scarcely ten years that mining has been properly commenced in that re- 
mote region. At that time it was difficult, on account of the rapids of St. Marys 
lliver, to approach it by water with large craft. Being more than a thousand miles 
distant from the center of the Union, destitute of all the requirements for the de- 
velopment of mines, every tool, every part of machinery, every mouthful of pro- 
vision had to be hauled over the rapids, boated along the shores for hundreds of 
miles to the copper region, and there often carried on the back of man and beast 
to the place where copper was believed to exist. Every stroke of the pick cost 
tenfold more than in populated districts; every disaster delayed the operations for 
weeks and months. 

The opening of the Sault Canal has changed all this and added a wonderful im- 
petus to the business, the mining interests, and the development of the Lake Su- 
perior country. Nearly one hundred different vessels, steam and sail, have been 



shareholders received as their annual dividend .$220 per share. That is mine stock worth 
having ; it cost only $6 per share, fifteen years ago, when the mine was first opened. 

It is true that these are the successful mines. Mines to be placed in this class must be 
either ordinary mines managed with great skill, or exceedingly rich mines, which possess 
naturally such treasures, that they eventually yield immense return in spite of all blunders 
in management." 

To the above extract we append the remarks that the prominent difficulties in this coun- 
try, in the way of successful mining, consist in the total ignorance of those who generally 
engage in the business, most American mining companies proving but mere phantoms on 
which to build airy castles, and most American mines but ugly holes in which to bury money, 
which, like Kidd's treasure is never found again. None but those used from youth to the 
business of mining, and for the very metals mined for, are fit to conduct the business. Noth- 
ing but the mechanical education to open a mine, and the skill to work the machinery, 
united with a knowledge of geology and chemistry, and more especially that intricate and 
delicate branch, metal/ur<iij, joined to extraordinary executive skill in the business manage- 
ment, will conduct an enterprise of the kind to any but a disastrous issue. 

Aside from this, such has been the selfishness, ignorance and neglect of those persons in 
this country who have had the control of these enterprises, that let any mine promise ever 
so fairly, an investment in its stock is now regarded as silly as a purchase in a lottery. 
It is said that six millions of dollars were lost during " the copper fever" on Lake Su- 
perior, much of it indirectly stolen by smooth talking gentlemen, regarded as reputable 
among their neighbors. 



400 MICHIGAN. 

engaged the past season in its trade, and the number of these is destined largely to 
increase year by year, an indication of the growth of business and the opening up 
of the country. For the growth in the copper interest we have only to refer to the 
shipments from that region year by year. These, in gross, are as follows: in 1853, 
2,535 tuns; 1854,3,500; 1855,4,544; 1856,5,357; 1857, 6,094; 1858, 6,025; 1859, 
6,245; and in 1860, estimated, 9,000. 

The same facts of development would hold generally true, with regard to the 
other industrial interests of that vast country. 

It remains yet almost wholly " a waste, howling wilderness." At Marquette, 
Portage Jjake, Copper Harbor, Eagle River, Eagle Harbor, and Ontonagon, and 
the mines adjacent, are the only places where the primeval forests had given place 
to the enterprise of man, and these, in comparison with the whole extent of terri- 
tory embraced in this region, are but mere insignificant patches. What this coun- 
try may become years hence, it would defy all speculations now to predict, but 
there seems no reason to doubt that it will exceed the most sanguine expecta- 
tions. 

The copper region is divided into three districts, viz : the Ontonagon, the Ke- 
weenaw Point, and the Portage Lake. P^ach district has some peculiarities of 
product, the first developing more masses, while the latter are more prolific in 
vein-rock, the copper being scattered throughout the rock. 

There have been since 1845 no less than 116 copper mining companies organized 
under the general law of Michigan. The amount of capital invested and now in 
use, or which has been paid out in explorations and improvements, and lost, is es- 
timated by good judges at $6,000,000. The nominal amount of capital stock in- 
vested in all the companies which have charters would reach an indefinite number 
of millions. As an offset to this, it may be stated that the CliflP and Minnesota 
mines have returned over $2,000,000 in dividends from the beginning of their ope- 
rations, and the value of these two mines will more than cover the whole amount 
spent in uiining, and for all the extravagant undertakings which have been entered 
upon and abandoned. While success has been the exception and fiiilure the rule 
in copper speculations, yet it must be admitted that these exceptions are remarka- 
bly tempting ones. Doubtless there is immense wealth still to be developed in 
these enterprises, and this element of wealth in the Lake Superior region is yet 
to assume a magnitude now unthought of 

The copper is smelted mainly in Detroit, Cleveland and Boston, the works in 
Detroit being the largest. There is one establishment at Pittsburg which does 
most of the smelting for the Clifl" Mine; one at Bergen, N. Y., and one at New 
Haven, Ct. There are two at Baltimore, but they are engaged on South American 
mineral. The Bruce Mines, on the Canada side of Lake Huron, have recently put 
smelting works in operation on their location. Prior to this the mineral was bar- 
reled up and shipped to London, being taken over as ballast in packet ships at low 
rates. 

The amount of copper smelted in Detroit we can only judge by the amount 
landed here, but this will afford a pretty accurate estimate. The number of tuns 
landed here, in 1859, was 3,088. The copper yield of Lake Superior will produce 
between 60 and 70 per cent, of ingot copper, which is remarkably pure. The net 
product of the mines for 1859 is worth in the markets of the world nearly or quite 
$2,000,000. This large total shows the capabilities of this region and affords us 
some basis of calculation as to the value and probable extent of its future devel- 
opments. Beside this amount, already noticed, as landed at Detroit, there were 
1,268 tuns brought there from the Bruce Mines, and sent to London. 

There are indications that Michigan is slowly but surely taking the rank to which she 
is entitled, in the manufacture as well as production of Iron. The first shipment of pig 
iron of any consequence was made by the Pioneer Company in the fall of 1858. 

The Lake Superior iron has been proclaimed the best in the world, a proposition that 
none can successfully refute. Its qualities are becoming known in quarters where it would 
naturally be expected its superiority would be admitted reluctantly, if at all. It is now sent 
to New York and Ohio, and even to Pennsylvania — an agency for its sale having been 
established in Pittsburg. For gearing, shafting, cranks, flanges, and, we ought by all 
means to add, car wheels, no other should be used, provided it can be obtained. 



MICHIGAN. 401 

A large amount of capital is invested in the iron interest in Michigan — over two millions 
of dollars. 

Marquette is the only point on Lake Superior wliere the iron ore deposits have been 
worked. There are deposits of iron in the mountains back of L'Anse, but this wonderful 
region leaves nothing more to be desired for the present. At a distance of eighteen miloa 
from the lake, are to be found iron mountains, named the Sharon, Burt, Lake Superior, 
Cleveland, Collins, and Barlow, while eight miles further back lie the Ely and St. Clair 
mountains. Three of these mountains are at present worked, the Sharon, the Cleaveland, 
and the Lake Superior, and contain enough ore to supply the world for generations to come. 
The mountains further back embrace tracts of hundreds of acres rising to a hight of from 
four to six hundred feet, which there is every reason to believe, from the explorations made, 
are solid iron ore. The extent of the contents of these mountains is perfectly fabulous, in 
fact, so enormous as almost to baffle computation. The ore, too, is remarkably rich, yield- 
ing about seventy per cent, of pure metal. There are now in operation at Marquette three 
iron mining companies and two blast furnaces for m;iking charcoal pig iron, the Pioneer 
and Meigs. The Pioneer has two stacks and a capacity of twenty tuns pig iron per day; 
the Meigs one stack, capable of turning out about eleven tuns. The Northern Iron Com- 
pany is building a large bituminous coal furnace at the mouth of the Chocolate River, three 
miles south of Marquette, which will be in operation early in the summer. 

Each of the mining companies, the Jackson, Cleveland and Lake Superior, have docks 
at the harbor for shipment, extending out into the spacious and beautiful bay which lies 
in front of Marquette, to a sufficient length to enable vessels of the largest dimensions to 
lie by their side and be loaded directly from the cars, which are run over the vessels and 
" dumped " into shutes, which are made to empty directly into the holds. The process of 
loading is therefore very expeditious and easy. 

The amount of .shipments of ore for 1859, from Marquette to the ports below, reaches 
75,00(1 gross tuns in round numbers, and the shipments of pig iron, 6,000 gross tuns more. 
To this must be added tlie amount at Marquette when navigation closed, the amount at 
the mines ready to be brought down, and the amount used on the spot. This will give a 
total product of tlie iron mines ol Michigan, for the past year, of between ninety and one 
hundrfd thousand tuns. These mining companies simply mine and ship the ore and sell it. 
Their profit ranges between seventy-five cents and one dollar per tun. 

The quality of the iron of Lake Superior is conceded by all to be the best in the world, 
as the analysis of Prof. Johnston, which we reproduce, shows. The table shows the rela- 
tive strength per square inch in pounds: Salisbury, Ct., iron, 58,009; Swedish (best), 58,- 
184; English cable, 59,105; Centre county, Pa., 59,400; Essex county, N. Y., 59,962; 
Lancaster countv, Pa., 58,661; Russia (best), 76,069; Common English and American, 
30,000; Lake Superior, 89,582. 

The manufacture of pig iron at Marquette will probably be carried on even more exten- 
sively, as the attention of capitalists is directed to it. The business may be extended in- 
definitely, as the material is without limit, and the demand, thus far, leaving nothing on 
hand. 

These facts exhibit the untold wealth of Michigan in iron alone, and point with certain- 
ty to an extent of business that will add millions to our invested capital, dot our state with 
iron manufactories of all kinds, and furnish regular employment to tens of thousands of 
our citizens, while our raw material and our wares shall be found in all the principal mar- 
kets of the world. 

In the mining regions are the following towns, the largest of which has 
1,200 souls. Ontonagon is at the mouth of Ontonagon River, and is the 
largest mining depot. It is in the vicinity of the Minnesota Mine, and will in 
time have a railroad connection with Milwaukie and Chicago, and eventually 
with Cincinnati, heavy grants of land having been made through Michigan 
to aid in the enterprise : also with the Canadian railroads. Eagle River is in 
the vicinity of the Cliff and several other mines. Eagle Harbor, Copper Harhor, 
and Fort Wilkins, the latter a delightful summer resort, all are in the same 
neighborhood. Marquette is the iron city of Lake Superior: a railroad is 
constructing and partly finished, to connect it with Little Noquet Bay, 117 
miles distant, on Lake Michigan. 

We conclude this notice of this district by a description of Life at the 
Mines, as given by a visitor to the Cliff. 

The situation of the Cliff Mine is one of great picturesqaeness. The valley which is 
about five hundred feet above the level of the lake, is surrounded on three sides by a range 

26 



402 MICHIGAN. 

of mountains, which sweeps round in a crescent form, trending in a south-westerly direc- 
tion, and forming the west boundary of the Eagle River. Toward the valley these moun- 
tains present a front of massive grandeur, being mostly perpendicular, and having an ele- 
vation of from three to four hundred feet above the valley. 

The population of the mine location is set down at about twelve hundred persons. Each 
family has a separate cottage, and is required to take four boarders. This system of di- 
viding the population into small families has been found to work better for the mine, and 
to be more satisfactory to the miners themselves, than the congregation in large boarding 
houses. The population consists principally of Cornishmen, the miners being exclusively 
of that class. The mine " captains " are also old and experienced " captains " from the 
copper mines of Cornwall, and are a jolly, good tempered set of men. The miners them- 
selves appear to be good humored, sociable, and intelligent in everything relating to their 
business 

The ordinary labor " at grass " is mostly done by Dutch, Irish, and Canadian French. 
Tho breaking of the rock sent up from below is principally done by the Dutch, the Irish 
are the teamsters, and the French are employed in a variety of ways on the surface. From 
the intense national antipathy between the Cornish and the Irish, the number of the latter 
employed is very small. From the fact of the Cliif being so old ^nd extensive a mine, 
most of the newly arrived Cornish make directly for it, thus giving the managers oppoi'- 
tunity to select the best. The Cornish miners at this place are therefore good specimens 
of their class. Their dialect varies greatly, according to the section of Cornwall from 
which they come, some speaking with but a slight variation from the usual manner, and 
others having a vocabulary and intonation of voice that render their conversation bewil- 
dering to the uninitiated. 

The location comprises three churches, Episcopal, Wesleyan Methodist and Catholic. 
In addition to the churches there is a well built school house, store, provision warehouse, 
and other buildings. No tavern or beer shop stands within the location, the sale of alco- 
holic or spiritous liquors being forbidden within the limits. One or two whisky and beer 
shops stand beyond the location. Drunkenness is rigidly interdicted anywhere on tlie 
company's property. All persons living on the location are treated as belonging to the 
general family, and are subjected to a code of rules. The miners have a monthly contri- 
bution reserved from their wages for the support of the doctor, who attends the miners and 
their families without additional charge. 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, ETC. 

Poniiac, a chief of the Ottawa tribe, was one of the most remarkable and dis- 
tinguished men of his race who have figured in history. Maj. Rogers, who knew 
him and the tribes over whom lie held sway, tlius speaks of them in 1765 : "The 
Indians on the lakes are generally at peace with each other. They are formed 
into a sort of empire, and the emperor is selected from the eldest tribe, wliich is 
the Ottawas, some of whom inhabit near our fort at Detroit, but are mostly 
further westward toward the Mississippi. Ponieack is their present king or em- 
peror, who certainly has the largest empire and greatest authority of any Indian 
chief that has appeared on the continent since our acquaintance with it. He puts 
on an air of majesty and princely grandeur, and is greatly honored and revered 
by his subjects." 

"About eight miles above Detroit, at the head of the Detroit River, is Pechee 
Island, a green spot, set amid the clearest waters, surrounded by dense forests, 
at all times cool from the breezes of the northern lakes, and removed from the rest 
of the world. Pontiac made this island his summer residence, and in winter lodged 
at the Ottawa village opposite, on the Canadian bank, and which has been described 
as having been situated above the town of Detroit. Poetry may imagine him here, 
musing upon the inroads of the English and the declining fortunes of his race, 
and looking upon the gorgeous domain which was spread around him, and which 
now constitutes the most beautiful part of Michigan — as a territory which was 
soon to pass from his hands. To this land he held a right of pre-emption, the time 
whereof the memory of man ran not to the contrary; and superadded to this, a 
patent from the Great Spirit, which established his title on solid ground." — Lan- 
man's Michigan. 

Pontiac displayed more system in his undertakings than any other of his race 
of whom we have knowledge. In his war of 1763, which is justly called "Pon- 



MICHIGAN. 



403 



tiads War,'' he appointed a commissary, issued bills of credit, all of which he 
afterward carefully redeemed. He made his bills or notes of bark, on which was 
a drawing or figure of what he wanted for it. The shape of an otter, the insignia 
or arms of his nation was drawn under the required article. After the conquest 
of Canada by tlie English, Pontiac sued for peace, which was granted. When the 
American Revolution commenced, the Americans sent messages to him to meet 
them in council. He was inclined to do so, but was prevented, from time to time, 
by Gov. Hamiltfm, of Detroit. He now appeared to have become the friend of tlie 
English, and to reward his attachment, the British government granted him a lib- 
eral pension. It is related that his fidelity being suspected, a spy was sent to ob- 
serve his conduct As he was acting professedly as a British agent among the 
Indians in Illinois, the spy discovered that Pontiac, in his speech, was betraying 
the British interests, and thereupon plunged a knife into his heart. 

James Marquette, the celebrated explorer of the Mississippi, and one of the most 
zealous of that extraordinary class of men, the Jesuit missionaries, was born in 
1637, of a most ancient and honorable family of the city of Laon, France, and en- 
tered, at the early age of 17, the Society of Jesus; after studying and teaching for 
many years, he was invested with the priesthood, upon which he at once sought a 
mi.ssion in some land that knew not God, that he might labor there to his latest breath, 
and die unaided and alone. His desire was gratified. He founded the missions of 
St. Marys, St. Ignace and Mackinaw. For nine years he labored among the In- 
dians, and was enabled to preach to them in ten difl'erent languages. " In his va- 
rious excursions," says Bancroft, "he was exposed to the inclemencies of nature 
and the savage. He took his life in his hands, and bade them defiance ; waded 
through water and through snows, without the comfort of a fire ; subsisted on 
pounded maize ; was freqently without any other food than the unwholesome moss 
gathered from the rocks; traveled for and wide, but never without peril. Still, 
said he, life in the wilderness had its charms — his heart swelled with rapture, as he 
moved over the waters, transparent as the most limpid fountain." 

In May, 1685, as he was returning up Lake Michigan to his little flock at Point 
Ignace, from one of his missions of love to the Indians of the Illinois, he felt that 
his final hour was approaching. Leaving his men with the canoe, he landed at the 
mouth of a stream running from the peninsula, and went a little apart to pray. 
As much time passed and he did not return, they called to mind that he said some- 
thing of his death being at hand, and on anxiously going to seek him found him 
dead where he had been praying. They dug a grave, and there buried the holy 
man in the sand. 

" The Indians of Mackinaw and vicinity, and also those of Kaskaskia, were in 
great sorrow when the tidings of Marquette's death reached them. Not long after 
this melancholy event, a large com]iany of Ojibwas, Ottawas, and Hurons, who had 
been out on a hunting expedition, landed their canoes at the mouth of Marquette 
River, with the intention of removing his remains to Mackinaw. They had heard 
of his desire to have his body interred in the consecrated ground of St. Ignatius, 
and they had resolved that the dying wish of the missionary should be fulfilled. 
As they stood around in silence and gazed upon the cross that marked the place 
of his burial, the hearts of the stern warriors were moved. The bones of the mis- 
sionary were dug up and placed in a neat box of bark made for the occasion, and 
the numerous canoes which formed a large fleet started from the mouth of the 
river, with nothing but the sighs of the Indians and the dip of the paddles to break 
the silence of the scene. As they advanced toward Mackinaw, the funeral cortege 
was met by a large number of canoes bearing Ottawas, Hurons, and Iroquois, and 
still others shot out ever and anon to join the fleet. 

When they arrived in sight of the Point, and beheld the cross of St. Ignatius ns 
if painted against the northern sky, the missionaries in charge came out to th" 
beach clad in vestments adapted to the occasion. How was the scene hightened 
when the priests commenced, as the canoe bearing the remains of Marquette neared 
the shore, to chant the requiem for the dead. The whole population was out, en- 
tirely covering the beach, and as the procession marched up to the chapel, with 
cross and prayer, and tapers burning, and laid the bark box beneath a pall made 
in the form of a coflin, the sons and daughters of the forest wept. After the funo 



404 MICHIGAN. 

ral service was ended, the coffin was placed in a vault in the middle of the church, 
where, the Catholic historian says, ' Marquette reposes as the guardian angel of 
the Ottawa missions.' 

' He was the first and last white man who ever had such an assembly of the wild 
sons of the forest to attend him to his grave. 

' So many stirring events succeeded each other after this period — first, the war 
between the English Colonists and the French ; then the Colonists with the Indi- 
ans, the Revolutionary war, the Indian wars, and finally the war of 1812, with the 
death of all those who witnessed his burial, including the Fathers who officiated 
at the time, whose papers were lost, together with the total destruction and evacu- 
ation of this mission station for many years, naturally obliterated all recollections 
of the transaction, which accounts for the total ignorance of the present inhabit- 
ants of Point St. Ignatius respecting it. The locality of his grave is lost, but only 
until the archangel's trump, at the last, shall summon him from his narrow grave, 
with those plumed and painted warriors who now lie around him.' " 

Gen. Wm. Hull was born in Derby, Conn., in 1753, and was educated at Yale 
College. Entering the army of the Revolution, he performed most valuable ser- 
vices and behaved bravely on many a battle field. Washington regarded him aa 
one of his most useful officers. In 1805, when Michigan was erected into a terri- 
tory, he was appointed by congress its governor. On the outbreak of the war, he 
was commissioned brigadier general. " In the comparatively weak fort at Detroit," 
says Lossing, "he was invested by a strong force of British and Indians; and, to 
save his command from almost certain destruction, he surrendered the fort, his 
army of two thousand men, and the territory, to the enemy. For this he was tried 
for treason and cowardice, and being unable to produce certain official testimony 
which subsequently vindicated his character, he was found guilty of the latter, and 
sentenced to be shot. The president of the United States, ' in consideration of his 
age and revolutionary services,' pardoned him, but a cloud was upon his fame and 
honor. He published a vindicatory memoir, in 1824, which changed public opin- 
ion in his favor. Yet he did not live long to enjoy the effects of that change. He 
died at Newton, on the 29th of November, 1825, at the age of seventy-two years. 
A Memoir of General Hull, by his daughter and grandson, was published in 1848. 
It fully vindicates the character of the injured patriot, by documentary evi- 
dence." 

Stevens Thompson Mason, the first governor of the state of Michigan, was the 
only son of Gen. John Mason, of Kentucky, but was born in Virginia in 1812. At 
the early age of 19, he was appointed secretary of the territory of Michigan, and 
at the age of 22 was acting governor. In 1 836. at 24 years of age, he was chosen 
governor of the new state. He was again elected in 1838, and died in 1843, when 
only 31 years of age. 

(Gfen. Alexander Macomb, was the son of an English gentleman, born in the 
British garrison at Detroit, on the 3d of April, 1782, just at the close of the Revo- 
lution. His father subsequently settled at New York. He entered the army a^• 
a cornet at an early age, and continued in the service until his death, at Washing 
ton in 1841, being at the time general-in-chief He was succeeded by Winfield 
Scott. He was an excellent officer, and for his services at the battle of Plattsburg, 
congress presented him with a vote of thanks and a gold medal. 

Dr. Douglas Houghton was born in Troy, in 1809, and educated for the medical 
profession. In 1831, he was appointed surgeon and botanist to the expedition sent 
out by government to explore the sources of the Mississippi, and made an able re- 
port upon the botany of the region through which he passed. Settling in Detroit, 
to practice medicine, he was appointed, in 1837, state geologist. In 1842, he was 
elected mayor of the city of Detroit, and from its foundation was professor in the 
State University. His life was one of incessant labor, and he accomplished more 
than any man living in developing the resources of Michigan, especially its min- 
eral wealth. His reports upon the mineral region of Lake Superior, first aroused 
the minds of this generation to the vast riches that lie buried beneath its soil. He 
was drowned in October, 1845, on Lake Superior. While coming down from a 
portay;e to Copper Harbor, with his four Indian voyageurs, the boat was swamped 



MICHIGAN. 



405 



in a storm, near the mouth of Eagle River. Two of the men were saved by bein"' 
thrown by the waves upon the rocks ten feet above the usual level of the waters! 
He perished, and so greatly was his loss felt to be a public calamity, that he is often 
alluded to as " the lamented Houghton,^' even to this day. 

Gov. Lewis Cass was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, Oct. 9, 1782. " Havino- re- 
ceived a limited education at his native place, at the early age of seventeen^ he 
crossed the Alleghany Mountains on foot, to seek a home in the "great west," then 
an almost unexplored wilderness. Settled at Marietta, Ohio, he studied law, and 
was successful. Elected at twenty-five to the legislature of Ohio, he originated the 
bill which arrested the proceedings of Aaron Burr, and, as stated by Mr. Jefferson, 
was the first blow given to what is known as Burr's conspiracy. In 1807, he was 
appointed, by Mr. Jefferson, marshal of the state, and held the ofiice till the latter 
part of 1811, when he volunteered to repel Indian aggressions on the frontier. He 
was elected colonel of the 3d regiment of Ohio volunteers, and entered the military 
service of the United States, at the commencement of the war of 1812. Having 
by a difiicult march reached Detroit, he urged the immediate invasion of Canada, 
and was the author of the proclamation of that event. He was the first to laud in 
arms on the enemy's shore, and, with a small detachment of troops, fought and 
won the first battle, that of the Tarontoe. At the subsequent capitulation of De- 
troit, he was absent, on important service, and regretted that his command and 
himself had been included in that capitulation. Liberated on parol, he repaired 
to the seat of government to report the causes of the disaster, and the failure of 
the campaign. He was immediately appointed a colonel in the regular army, and, 
soon after, promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, having, in the mean time, 
been elected major-general of the Ohio volunteers. On being exchanged and re- 
leased from parol, he again repaired to the frontier, and joined the army for the 
recovery of Michigan. Being at that time without a command, he served and dis- 
tinguished himself, as a volunteer aid-de-camp to Gen. Harrison, at the battle of the 
Thames. He was appointed by President Madison, in October, 1813, governor of 
Michigan. His position combined, with the ordinary duties of chief magistrate 
of a civilized community, the immediate management and control, as superintend- 
ent, of the relations with the numerous and powerful Indian tribes in that region 
of country. He conducted with success the affairs of the territory under embar- 
rassing circumstances. Under his sway peace was preserved between the whites 
and the treacherous and disaffected Indians, law and order established, and the 
territory rapidly advanced in population, resources, and prosperity. He held this 
position till July, 1831, when he was, by President Jackson, made secretary of 
war. In the latter part of 1836, President Jackson appointed him minister to 
France, where he remained until 1842, when he requested his recall, and returned 
to this country. In January, 1845, he was elected, by the legislature of Michigan, 
to the senate of the United States ; which place he resigned on his nomination, in 
May, 1848, as a candidate for the presidency, by the political party to which he 
belongs. After the election of his opponent (General Taylor) to that office, the 
legislature of his state, in 1849, re-elected him to the senate for the unexpired por- 
tion of his original term of six years. When Mr. Buchanan became president, he 
invited Gen. Cass to the head of the department of state, in which position he has 
acquitted himself with characteristic ability. He has devoted some attention to 
literary pursuits, and his writings, speeches, and state papers would make several 
volumes. ' — Lanman's Dictionary of U. S. Congress. 



) '1/ 



'^ 






m'iimkmi' 









^ 



^. < .i} 




CAPTURE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS, BY MICHIGAN CAVALRYMEN. 




THE TIMES 

OF 



THE REBELLIOlsr 



MICHIGAN. 



During the first two years of the war, Michigan sent over 40,000 
troops to the field ; and to the last, answered promptly all calls. Like 
her sister states of the great Noi'thwest she engaged earnestly in the 
contest, and struck many heavy blows in defense of the national life. 
In the armies of the East and West alike, her sons have made an 
honorable record. 

The venerable Lewis Cass, the most eminent citizen known to her 
histoiy, at the outbreak of the war, thus spoke at a meeting of the 
people of Detroit. 

Fellow Citizens : — I am sorry you have not selected a chairman to preside 
over your assemblage more accustomed to such a task nnd more competent to fill 
it than I am. But while feeling my incompetency I am encouraged by the hope 
that I shall find in your kind regard an excuse for any errors 1 may commit — be- 
lieving it is my duty, while 1 can do but little, to do all I can to manifest the deep 
interest I feel in the restoration to peace and good order and submission to the 
law of every portion of this glorious republic. 

I can not take this seat without contrasting the situation in which I now find 
myself with that in which I was placed on this very spot almost fifty years ago. 

Then in the days of our weakness we were subjected to dishonorable capitula- 
tion, brought about by the imbecility of the leader, while now in the days of our 
strength, neither treason nor weakness can permanently affect the holy cause to 
vhich all hands and hearts are pledged. 

Then our contest was legitimate war, waged with a foreign foe, our war to-day 
IS a domestic one, commenced by and bringing in its train acts which no right 
feeling man can contemplate without most painful regret. Bit a few short months 
since we were the first and happiest nation on the face of the globe. In the midst 
of this prosperity, without a single foe to assail us, without a single injury at 
home, caused by the government to affect us, this glorious union acquired by the 
blood and sacrifices of our fathers, has been disowned and rejected by a portion 
of bhe states composing it. Union, which has given us more blessings than any 
previous government ever conferred upon man. 

Here, thank God, its ensign floats proudly and safely, and no American can see 
its folds spread out to the breese, without feeling a thrill of pride at his heart, 
and without recalling the splendid deeds it has witnessed in many a contest, I'rom 
the day of Bunker Hill to our time. And that flag your worthy mayor has by 
the direction of the municipal authority hung out upon the dome above us. The 

(407) 



408 TIMES OF THE REBELLION. 

loyal American people can defend it, and the deafenin«; cheers which meet us to- 
day are a sure pledge that they will defend it. A stern determination to do so, is 
evinced by the preparations and patriotic devotion which are witnessed around 
us, and in the echoes which are brought here by every wind that blows. 

You need no one to tell you what are the dangers of your country, nor what 
are your duties to meet and avert them. There is but one path for every true 
man to travel, and that is board and plain. It will conduct us, not indeed with- 
out trials and suflferings, to peace and the restoration of the union. He who is 
not for his country is against her. There, is no neutral position to he occupied. 
It is the duty of all to zealously support the government in its efforts to bring this 
unhappy civil war to a speedy and satisfactory conclusion, by the restoration, in 
its integrity, of that great charter of freedom bequeathed to us by Washington 
and his compatriots. His ashes, I jiumbly trust, will ever continue to repose in 
the lowly tomb at Mount Vernon, and in the United States of American which he 
loved so well, and did so much to found and build up. Manifest your regard for 
his memory by following, each with the compass of his power, his noble example, 
and restore his work as he left it, by devoting heart, mind and deed to the cause. 

Michigan furnished her share of valuable officers. Sheridan, whose 
name has become a household word, before he commanded armies, 
was assigned to the command of the 2d regiment of cavalry raised by 
this state. The very first man in Michigan to volunteer for the union 
was Major General Alpheus S. Williams, who at one period for several 
years was editor of the Detroit Daily Advertiser. He was born in Con- 
necticut, graduated at Yale, and had been lieutenant colonel of the 
1st Michigan volunteers in the Michigan war. The governor, ac- 
cepted his services, and he oi'ganized the first four regiments that 
Michigan sent into the field to suppress the rebellion 

In October, 1861, he was placed in command of a brigade under Banks, on the 
upper Potomac. At the first battle of Winchester he commanded Banks division, 
and then led the advance in the pursuit of Stonewall Jackson, up the valley. 
Throughout the retreat of Banks, in May, 1862, from Winchester, before the over- 
whelming forces of Jackson, " Williams, with his splendid troops, covered the 
rear, and was known through the command as ' Banks' right hand.' " Advancing 
again into the valley, his veteran division, the succeeding August, sustained the 
brunt of the shock of his old opponent, Jackson, but at the terrible cost of a loss 
of a third of his old brigade. He gained additional luster as a tactician while in 
command of Pope's rear, in his retreat down the Rappahannock. Succeeding to 
the command of Banks' corps, he led them with success at Antietam. On the dis- 
astrous field of Chancellorsville, when the lltli corps was routed and flying, his 
corps, the 12th, filled the gap, and stayed the bloody onset. He again, on the his- 
toric field of Gettysburg, commanded his corps on the right wing, against which 
the enemy dashed in vain as against a rock. The 11th and 12th corps were after 
this consolidated into the 20th corps, under Hooker in Sherman's Atlanta cam- 
paign, in which Williams commanded the 1st division. On the retirement of 
Hooker he was temporarily in command of the 20th corps, and led one of its di- 
visions through those wonderful campaigns of Sherman, that will live as long as 
war has its history and its romance. "Old Alph," as his soldiers affectionately 
called him, has an iron constitution, immense good humor and a kind disposition. 

Major General O. B. Wilcox, who obtained deserved distinction, was 
the first colonel of the 1st Michigan regiment of infantry. His ca- 
reer has thus been sketched : 

He was the real captor of Alexandria when Ellsworth fell, which he accom- 
plished with his regiment, a section of Sherman's battery and Stoneman's company 
of cavalry. He then took prisoners Ball's company of Virginia cavalry, which 
was the fiVst capture of rebels in the war. Three days before the battle of Bull 
Run, he took the first colors in the east; this was from an Alabama regiment, at 



IN MICHIGAN. 409 

Fairfax station. At Bull Run, he commanded a brigade of Ileintzelman's division, 
recaptured Rickett's guns and fell wounded into the hands of the rebels, 300 yards 
in advance of that battery. After thirteen months' imprisonment, he succeeded 
Stevens in the command of the 1st division. 9th corps, which he handled skillfully at 
South ^Mountain, Antietam and Fredericksburg. At Knoxville, he commanded 
the left wing, and made a masterly retreat from Bull's Gap to Cumberland Gap, 
in presence of a superior force. He was breveted major general for distinguished 
services in Grant's Virginia campaigns. 

In all the artillery service of the union armies there was not a sin- 
gle battery so distinguished as the 1st Michigan, generally known as 
LooMis' Battery. In West Virginia, Kentuck}-, Tennessee, Alabama 
and Greorgia, it rendered most efficient service, and when lost was lost 
with honor. We chronicle a few of its many deeds — first at Murfrees- 
boro'. A correspondent from there thus speaks of Loomis battery fight : 

Colonel C. O. Loomis— he was a captain at Perryville, and won his eagle there — 
is the envy of all artillerists. He is not only the quickest among them, but the 
most lucky of artillerists. On Friday morning the calm was broken by an attack 
being made upon his artillery, in Rousseau's division, in which Loomis commands 
fourbatteries. They drove in our pickets with a small force of infantry, and 
planted two batteries on either side of the Murfreesboro' road, and opened briskly 
upon Rousseau's camp. Loomis immediately ordered out Captain Stone s 1st Ken- 
tucky and his own famous 1st Michigan battery and replied to them. The cannonad- 
ing for a few moments was terrific. From my position to the right, and out of danger, 
I could very plainly see the rebel guns, and beyond them as distinctly the town of 
Murfreesboro', and a redoubt about a mile this side The whole rebel line flew to 
arms at this tremendous cannonading, as did our own, and the men felt that another 
terrible drama was about to be enacted. But the infantry were restrained, and the 
artillery left to do its work. Gen. Rousseau, who knew the stuff of which Loomis 
was composed, sent him word not to let them go away unharmed. Loomis prom- 
ised to obey, and kept bis word. After a quarter of an hour's work five pieces of 
a brass gun battery were dismounted, and the battery almost destroyed. The re- 
maining gun limbered up and disappeared. 'I'he second battery was receiv- 
ing admonitions to leave, which they took in good part and disappeared to the 
right, leaving the road, along which our shots fell thick and fast, in utter disgust. 
I can not sav what tbe rebels lost here in killed and wounded, but can speak 
positively as to the loss of five guns. Our own loss in killed was reported to me 
at twenty-three, and one hundred and twenty-seven wounded. When the War 
Department comes to sum up its heroes and the honors to be conferred, let it not, 
if heroes overbalance the honors, blot out the name of that admirable soldier and 
unflinching patriot who bears the name of Loomis. 

Loomis was with Mitchell in Alabama, and took part in the capture 
of Bridgeport : 

As the two pieces of Loomis' came up the hill, they — he says — instinctively 
turned nose on the feasting crowd, and demandad to be let loose. The whole line 
halted as they saw the enemy before them, and each man drew a good breath and 
shook himself — a very natural movement, I assure you. Loomis stepped forward 
on the summit of the hill, and within ten or twenty feet of him were the 
guards. In an instant their shot guns were leveled at his breast, but when 
he drew his revolver the two rebels fled toward the camp to give the alarm. But 
Loomis had swifter messengers than the guards, and the rebels were apprised 
of their danger long before the latter messengers reached them. Simultaneous 
with the cry of alarm uttered by the guards, the " bull dogs" spoke, and the can- 
nister and shell fell in the midst of them, scattering death among them and creat- 
ing a consternation that was comical to behold. They grabbled their muskets 
and ran in every direction, some even coming in the direction of the line of battle 
which we had formed. A few attempted to stand, and did, until the second round, 
when away they went after the main body, which had fled to the bridge for safety. 



410 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

The order was now given, and away we went down the hill for a charge, and with 
a yell. I concluded to keep myself a leetle in the rear, and I saw the grand charge 
through the field, and into the very breastworks of the enemy. But the enemy 
had gone, and had too fine a start ever to be caught, except by Loom is, who, find- 
ing they had gotten beyond the range of cannister, tried them with shell. This 
only accelerated their speed, and they hardly stopped to fire the bridge effectu- 
ally. They left the portion of the bridge west of the island untouched, but fired 
that part beyond. General Mitchell sent men to the island and saved the most of 
it. Loomis continued to pour in his shell, and the enemy to put in their best 
licks. A locomotive and train disappeared in the distance, with a toot, toot, toot, 
excessively unpleasant to hear when a man feels he's too late for the train, and 
no doubt so felt by the rebels, the aggravation being increased by the knowledge 
that they had done their best running to catch it. 

No sooner had the enemy disappeared on the further shore than Loomis ran his 
pieces into the valley, and across it into the rebel breastworks. He placed them 
in position and waited the appearance of the advance. He had not long to wait. 
Down the road at double quick came infantry and cavalry — the latter in splended 
style, and looking very imposing. They had heard the firing, and had come down 
to engage in it. But when the men in the intrenchments opened upon them, they 
were more astonished than the reserve had been. An oiBcer or two ran forward 
and cried out not to fire on our own men, but they quickly saw their mistake when 
Loomis let them have another round of cannister, and the infantry a round of 
musketry. Away they went belter skelter, and our men after them. The battle 
had lasted twenty minutes, perhaps, not more. 

The story of the loss of these guns is a sad but glorious one. It is 
thus told by a corresjjondent writing from Chickamauga : 

I rode for a considerable portion of the march at the head of the renowned 1st 
Michigan battery, engaged in low conversation with the manly and intelligent 
officer who commander it, Lieutenant Van Pelt. He seemed more than usually 
confident and cheerful, little anticipating, poor fellow 1 the fate which awaited 
him on the morrow. 

" Do you think," said he to me, " that we shall engage the enemy?" 

" If we can avoid it," T replied ; " I feel pretty sure we will not. " 

" Why then this movement?" he asked. 

"Doubtless," said I, " to prevent the enemy from turning our left flank, which 
they have all day been threatening to do." 

He looked at me earnestly. " Then you believe they are endeavoring to bring 
on a battle?" 

"I certainly believe they are," I answered. 

" Do you know anything of their strength ?" he next inquired. 

"Not certainly," I replied; "but in addition to Bragg's old army, Longstreet's 
corps from Virginia, and at least twenty thousand men from Johnston's army are 
in front of us." 

"No matter," said he, " we shall beat them. Men fighting in a cause like ours 
must conquer in the end." 

Just then General Baird came riding by with some members of his excellent 
staff I recognized them by the light of one of the fires. 

"General," said I, "shall we go to Chattanooga to-night?" 

"No," he replied. " We shall go a mile or two further, take position upon the 
left, and await the enemy." 

" Then," said I, turning to Van Pelt, "a battle to-morrow is inevitable." 

" Very well," he remarked, " we shall all have an opportunity to show again 
our devotion to our country." 

At last the weary march came to an end, the artillery was wheeled into posi- 
tion, and the marching columns facing to the right, stood in order of battle, look- 
ing toward the east. 

During the fight, the battery was attached to Scribner's brigade, who, when sur- 
rounded, had succeeded in infusing into them his own magnanimous and gallant 



IN MICHIGAN. 411 

spirit. Gathering together their broken ranks, under the infernal fire which 
every instant mowed them down, and following their heroic leader, they charged 
the dense legions surrounding them, and like a whirlwind in a forest, tore their 

way through. ^ r ■, i- j 

But, alas ! the gnns of the immortal 1st Michigan battery were left behind — 
those black, stern-looking rifled cannon, each one of whom 1 had come to regard 
with a feeling of almost reverential awe, because upon a dozen battlefields I had 
seen them fltnging destruction into the ranks of traitors, and never knew them 
once turned against a legion of my country's enemies which they did not scatter 
like leaves before the blast. Even in the opinion of the rebels themselves, Loomis 
had made these guns invincible. They were commanded now by a young man 
who, possessing naturally the noblest qualities, had thoroughly learned the lessons 
of his teacher, and promised to prove a most worthy successor, even to Loomis 
himself— Lieutenant Van Pelt. Van Pelt loved his pieces with the same unself- 
ish devotion which he manifested for his wife. In the desperate conflict which 
broke around Scribner's brigade he managed the battery with much dexterity 
and coolness, and for some moments rocked the very trees over the heads of the 
rebels by the fiery blasts from his guns. But his horses were shot down. Many 
of his artillerist were killed or wounded. The infantry supporting him had been 
compelled to turn and cut their way through the enemy, and a horde of traitors 
rushed up to the muzzles of the now harmless pieces. Van Pelt, almost alone, 
stationed himself in front of them and drew his sword. "Scoundrels," said he, 
" dare not to touch these guns !" The miserable barbarians, unable to appreciate 
true heroism, brutally murdered him were he stood. The history of the war, fur- 
nishes not an incident more touching or more sublime than the death of Lieu- 
tenant Van Pelt. All the guns of the battery, save one, fell into the enemy's 
hands. 

One of the members of this battery, Henry D. jSTorrington, eurly in 
the war, volunteered on a mission of great peril. The following are 
its incidents: 

After the battle of Carnifex Ferry, in West Virginia, had been fought, the rebels 
cut off all comiiuinication between the Federal camp at Elkwater, and that on 
the summit of Cheat Mountain, by seizing and holding the only road that connected 

them. . . 1 T u ji 

It was at once apparent that the cnmmunication must be re-established, 
several trusty sc<mts were sent out, one aft( r ani)tl)er, to Colonel Kimball, on the 
mountain top, from General Reynolds' camp at Elkwater. But such was the un- 
tiring vigilance of the enemy, ihat each one in turn was shot ere reaching his 
destination. The d;in^er to tlie Elkwater camp was imminent, and a volunteer 
was asked for to open up a correspondence with Colonel Kimball. A young man 
of "Teat conraiie, iititnf(liately started with high hopes of success; but he, too, 
fell, and was never heard of again. 

The commanding general, then stating fairly and fully the perils attending the 
task, asked for another volunteer. The command, which had been drawn up for 
the purpose of hearing the proposal, remained immovable, and not a soldier stirred 
from his place for several minutes. During the silence that reigned, faces were 
turned continually up and down the line, to see if there was any one bold enough 
to undertake the task. These few minutes seemed an age to every one, and the 
general, with disappointment marked on his features, was turning away, when 
private Henry D. Norrington, of Loomis's Michigan battery, stepped from his 
rank, and ofl'ered to go upon the perilous errand. 

He was immediately ordered to report himself at headquarters, where, receiv- 
ing his orders, and instructions, and dispatches to Colonel Kimball, he started for 
his destination. With the most admirable tact and caution, our hero succeeded 
in eluding th^ first picket-line of the rebels, after passing which, he traveled 
nearly Ihe ichole distance beyond, crawling on his hands and knees. In case of 
surprise and failure, he had his dispatches rolled up in his mouth, and ready to 
swallow. In this manner he reached Colonel Kimball's camp, on the top of 



412 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

Cheat Mountain, and safely delivered his dispatches in the hands of that com- 
mander. 

And now he had completed but half of the I'earful task he hud undertaken, for, 
to complete it all, it was necessary that he should carry back a dispatch from 
Colonel Kimball to General Reynolds. The desperate character of the enterprise 
may be inferred from the fact that Kimball's whole command shook hands with 
our hero liefore he started upon his return, never expectinii; to see hira a^ain. 

He set out, however, at night, traveling in the same cautious manner as he did 
before, and holding himself ready for any emergency. The north star was his 
guide, and it did not deceive him, for in due time he arrived within a few niilea 
of Elkwater. Thus fiir on his journey, he congratulated himself that he had suc- 
ceeded, and that his perils were -t^er; but even as those joyous thoughts passed 
through his mind, his quick eye discerned a rebel cavalry horse, tied to a stake, 
some distance ahead. So sudden and unexpected was this, that Norrington's hope 
was for a moment dashed to earth, but only for a moment. 

The next instant, our hero was crawling like a panther toward the animal, in- 
tending to capture him, and thus insure his own escape, provided the owner or 
his friends were not too close at hand. Coming within reach of the steed, which 
was already saddled, the scout cautiously peered around him to see if the danger 
was too great. Unable to catch the slightest glimpse of any foe, he sprang to the 
bridle, unhitched the horse, vaulted into the saddle, and the next moment was 
galloping away toward Elkwater at the top of bis speed. 

Ere he was out of range, several men, who doubtless had been close at hand, 
bounded into the road, and, raising their pieces, sent a volley of rifle balls after 
him, which, although they whistled disagreeably near, did him no injury. He 
did notsto^ to return the compliment, but continued to urge forward the horse, on 
whose fleetness all now depended. The steed was a splendid tdiarger, full-blooded, 
and as spirited as a lion ; and right gallantly did he carry his new master into 
the union lines, within whose protection the scout was safe. 

He had thus succeeded in his perilous mission, and, delivering Colonel Kim- 
ball's message and letter to General Reynolds, he received the most lavish pi-aise 
and thanks from the latter officer. We are happy to add, also, that his reward 
did not end here, for, besides being promoted to the general's staff, as mounted 
orderly, Norrington received from General Reynolds an elegant revolver, from 
Captafn Loomis a handsome sword, from the assistant adjutant-general a compli- 
mentary notice in his official report to the War Department, and, at dress parade, 
nine rousing cheers from his comrades. Five men had been killed in attempting 
the task which he successfully accomplished to the discomfiture of the rebels. 

The women of Michigan have furnished some remarkable examples 
of female heroism. 

Miss Anna Etheridge was born in Detroit, Michigan, and is now twenty three 
years of age. Her father was once a man of wealth, and her early youth was passed 
in the lapof luxury, with no wish ungratified, and no want uncared for. But mis- 
fortune came and swept away his property, and, broken in fortune and depressed 
in spirit, he removed to Minnesota, where he died, leaving our heroine, at the 
age of twelve years, in comparative poverty and want. On the breaking out of 
the rebellion, she was visiting her friends in this city. 

Colonel Richardson was then engaged in raising the 2d Michigan volunteers, 
and she and nineteen other females volunteered to accompany the regiment as 
nurses. Every other has returned home or been discharged, but she has accom- 
panied the regiment through all its fortunes, and declares her determination to 
remain with it during its entire term of service. She has for her use a horse, 
furnished with aside-saddle, saddle-bags, etc. At the commencement of a battle 
she fills her saddle-bags with lint and bandages, mounts her horse, and gallops to 
the front, passes under fire, and regardless of shot and shell, engages in the work 
of staunching and binding up the wounds of our soldiers. In this manner she 
has passed through every battle in which the regiment has been engaged, cnm- 
mencing with the battle of Blackburn's Ford, preceding the first battle of Bull 



IN MICHIGAN. 413 

Run, including the battles of the Peninsula, and terminating with the battle of 
Fredericksburg. 

General Berry, the present commander of the brigade to which her regiment 
is attached, and who highly distinguished himself for bravery and gallantry in all 
these fights, declares that she has been under as hot a fire of the enemy as him- 
self On one occasion a soldier was torn to pieces by a shell while she was in 
the act of binding up his wounds previously reiceived, and on many cx^casions her 
dress has been pierced by bullets and fragments of shell, yet she has never fi inched 
and never been wounded. Her regiment belongs to the brigade commanded by 
the lamented General Kearney till his death, and in consideration of her daunt- 
less courage and invaluable services in saving the lives of his men, General Kear- 
ney commissioned her as a regimental sergeant. When not actively engaged 
on the battle-field or in the hospital, she superintends the cooking at the head- 
quarters of the brigade. When the brigade moves, she mounts her horse and 
marches with the ambulances and surgeons, administering to the wants of the sick 
and wounded, and at the bivouac she wraps herself in her blanket, and sleeps 
upon the ground with all the hardihood of a true soldier. 

Anna is about five feet three inches in hight, fair complexion (now somewhat 
browned by exposure), brown hair, vigorous constitution, and decidedly good 
looking. Her dress on entering into battle, is a riding garment, so arranged as 
to be looped up when she dismounts. Her demeanor is perfectly modest, quiet 
and retiring, and her habits and conduct are correct and exemplary ; yet on the 
battle-field she seems to be as one possessed and animated with a desire to be 
effective in saving the lives of the wounded soldiers. No harsh word was ever 
known to be uttered by her, and she is held in the highest veneration and es- 
teem by the soldiers, as an angel of mercy. She is, indeed, the idol of the brig- 
ade, every man of which would submit to almost any sacrifice in her behalf She 
takes the deepest interest in the result of this contest, eagerly reading all the 
papers to which she can obtain access, and keeping thoroughly posted as to the 
progress of the war. She says she feels as if she stood alone in the world, as it 
were, and desires to do good. She knows that she is the instrument of saving 
many lives, and alleviating much suiFering in her present position, and feels it 
her duty to continue in so doing. 

These facts can be substantiated by testimony of the highest character, and they 
deserve to go forth to the world to show that if England can boast of the achieve- 
ments of a F'lorence Nightingale, we of America can present a still higher exam- 
ple of female heroism and exalted acts of humanity in the person of Anna 
Etheridge. 

Another of these Spartan-like women was Mrs. L. L. Deming, who 
proved to be a kind of good Samaritan — Amazonian attache to the 
army. The Cleveland Herald said of this truly excellent woman : 

She is the adopted daughter of the 10th Michigan regiment, in which her hus- 
band is captain. Mrs. Deming has followed the fortunes of her husband since 
the regiment entered the service. She has nursed the sick, cheered the wounded, 
sang for the low-spirited, and made herself worth her weight in gold in all those 
offices which an energetic, fearless woman knows how to perform. She can ride 
her sixty miles on horseback without dismounting but once, she can march with 
the best of them. She is as familiar with the music of shell and ball as with her 
own notes, and she is enthusiastically devoted to the Avar. She was with the army 
before Corinth, was under fire repeatedly, but never turned her back on the foe 
but once, when she was ordered to skedaddle, as one of our own batteries was 
placed right in the rear of her own tent, which was sure to go by the board at 
the first fire. Mrs. Deming wore her uniform while in the camp, having a haver- 
sack, canteen, and belt with revolvers. 

One of the Michigan regiments, was composed of engineers and me- 
chanics. Among the Western troops were several of these pioneer 
regiments. This element contributed greatly to the success of our 



414 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

campaigns. Generally in the advance, laboring in the very front of 
danger, the calm heroism of these working men almost surpasses belief. 
A single incident illustrates this, which occurred in Sherman's Atlanta 
campaign. Two pioneers were chopping on opposite sides of the same 
tree. In the midst of a storm of whistling bullets, the measured ca- 
dence of their manly blows was heard above conflicting sounds. 
Suddenl}" one of the two dropped dead at the foot of the tree, shot by 
a ball through the head. His companion did not falter at his task 
one instant ; did not so much as lose a single stroke ; when a third 
man instantl}" stepped out from the ranks, took the ax from the hands 
of his dead comrade and filled his place. In this connection it gives 
us pleasure to present a picture of Western soldiers : and to none is it 
more applicable than to "the boys " of Michigan. 

If there are men in the world gifted with the most thorough self-reliance, west- 
ern soldiers are the men. To fight in the grand anger of battle seems to me to re- 
quire less manly fortitude, after all, than to bear, without murmuring, the swarm 
of little troubles that vex camp and march. No matter where or when you halt 
them they are at once at home. They know precisely what to do first and they do 
it. I have seen them march into a strange region at dark, and almost as soon as 
fires would show well, they were twinkling all over the field, the 8ihley cones rising 
like the work of enchantment everywhere, and the little dog tents lying snug to 
the ground, as if, like the mushrooms, they had grown there, and the aroma of 
cofi'ee and tortured bacon, suggesting comforts, and the whole economy of life in 
canvas cities moving as steadily as if it had never intermitted. The movements 
of regiments, you know, are blind as fate. Nobody can tell to-night where he will 
be to-morrow; and yet, with the first glimmer of morning, the camp is astir, and 
preparations begin for staying there forever: cozy little cabins of red cedar, neatly 
fitted are going up ; here a boy is making a fireplace, and quite artistically plas- 
tering it with the inevitable red earth ; he has found a crane somewhere and 
swung up thereon a two-legged dinner-pot; there a fellow is finishing out a chim- 
ney with brick from an old kiln of secession proclivities ; yonder a bower-house, 
closely woven, of evergreen is almost ready for the occupants ; tables, stools, and 
bedsteads are tumbled together by the roughest of carpenters; the avenues, be- 
tween the tents are cleared and smoothed — "policed," in camp phrase — and little 
seats with cedar awnings in front of the tents, give a cottage-look, while the in- 
terior, in a rude way, has a genuine home-like appearance. The bit of a looking- 
glass hangs against the cotton wall — a handkerchief of a carpet just before the 
" bunk " marks the stepping off place to the land of dreams — a violin-case is strung 
up on a convenient hook, flanked by a gorgeous picture of some hero of somewhere, 
mounted upon a horse, rampant and saltant, "and what a length of tail behind ! " 

The business of living has fairly begun again. There is hardly an idle mo- 
ment, and save here and there a man brushing up his musket, getting that " damned 
spot" off his bayonet, burnishing his revolver, you would not suspect that these 
men had but one terrible errand. They are tailors, they are tinkers, they are 
writers; fencing, boxing, cooking, eating, drilling — those who say that camp life 
is a lazy life know little about it. And then there reconnoissances " on private ac- 
count;" every wood, ravine, hill, field, is explored; the productions, animal and 
vegetable, are inventoried, and one day renders them as thoroughly conversant 
with the region round about, as if they had been dwelling there a lifetime. They 
have tasted water from every spring and well, estimated the corn to an acre, tried 
the watermelons, bagged the peaches, knocked down the persimmons, milked the 
cows, roasted the pigs, picked the chickens ; they know who lives here and there 
and yonder, the whereabouts of the native boys, the names of the native girls. If 
there is a curious cave, a queer tree, a strange rock anywhere about, they know 
it. You can see them with chisel, hammer and haversack, tugging up the moun- 
tain or scrambling down the ravine in a geological passion that would have won 
the right hand of fellowship from Hugh Miller, and home they come loaded with 



IN MICHIGAN. ,-- 

415 

specimens that would enrich a cabinet. I have in my possession the most exqui- 
site fossil buds just ready to open; beautiful shells, rare minerals, collected by 
these rough and dashing naturalists. If you think the rank and file have no taste 
and no love for the beautiful, it is time you remembered of what material they 
are made. Nothing will catch a soldier's eye quicker than a patch of velvet moss 
or a fresh little flower, and many a letter leaves the camps enriched with faded 
souvenirs of these expeditions. 1 said that nothing will catch an old campaigner's 
eye quicker than a flower, but I was wrong; a dirty, ragged baby will. I have 
seen a thirteen dollar man expend a dollar for trinkets to hang about the dino-y 
neck of an urchin, that at home, and three years ago, he would hardly have 
touched with a tongs. Do you say it is for the mother's sake ? You have only 
to see the bedraggled, coarse, lank, tobacco-chewing dam — is it wicked for me to use 
that word in such a fasliion? — to abandon that idea, like a foundling, to the ten- 
der mercies of the first door-step. 

But to come back to camp ; talk of perfumed cloud of incense, there is to me 
nothing sweeter than a clear, bright red cedar tire; the mountain air is fairly 
laden with* the fragrance. Everything is red cedar, and a prairie man, as he sees 
the great camp fires, fed with hewn timbers of the precious wood, would about as 
soon think of cutting up his grand piano — seven octave or so — into fuel for the 
kitchen stove. Writing of fuel, you should see the fences melt away anywhere 
within a mile of camp; up goes the red cedar again, like a prophet, in a chariot 
of fire, and not enough left for a bow and arrow. 

The work of improvement goes briskly on ; a week has passed, and the boys 
seem settled in life. Just before tattoo, some night, down comes an order to march 
at five in the morning. A fine, drizzling rain lias set in; a thick blanket of fog 
has been snugly tucked about the camp; the fires look large and red and cheer- 
ful; the boys are just ready "to turn in," when down comes the order. Nothing 
is as you would think; no complaints, no murmuriugs, no watching the night out. 
They are not to be cheated out of their sleep — not they; it takes your green re- 
cruits to do that; every bundle of a blanket has a sleeping soldier in it; every 
knapsack has a drowsy head on it. At three the roll of a drum straggles through 
the gloom; the camp is awake; tents are struck, knapsacks packed, baggage wagons 
loaded, mules untangled. Soldiers have notions, and among them is "the destruc- 
tion of tlieir "improvement;'' the bower house crackles like a volley of musketry, 
the cedar cottages are in flames, the stools and tables are glowing coals, and if 
they don't fiddle, as Nero did, while their Rome is burning — and as much of a 
Rome, too, as that was in the time of the lupine brothers — at least they eat. A 
soldier can starve patiently, but when he has a chance he eats potently. Hud- 
dled around their little fires, in the thick and turbid morning, the clink of the 
bayonets betokens the coffee to come; the smutty kettles bubble with the Arabic 
decoction as black as the tents of the Sheik who threw dust on the beard of his 
father; unhappy pork sizzles from ramrods, and the boys take breakfast. 

Some wise man proposed in Congress, you remember, the substitution of tea for 
coffee in the army, and told the people that the soldiers would welcome the change ! 
A tolerably fair specimen of theoretical, stay-at-home wisdom, and not worth a 
Sa])bath day's journey of the Queen of Sheba to look at. Why, coffee is their 
true aqua vitce ; their solace and mainstay. When a boy can not drink his cofi"ee, 
you may be sure he has done drinking altogether. On a march, no sooner is a 
halt ordered than little fires begin to twinkle along the line ; they make coffee in 
five minutes, drink it in three, take a drill at a hard cracker, and are refreshed. 
Our comrades from "der Rhine" will squat phlegmatically anywhere, even in 
line of battle. No sooner has the storm swept to some other part of the field, than 
the kettles begin to boil, and amid stray bullets and shattering shell, they take 
great swallows of heart and coff"ee together. It is Rhine wine, "the soul of Gam- 
brinus, " Switzer" and " Limberg" in one. 

But it is five o'clock and a dingy morning; the regiments march away in good 
cheer; the army wagons go streaming and swearing after them; the beat of the 
drum grows fainter; the canvas city has vanished like a vision. On such a morn- 
ing and amid such a scene I have loitered till it seemed as if a busy city had 



^■^Q TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

been passing out of sight, leaving nothing behind for all that life and light but 
empty desolation. Will you wonder much if I tell you that I have watched such 
a vanishing with a pang of regret ; that the trampled field looked dim to me, 
worn smooth and beautiful by the touch of those brave feet, whose owners have 
trod upon thorns with song — feet, alas, how many — that shall never again, in all 
this coming and going world, maiie music up the old thresholds ? And how many 
such sites of perished cities this war has made ; how many bonds of good fellow- 
ship have been rent to be united no more. 

At home anywhere, I wrote, and I might well have added, and used to anything 
the boys are. You would wonder, I think, to see me lie down in the dusty road, 
under the full noon sun of Tennessee and Alabama, and fall asleep in a minute. 
I have passed hundreds of such sleepers. A dry spot is as good as a mattress; 
the flap of a blanket quite a downy pillow. You would wonder, I think, to see a 
whole army corps, as 1 have, without a shred of a tent to bless themselves with, 
lying anywhere and everywhere in an all night rain, and not a growl nor a grum- 
ble. I was curious to see whether the pluck and good nature were not washed 
out of them, and so 1 made my way out of the snug, dry quarters, I am ashamed 
to say I occupied, at five in the morning, to see what water had done for them. 
Nothing! Each soaked blanket hatched out as jolly a fellow as you would wish 
to see — muddy, dripping, half-foundered, forth they came, wringing themselves 
out as the went, with the look of a troop of "wet-down" roosters in a fall rain- 
storm, plumage at half mast, but hearts trumps every time. If they swore — 
and some did — it was with a half laugh ; the sleepy fires were stirred up; then 
came the — cofi"ee, and they were as good as new. " Blood is thicker than water." 
I could never tire of telling you how like iron — wrought iron — men can get to be, 
and half the sympathy I had corked and labeled for the hai-dships of soldiers 
evaporated when I came to see how like rugged oaks they toughened into knots 
under them. True, there is another light to the picture. The regiment twelve 
hundred strong now stacks five hundred muskets. Bullets did not do it, as you 
would think, but just the terrible sifting process; the regiment is screened like grain; 
the sturdiest manhood alone remains. Writing of downy pillows, I noticed, on that 
rainy morning, that one of the boys did not hug mother earth quite as closely as 
the rest; his head was well up, and when he shook himself, and whisked off the 
blanket he had lain upon, I saw his pillow, and no duck ever dressed such plum- 
age; it was a little triangular piece of iron, the fragment of some bit of machin- 
ery, through which were thrust three iron rods some six inches in length. It was 
first this queer tripod of a pillow, then a corner of a blanket, then a pouring rain, 
and then a good, hearty all night sleep Never mind that feather the wrong 
way in your pillow ; thank God for the one feather, pleasant dreams and good 
night I 

We do not know that any other state has furnished an instance like 
the following : 

Sergeant John Clem, 22d Michigan volunteer infantry, is the youngest soldier 
in our army. He is twelve years old, and small even for his age. He first at- 
tracted the notice of General Rosecrans at a review at Nashville, when he was 
acting as marker for his regiment. The general, won by his youth and intelli- 
gence, invited him to call upon him, whenever they were in the same place. 
Rosecrans saw no more of Clem until his return to Cincinnati, when one day, 
coming to his rooms at the Burnet House, he found the boy awaiting him. He 
had seen service in the mean while. He had gone through the battle of Chicka- 
mauga, where he had three bullets through his hat. Here he killed a rebel colo- 
nel. The officer, mounted on horseback, encountered the young hero, and called out, 
" Stop you little Yankee devil! " By way of answer, the boy halted and dropped 
his piece to "order;" thus throwing the colonel off his guard. In another mo- 
ment the piece was cocked, br ught to an aim, and fired, when the ofiicer fell 
dead from his horse. For this achievement Clem was promoted to the rank of 
sergeant, and Rosecrans bestowed upon him the Roll of Honor. 

We have a similar anecdote of a Michigan drummer boy, connected 



IN MICHIGAN. 417 

with the army of the Potomac under Biirnside. Shortly after the 
battle of Fredericksburg he was one of the occupants of the platform 
at a great union meeting in New York : 

He belong;ed to the 8th Michifcan, and when one hundred men of that rejfirnent 
volunteered to cross at Frederickburg:, he wished to go, but was told he was too 
small He, however, hung on to the stern of the boat, and passed over in the 
water. When over he killed a rebel, took his gun, and came back with the volun- 
teers. General Burnside complimented him for his bravery. Home friends had 
given him a new drum, and he beat the tattoo for the audience, to their great 
delight. His name is Robert Hendershot. 

Scarcely is there a limit to the anecdotes that could be given of the 
bi-avery of Michigan troops in battle. One we adduce here, the charge 
of the 4th Michigan, near Shepherdstown, Ta. : 

The division of General Morell was moved down to the brink of the river, and 
as the 4th Michigan, in the advance, was about to cross, a battery of six gun.s 
suddenly opened upon them from the top of the bluff commanding the ford. Of 
course a slight movement resembling a panic at first manifested itself, but the 
moment the order was given to cross the stream, ascend the hill and take the bat- 
tery, a shout went up which echoed and re-echoed through the gorge, and filled 
with consternation the men at the guns. The hill was gained in the face of a 
deadly fire, the guns reached, the gunners shot or bayoneted, the entire battery in 
our possession almost in as short a time as I have taken to write an account of it. 
The charge of the 4th Michigan was one of the bravest and most successful of the 
war. The Potomac at the ford is about four feet deep. The boys threw off their 
coats and waded across in water up to their waists, and with many of them nearly 
up to their neck. The guns, with one exception, were all brought across the 
river. 'J'he one left on the other side was spiked, dismounted and rolled down 
the bluff. Two of the pieces formerly belonged to Griffin's battery, which was 
taken from us at the first battle of Bull Run ;" another was a Parrot and the 
others 12-pound brass howitzers, manufactered in England. The battery alto- 
gether i.s perhaps the most valuable taken by McClellan since he had command 
of the army. It should be presented to the brave 4th Michigan as a reward for 
their achievement 

The letters of wounded soldiers and officers, fi'om the battle-field, 
are among to most touching mementoes of the war. After one of the 
battles of McClellan, in Maryland, a torn and soiled envelop was 
picked up on the field with the following written upon it in pencil, 
which was ascertained to be from a Michigan officer, Captain Allen H. 
Zacharias, of Monroe : 

Dear Parents, Brothers and Sisters : — T am wounded, mortally, T think. The 
fight rages around me. 1 have done my duty — this is my consolation. I hope to 
meet you all again. I left not the line until nearly ail had fallen and the colors 
gone. 1 am getting weak. My arms free, but below my chest all is numb. The 
enemy is about me. [Some other words were written, but the envelop was so torn 
that they could not be deciphered.] 

Your son, Allen. 

One of the most affecting of all the letters was that written by 
Colonel Thornton Brodhead, commander of the Ist Michigan cavalry, 
to his wife, from the fatal battle-field before Washington, when Pope 
was defeated through the treachery of Fitz John Porter : 

My Dearest Wife: — I write to you, mortally wounded, from the battle-field. 

We are again defeated, and ere this reaches you your children will be fatliericss. 

Before I die let me implore that, in some way it may be stated that General 

27 



418 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

has been outwitted, and that is a traitor. Had they done their duty as I 

did mine, and had led as F led, the dear old flag had waved in triumph, 

I wrote to you yesterday morning. To-day ia Sunday, and to-day I sink to the 
green couch of our final rest. 

1 have fought well, my darling, and I was shot in the endeavor to rally our 
broken battalions. I could have escaped, but I would not till all hope was gone, 
and was shot — about the only one of our forces left on the field. Our cause is 
just, and our generals, not the enemy's, have defeated us. In God's good time 
He will give us victory. 

And now, good-by, wife and children. Bring them up, I know you will, in the 
fear of God and love for the Saviour. But for you and the dear ones dependent, 
I should die happy. 1 know the blow will fall with crushing weight on you. 
Trust to him who gave manna in the wilderness. 

Dr. Nash is with me. It is now after midnight, and I have spent most of the 
night in sending messages to you. 

Two bullets have gone through my chest, and directly through the lungs. I 
suffer but little now, but at first the pain was acute. ] have won the soldier's 
name, and am ready to meet now, as I must, the soldier's fate. I hope that from 
Heaven I may see the glorious old flag wave again over the undivided union I 
have loved so well. 

Farewell, wife and babes, and friends. We shall meet again. 

Tour loving, Thornton. 

This noble man, who thus died that his country might live, was the 
son of a New England clergyman, and born in New Hampshire, in 
1822. He graduated at the Harvard Law School, served in the Mexi- 
can war as an officer of the 15th U. S. infantry, in which he was twice 
breveted for gallantry in battle. For many j^ears he was a citizen of 
.Detroit, and for a while postmaster of that city. Sustained by love 
of God and country, his last letter to his dear ones at home, is another 
of the many glorious tokens of how cheerfully the Christian soldier 
can die. 

Gettysburg, the most terrible and bloody battle of the war; indeed 
the turning point of the rebellion, occurred in the year succeeding the 
writing of these heroic letters. This battle-field was consecrated by 
the blood of the sons of Michigan. The 24th Michigan was one of 
the five western regiments that composed the famous Iron Brigade, 
who held the key point at Cemetery Hill, and so saved the army from 
defeat. 

Out of 496 men, this regiment lost 316, in killed and wounded. It lost all ita 
field officers. Its Colonel, Morrow, was prostrated by a scalp wound and taken 
prisoner. Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Flanagan lost a leg. Major Edwin B. Wright, 
lost an eye. Deprived of its superior officers, the command devolved upon a 
captain, Albert M. Edwards. Several of the officers and men even when severely 
wounded, refused to leave the field. In a subsequent report, Col. Morrow stated 
in reference to the regiment, that in the desperate conflicts of the day, it became 
almost certain death to carry the flag. Privates Abel E. Peck, Charles Ballou, 
and August Earnest, color-bearers, were successively killed. Corporal Andrew 
Wagner afterward raised the standard, and was shot through the breast. Col. 
Mor'row himselt, then took the colors in his hands, but yielded them at the earnest 
request ot Private Wm. Kelley, who said, " The Colonel of the 2'ith Michigan 
shall never bear the colors while I am able to take them." The flag floated again 
for a brief period in the front of the battle, but soon Private Kelley paid the pen- 
alty of his heroism with his life. Col. Morrow took the colors once more, when 
he too fell wounded and senseless. After the deadly strife at the barricade of 
rails, this cherished flag was found in the hands of a soldier of the regiment, 



IN MICHIGAN. 419 

whose name is unknown, and who, although to all appearance, mortally wounded, 
Btill held it with a firm, unyielding grasp.^ 

In the tragedies of the rebellion Michigan soldiers bore their full 
share, as many a battle-field testifies. In the comicalities of the 
strtfe, thej^ eclipsed those of any other State, for to them fell the grati- 
fication of capturing Jefferson Davis, the runaway President of the 
collapsed Confederacy, while endeavoring to escape in the disguise of 
a superannuated old woman. This ludicrous affair took place just 
before daylight on the 10th of May. 18G5, near Irwinville, in S(;uth 
Georgia, about 70 miles from the Florida coast, for which the Davis 
party was making. Major-General Wilson had sent two detachments 
of horsemen in pursuit, one under Col. Pritchard, of the 4th Michij^an 
cavalry, the other under Col. Harndon, of the Ist Wisconsin. The 
Michigan men first came to the tent in which was the Davis party, 
surrounded it, and demanded the surrender of the inmates. The two 
cavalry detachments arriving by different roads at this moment, got 
in conflict, each thinking the other rebels. Two were killed and "six 
wounded before the error was discovered. Capt. Hudson of the 
Michigan troops, had placed a strong guard around the tent where 
Davis was supposed to be, and when the firing commenced, thinking 
his duty called him to the fight, he left the tent in charge of a cor- 
poral, with orders to let no one pass out. The details of what fid 
lowed, have been variously stated. But we give them as related by 
General Wilson, in a letter to a friend, written on tho evening after 
the delivery of Davis into his hands: 

You will, doubtless, have seen my telegrams to the Secretary of War, beforo 
thij reaches you, detailing the events of the capture. Two of ray best regiments, 
one from the first and the other from the second division, were on the trail 
together, and reached the rebel camp almost simultaneously. The fight which 
ensued was unfortunate, but unavoidable in the uncertain moonlight Both par- 
ties fully expected desperate resistance, and both had gone prepared. 

(Jolonel Harndon, of the 1st Wisconsin, had only sixty men, Colonel Pritchard 
had one hundred and tiiirty. The story of Davis' ignoble attempt at flight is even 
more ignoble than I told it. Mrs. Davis and her sister. Miss Howell, after having 
clothed him in the dress of the former, and put on his head a woman's head-dros.". 
started out, one holding each arm, and besought Col. Pritchard's men in mcst 
piteous terms, to let them take thoir "poor old mother out of the way" of the 
firing." 

Mrs. Davis said, " Oh, do let us pass with our poor old mother, who is so fright- 
ened, and fears to be killed." One of Pritchard's men, catching sight of the 
1 resident's boots below the skirts of the dress, suspected at once, who the poor 
old woman was, and replied, " Oh, no, you don't play that game on me, them boots 
don't look very much like they belonged to a icoman. Come down, old fellow." 

It is rarely that two witnesses relate a circumstance alike. He is 
an uncommon witness, who, in all details, relates it twice exactly 
alike. A staff officer of Davis' publishes this version of his capture : 

At last he got information that his own wife and family were in danger from 
the assaults of military marauders. Mrs. Davis, with her three children, and 
accompanied by her sister, Miss Howell, had a wagon train of her own, about 
twenty or thirty miles from her husband's party. She was very anxious to go 
her own way, and be no embarrassment to him. She felt equal to the task of pro- 
tecting herself from reckless Confederates, and felt sure of avoiding Federals. JJut, 
no sooner did he ascertain that she was in danger, that two gangs had concocted 
a scheme to seize all her trunks, under the impression that she carried the rebel 
gold, than he resolved, at all hazards, to go to her rescue. It was a fond bus- 



420 TIMES OF THE REBELLION IN MICHIGAN. 

band's, a fond father's infatuation. No remonstrance availed. He set out, and 
rode eighteen miles to meet the object of his love and solicitude. He met them, 
and the first to rebuke him for his excess of fondness was the anxious wife and 
mother. A tent or two was already pitched, and he, weary to exhaustion, went 
to sleep, intending to retrace his steps before morning. Had he not gone to as- 
sure himself of his wife's safety, and had he not been excessively fatigued while 
there. Colonel Pritchard would be without the honor of capturing him, for nothing 
was easier than his escape, as Breckinridge and Wood and the writer of this 
know, and by meeting no interruption themselves have proved. Their immunity 
might have been his. 

But Davis ran his risks and took the chances, fully conscious of imminent dan- 
ger, yet powerless, from physical weariness, to do all he designed doing against 
the danger. When the musketry firing was heard in the morning, at "dim gray 
dawn," it was supposed to be between the rebel marauders and Mrs. Davis' few 
camp defenders. Under this impression he hurriedly put on his boots and pre- 
pared to go out, for the purpose of interposing, saying 

" They will at least as yet respect me. ' 

As he got to the tent door, thus hastily equipped, and with this good intention 
of preventing an effusion of blood by an appeal in the name of a fading, but not 
wholly faded authority, he saw a few cavalry ride up the road and deploy in front. 

" Ha, Federals! " was his esclamatiom. 

"Then you are captured," cried Mrs. Davis, with emotion. 

In a moment she caught an idea — a woman's idea — and as quickly as women 
in an emergency execute their designs it was done. He slept in a wrapper — a 
loose one. It was yet around him. This she fastened ere he was aware of it, 
and then bidding him adieu, urged him to go to the spring, a short distance off, 
where his horses and arms were. Strange as it may seem, there was not even a 
pistol in the tent. Davis felt that his only course was to reach his horse and 
arras, and complied. As he was leaving the door, followed by a servant with a 
water-bucket, Miss Howell fliivg a shawl over his head. There was no time to 
remove it without exposure and embarrassment, and as he had not far to go, he 
ran the chance exactly as it was devised for him. In these two articles con- 
sisted the woman's attire, of which so much nonsense has been spoken and writ- 
ten; and, under these circumstances, and in this way, was Jefferson Davis go- 
ing forth to perfect his escape. No bonnet, no gown, no petticoats, no crinoline, 
no nothing of all these. And what there was happened to be excusable under 
ordinary circumstances, and perfectly natural as things were. 

But it was too late for any effort to reach his horses, and the confederate pres- 
ident was at last a prisoner in the hands of the United States. 

The staff officer does not surmount the unromantic fact, that "the 
Confederate President" was at last caught trying to escape in the 
clothes of a woman. That he had "no bonnet, no gown, no petti- 
coats, no crinoline," the peculiar friends of his excellency must apol- 
ogize for him under the trjnng circumstances of a very hasty toilet! 

Poor man ! The charitably disposed will forgive him that his dis- 
guise was not more complete. But why he, a West Point graduate, 
"a born soldier" too, should leave his arms over night at a wayside 
spring, in the custody of his horse, is among the puzzling matters our 
veracious staff officer does not explain. 



WISCONSIN. 




Wisconsin derives its name from its principal river, which the Chippewas, 
»fho resided on its head-waters, called the Wees-kon-san, which signifies 

"gathering of the waters." The 
French voyageurs called it Ouisconsm, 
the first syllable of which is nearer 
the Indian sound than Wis. The 
first white men on the soil of Wis- 
consin were two French fur traders, 
who passed the winter of 1659 among 
the Indians of Lake Superior. Ar- 
riving at Quebec the next summer, 
with sixty canoes, loaded with furs, 
and manned with 300 Algonquins, 
they aroused a spirit of religious 
zeal among the Jesuits to bear the 
cross in the cabins of those distant 
tribes. In 1(]61, Father Mesnard 
went on a mission to the south side 
of Lake Superior, where he resided 
more than eight months, surrounded 
by savages and a few French voy- 
ageurs: he finally perished, in some 
unknown way, in the rocky pine clad wilderness. Undismayed by his sad 
fate a successor was appointed, Father Claude Allouez, who arrived at the 
Sault Ste. Marie on the 1st of September, 1668. "He employed the whole 
month of September in coasting the southern portion of Lake Superior, 
where he met many Christians baptized by Father Mesnard. ' I had the 
pleasure,' says this venerable man, 'of assuring, by baptism, the eternal sal- 
vation of many a dying infant.' His success with the adults seems to have 
been less. At Chagouamigon, or St. Michael, on the south-western side of 
Lake Superior, there were gathered eight hundred warriors of different 
nations; a chapel was built; among them were several tribes who under- 
stood the Algonquin language. So fine an occasion for exercising his 
zeal could not be overlooked. 'I spoke in the Algonquin language,' says he, 
'for a long time, on the subject of the Christian religion, in an earnest and 
powerful manner, but in language suited to the capacity of my audience. I 

(421) 



Arms of Wisconsin. 



Motto — Forward. 



422 WISCONSIN. 

was greatly applauded, but this was the only fruit of my labors.' Among the 
number assembled, were three hundred Pottawatomies, two hundred Sauks, 
eighty Illinoians. In the year 1668, peace having been established between 
the French and the Six Nations, many discoveries were made, and many new 
missions established. In this year Fathers Dablon and Marquette went to 
the mission of Sault Ste. Marie. In the same year, Father Nicholas, who was 
on the mission with Allouez, conducted a deputation of 'Nez Perces,' an Al- 
gonquin tribe, to Quebec, and Father Allouez went to the mission at Green 
-Bay. Sault Ste. Marie was made the center of their missionary labors among 
the Algonquin tribes." 

Father Marquette had been residing at the Straits of Mackinaw and the 
Sault Ste. Marie about five years, when, accompanied by M. Joliet, a French 
gentleman of Quebec, and five French voyageurs and two Indian guides, he 
started from the straits on an exploring expedition. He "had heard of the 
great river of the west, and fancied that upon its fertile banks — not mighty 
cities, mines of gold, or fountains of youth, but whole tribes of God's chil- 
dren, to whom the sound of the Gospel had never come. Filled with the 
wish to go and preach to them, he obeyed with joy the orders of Talon, the 
wise intendent of Canada, to lead a party into the unknown distance." 

Marquette passed down Green Bay to Fox Kiver, which they entered, and 
dragged their canoes through its strong rapids to a village of Indians where 
Father Allouez had visited, and where " they found a cross, on which hung 
skins and belts, bows and arrows, which they had offered to the great Mani- 
tou (God), to thank him because he had taken pity on them during the win- 
ter, and had given them abundant chase." Beyond this point no Frenchman 
had gone, and here was the bound of discovery. 

" Being guided by the friendly Indians, Marquette and his companions came 
to the Wisconsin River, about three leagues distant, whose waters flowed 
westward. They floated down the river till the 17th of June, 1673, when 
they reached the Mississippi, the great ^Father of Waters," which they en- 
tered with 'a joy that could not be expressed,' and raising their sails to new 
skies, and to unknown breezes, floated down this mighty river, between broad 
plains, garlanded with majestic forests and chequered with illimitable prairies 
and island groves. They descended about one hundred and eighty miles, 
when Marquette and Joliet landed, and followed an Indian trail about six 
miles, to a village. They were met by four old men, bearing the pipe of 
peace and 'brilliant with many colored plumes.' An aged chief received 
them at his cabin, and, with uplifted hands, exclaimed: '■Hoio hecmtiful is the 
sun, Frenchmen, tohen thou comest to visit us! — our whole village awaits thee — 
in peace thou shalt enter all our dwellings.' Previous to their departure, an 
Indian chief selected a peace pipe from among his warriors, embellished with 
gorgeous plumage, which he hung around the neck of Marquette, 'the mys- 
terious arbiter of peace and war — the sacred calumet — the white man's pro- 
tection among savages.' On reaching their boats, the little group proceeded 
onward. 'I did not,' says Marquette, 'fear death; I should have esteemed 
it the greatest happiness to have died for the glory of God.' They passed 
the mouth of the Missouri, and the humble missionary resolved in his mind, 
one day, to ascend its mighty current, and ascertain its source; and descend- 
ing from thence toward the west, publish the gospel to a people of whom he 
had never heard. Passing onward, they floated by the Ohio, then, and for 
a brief time after, called the Wabash, and continued their explorations as 
far south as the mouth of the Arkansas, where they were escorted to the 



WISCONSIN. ^.90 

Indian village of Arkansea. Being now satisfied that the Mississippi en- 
tered the Gulf of Mexico, west of Florida, and east of California; and hav- 
ing spoken to the Indians of God and the mysteries of the Catholic faith, 
Marquette and Joliet prepared to ascend the stream. They returned by the 
route of the Illinois Kiver to Green Bay, where they arrived in August. 
Marquette remained to preach the gospel to the Miamis, near Chicago. 
Joliet, in person, conveyed the glad tidings of their discoveries to Quebec. 
They were received with enthusiastic delight. The bells were rung during 
the whole day, and all the clergy and dignitaries of the place went, in pro- 
cession, to the cathedral, where Te Deum was sung and high mass cele- 
brated." 

Wisconsin was next visited by La Salle and Father Hennepin, a Fancis- 
can friar, a man of ambition and energy. These adventurers having passed 
down the Illinois, Hennepin paddled up the Mississippi as far as the Wiscon- 
sin, where he was taken prisoner by the Indians, who treated him and his 
companions kindly. They then took them up to the Falls, which Hennepin 
named St. Anthony/, in honor of his patron saint. From this point he re- 
turned to Canada, by way of Lake Superior, and thence to France. The 
first permanent settlement by the whites in Wisconsin, appears to have been 
made at Green Bay, about the year 17-1:5, by Augustin De Langlade, a na- 
tive of France, of noble family, who emigrated to Canada at an early age. 

The territory remained under the government of France till 1763, when, 
at the treaty of Paris, it was ceded to Great Britain, who retained it until 
the independence of the United States was acknowledged by that country, in 
1783, when it was claimed by Virginia as part of the Illinois country, con- 
quered by Col. George Rodgers Clark. It remained, however, in the posses- 
sion of Great Britain till 1796, when it was surrendered in accordance with 
Jay's treaty, ratified the previous year. In 178-1, it was ceded by Virginia 
to the United States. In 1787, a government was provided for the territory 
north-west of the Ohio. In 1800, it was divided into two separate govern- 
ments, the western being called Indiana. In 1809, Indiana was divided and 
Illinois organized. When Illinois was formed into a state, in 1818, the ter- 
ritory north of the parallel of Lat. -12° 30', west of the middle of Lake 
Michigan, was attached to the territory of Michigan, which had been set off 
from Indiana in 1805. 

In 1832, commenced the ^^ Black Hawk War,'' the most important actions 
of which took place within the " Huron District " of Michigan, as Wiscon- 
sin was then called: they will be found detailed on page 1106 of this work. 
When Michigan was formed into a state, in 1836, Wisconsin was erected into 
a separate territorial government. Wisconsin Territory comprised within its 
limits and jurisdiction the whole region from Lake Michigan to Lake Supe- 
rior, extending westward to the Missouri River, including all the sources of 
the Upper Mississippi. Its southern limits were the northern boundaries of 
the states of Illinois and Missouri, and its extent from north to south was 
580 miles, and from east to west 650 miles. The first " governor and super- 
intendent of Indian affairs " was Henry Dodge, and John S. Horner was 
territorial secretary. Gov. Dodge convened the first territorial legislature at 
Belmont, now in Lafayette county. The second session was convened in 
Burlington, now in Iowa, and the next, in 1838, in Madison, the present 
capital. 

" The settled portions of the territory were chiefly near the western shore 
.:f Lake Michigan, and the organized counties extended westward and south- 



424 



WISCONSIN. 



westwardly to the banks of the Fox River of Green Bay, as far as Fort 
"Winnebago, and thence down the Wisconsin River, on the south-eastern side, 
for thirty miles below the "portage." At the same time, immigrants, by waj 
of Milwaukie and Racine, were advancing upon the upper tributaries of Rock 
River, as far west as the "Four Lakes" and Fort Madison. A few settle- 
ments had extended, likewise, westward to the banks of the Missisoippi, north 
of Galena and the Illinois state line. Others had been slowly, for more than 
three years, extending west of the Mississippi, upon the waters of the Bes 
Moines, Skunk River, Lower Iowa, and Waubesapinacon, as well as upon 
the immediate banks of the Mississippi itself These settlements, for tem- 
porary government, were annexed to the jurisdiction of the Wisconsin Ter- 
ritory as the " District of Iowa." 

The remainder of the Territory of Wisconsin, north and west of the Wis- 
consin River and of Fox River, as well as the northern and western portions 
of the present state of Iowa, was a savage waste, still in the partial occu- 
pancy of the remaining tribes of Indians, and in a great degree unknown to 
civilization. Such were the extent and population of the Wisconsin Terri- 
tory upon its first independent organization. 

During the years 1841, 1842, and 1843, emigration from the north-eastern 
states began to send its floods into the Wisconsin Territory, both by way of 
the lakes and by way of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, to the banks of the 
Wisconsin River. Thousands, especially in the latter years, crowded into 
the beautifully undulating lands along the western shore of Lake Michigan, 
south of Green Bay, to the Illinois line; and population extended rapidly 
from the lake shore westward to the banks of Fox River, and along the re- 
gion south of the Wisconsin River as ffir as the banks of the Mississippi. 
Settlements soon spread over this delightful country, diversified by lakes and 
prairies, in which all the crystal tributaries of Rock River take their rise. 

A few years before, this had been called the "Far West," beyond the ad- 
vance of white settlements and civilized life, in the sole occupancy of the 
most degraded and improvident of the savages, the Winnebagoes, Sauks, and 
Foxes. Now towns and commerce occupy the seats and haunts of the de- 
graded Indian, upon which the rays of civilization had never beamed. A 
large mercantile town, with an active and enterprising community, had sprung 
up at Milwaukie Bay; a town which, three years afterward, in 1845, became 
an incorporated city, with extensive powers and privileges, designed to render 
it the commercial emporium of the future state of Wisconsin. Other trad- 
ing towns lined the beautiful shore of the lake for many miles north and 
pouth of this central depot. 

During the year 1843, the aggregate number of persons who arrived in 
the Wisconsin Territory has been estimated at more than sixty thousand, 
embracing all ages and sexes. Of these, about fifty thousand arrived by way 
of the lake route. The remainder advanced by way of the Mississippi and 
Wisconsin Rivers, and comprised a great proportion of foreign emigrants 
from the German states. These emigrants spread over the country south and 
east of the Wisconsin River, and opened new settlements upon us northern 
and western tributaries. In 1845, Wisconsin Territory contained more in- 
habitants than any other new state possessed upon her admission into the 
Union; yet the people, satisfied with the territorial form of gover-iment, de- 
sired not, in the recent state of the principal settlements, to incur the addi- 
tional expense of an independent state government. Hence, Avith a popula- 
tion of more than one hundred and forty thousand souls, the Wisconsi.n Ter- 



WISCONSIN. .ni: 

ritory had not, in 1845, made application to congress for authority to estab- 
lish a state government. In May, 1848, however, Wisconsin was admitted 
into the Union." 

Wisconsin is bounded N. by Lake Superior, the upper peninsula of Mich- 
igan, and Minnesota, W. by Minnesota and Iowa, E. by Lake Michigan, and 
S. by Illinois. It lies between 42° 30' and 46° 55' N. Lat., and between 87° 
and 92° 50' W. Long. Its greatest extent north and south is 285 miles, and 
255 east and west, having a land area of 53,924 square miles, or 34,511,360 
acres, of which 1,045,499 only were improved in 1850. 

Wisconsin is one of the healthiest of countries, with a dry, transparent, 
and bracing atmosphere, and remarkably free from fevers and ague. Writers 
familiar with it, say: 

"It is, indeed, deliiihtful in speculation to talk of constant spring, of perpetual 
verdure, of flowers in bloom at all seasons, of purling brooks never obstructed by 
ice, of a mild climate, where Jack Frost never spreads his white drapery over the 
surface of the earth ; but it is a problem, not yet fully solved, whether a tropical 
climate contributes more to one's happiness than the varying seasons of a north- 
ern clime. Nay, whatever doubt there is on the subject predominates in favor of 
a northern latitude. Industry, intelligence, morality, and virtue, are exhibited 
more generally among the inhabitants of northern latitudes than those of southern. 
If one's physical enjoyment is equally promoted by the bracing air of a cold cli- 
mate, then, indeed, the argument is in favor of the latter, for vigor of body and 
purity of mind are the most essential ingredients in the cup of happiness. The 
air of our winters is dry and bracing. When snow falls it usually remains on the 
ground several months, forming an excellent road either for traveling, business, or 
pleasure. The rivers are securely wedged with ice, rendering many portions of the 
country more accessible at that season than at any other. An excellent opportu- 
nity is afforded to tlie younger portion of the community for innocent amusements 
— sleighing, sliding downhill, and skating — amusements highly exhilarating, and 
promotive alike of health and happiness. These observations have been made be- 
cause n greater value is often set on a mild southern climate, in reference to its 
capacity in affording the means of happiness or of health, than it really possesses." 

"We have always made it a point to inquire of new settlers in Wisconsin how 
they liked the climate, and the answer invariably was, that it was far supei-ior to 
that of the states they had left — whether Eastern, Middle or Southern, One emi- 
grant says: 'As the result of my observations, 1 would state briefly — mid in this 
1 do but repeat a common sentiment — that I would much rather spend a winter in 
Wisconsin than in New York or Pennsylvania. True, the weather is cold ; but ifc 
is of that settled, steady, clear character, which we here call 'bracing weather.^ 
No damp winds, no sloppy thaw, no uncomfortable rains, but day after day the 
same unbroken field of snow, the same clear, bright sunshine, the same untroubled 
air. Winter here holds undisputed sway; it is not a muddled mixture of all sea- 
sons, in which the breezy spring, the clear autumn, the sunny summer and the 
rigorous winter mingle and mix, and come and go together. You will underatand 
the force of this distinction when I tell you that the first fall of snow in Wiscon- 
sin remains on the ground during the whole winter without a crust; so free is the 
air from that dampness, which, in other countries produce it. Who among you 
has not noticed the penetrating character of dampness in cold — its chilling, search- 
ing qualities; or who, on the other hand, has not gone abroad on days of intense 
coldness, but when the air was dry and pure, and felt elastic, buoyant, and com- 
fortable. Such is a Wisconsin winter. I suffered less from the cold while here, 
than I have many times in Pennsylvania when the thermometer stood much 
hiiiher." 

Wisconsin may be described generally as an elevated rolling prairie, the 
highest portion being on the north, and forms the dividing ridge between the 
waters flowing S.W. into the Mississippi, and those flowing northward and 
eastward into the lakes. Limestone underlies most of the southern part of 



426 WISCONSIN. 

the state; the northern part is composed of primitive rocks, mostly granite, 
slate and sand stone. The country south of the middle is a fine agricultural 
region, producing from 30 to 50 bushels of wheat to the acre. The prairies 
of Wisconsin are generally small, and being skirted and belted with timber, 
are adapted to immediate and profitable occupation, the soil being a dark, 
rich vegetable mold. One peculiarity in southern Wisconsin strikes the 
traveler — the high degree of culture, thrift, and cleanliness of the farms, 
which is attributed principally to the fact, that almost every quarter section, 
in its natural state, is ready for plowing and fencing, and also to the charac- 
ter of the settlers, oflF shoots from the hardy and industrious people of the 
Eastern states and northern Ohio. A large number of Norwegians and other 
emigrants from northern Europe, have emigrated to this young and thriving 
State. 

Vast quantities of pine lumber are obtained from the northern sections of 
the state, ranging from five to eight millions annually in value, though the 
business is in its infancy. The agricultural staples are wheat, Indian corn, 
oats, potatoes, butter, live stock, etc. The wheat crop of 1860 was about 26 
millions of bushels. Beside the great lakes, Superior and Michigan, on its 
northern and eastern shores, Wisconsin has vast numbers of small lakes 
within its borders, generally characterized by clear water, bold, picturesque 
shores, with excellent fish. 

The mineral resources of Wisconsin are important, but as yet imperfectly 
known. The great lead region, mostly in the south-western part of the 
state, contain mines supposed to be inexhaustible, and decidedly the richest 
in the known world. Valuable copper and zinc ores are found at Mineral 
Point and in its vicinity, also iron ore in various places. The bulk of the 
population of the state is in its southern part, most of the country in the 
north being an unexplored wilderness. If as densely settled as Massachu- 
setts, Wisconsin would contain more than seven millions of inhabitants. 
Population in 1820, 1,'444; in 1830, 3,245; in 1840, 30,945; in 1850, 305,- 
566; in 1855, 552,109; and in 1860, 768,585.* 

* Ritchie, in his work on Wisconsin, says : " The number of inhabitants in Wisconsin 
does not exhibit their relative strength and power. Our population are nearly all in the 
prime of life. You rarely meet a woman past fifty years of age; still more rarely as old a 
man ; and large numbers are too young to have had many children. The Milvvaukie Amer- 
ican says : ' It is a fact, noticed and remarked by nearly every eastern visitor to the west, 
that no small amount of the business of the west and north-west is conducted by i/oimg men. 
Go where you will, in every city, town and village, you will find more youthful countenances 
elongated with the cares and anxieties of business pursuits, than those unacquainted with 
the peculiar circumstances attaching to western life and enterprise could be made to believe. 
Youth and energy are found conducting and managing our railroads and our banking in- 
stitutions. Beardless youngsters are seen behind the desks — their desks — of our counting 
houses, and in our manufactories, mixed up with our commerce, and, in short, taking active 
parts in every field of business enterprise. A year's experience as a clerk, or an agent for 
others, gives him an insight into the modufi operandi of ' making money,' and his wits are 
set in motion, and his industrious ingenuity brought to bear in his own behalf, and he de- 
sires to 'go into business for himself.' Frequently with a small capital, oftener with none, 
he engages in some branch of traffic, and in a few years is ' well to do in the world.' Such 
is the history of many of the young merchants and business men in our state, and we do 
not believe that a more enterprising, intelligent, and thorough-going business community 
can be found than that of Wisconsin, Youth, energy, and a laudable ambition to rise in 
the world, are characteristic elements of the west: they have made her what she now is, 
and give glorious promise of her future.' 

In one of our village or town hotels, crowded with moneyed boarders — the merchants, 
bankers, and chief mechanics of the place — two thirds of them will be found to be between 
twenty-five and thirty years of age ; their wives, of course, still younger. Our population 
of 1,000,000 are equal in industrial capacity to at least twice that number either in Europe 
or in the Atlantic states." 



WISCONSIN. 



427 



MiLWAUKiE, a port of entry, and the largest city in Wisconsin, is built 
on the west side of Lake Michigan, 75 miles east of Madison, and 85 north 
of Chicago. Lat. 43° 04', Long. 87° 57'. The city is built on the flats of 
the Milwaukie River, and on the bluffs near the lake. The largest lake boats 
ascend the river two miles. The shore on Lake Michigan consists of a bank 




South-eastern river view in MihcauJcie. 

The engraving shows a river or harbor view in Milwaulfie, as seen from near the point of the entrance 
of Menominee River. The swing bridges across the river appear in the central part. The terminus of 
the Milwaukie and Mississippi Railroad is near the building on the extreme left. 

of clay from 20 to 100 feet high, and as nearly perpendicular as the nature 
of the material will admit. The city contains about 20 founderies and ma- 
chine shops, employing about 1,000 men, and 26 breweries, employing about 
500 men. Ship building is extensively carried on ; great quantities of lum- 
ber are exported; and it has a large commerce on the lakes, and does an ex- 
tensive business with the interior by its railroads, one of which crosses the 
state to the Mississippi. It is noted for its splendid blocks of buildings, and 
for its superior brick, which have become a valuable article of export, being 
used even as far east as New York city. They are hard, smooth, and of a 
beautiful straw color. It has also in its vicinity quarries of a beautiful litrht 
colored stone. Population, in 1840, 1,751; in 1850, 20,035; and in 1860, 
45,254. 

A foreign traveler describes Milwaukie as one of the most picturesquely 
situated towns he had seen in the west. Says he: "It is placed on both 
sides of a river which falls into a fine bay of Lake Michigan, the town rising 
from the valley of the river on either side to high bluffs facing the lake. 
The river is navigable from the lake, and vessels discharge and land their 
cargoes direct into, and from, the granaries and warehouses which line its 
banks. Tramways from the various lines of railroad run along the other 
Bides of these warehouses, so that the greatest facilities are afforded for the 



428 



WISCONSIN. 



transport and handling of produce and merchandise. The extent to which 
labor is economized in this way both here and at Chicago is really wonderful. 
By the aid of steam power half a million bushels of grain can be daily re- 
ceived and shipped through the granaries of Chicago, the whole of it being 
weighed in draughts of 400 bushels at a time, as it passes from the railroad 
to the vessel. This can be done at a cost of a farthing a bushel, and so quiet 
is the whole process that there is little external evidence of much business 
going on. The finest church in Milwaukie is the Roman Catholic Cathedral, 
with the palace of the bishop on one side of it, and an orphan asylum on 
the other. There are many handsome private residences, some built of white 
marble, and the principal hotel of the city, the Newhall House, is very little 
inferior either in size, architecture, or interior fittings and arrangements, to 
the Hotel de Louvre in Paris. This city, which only twenty-three years ago 
was the site of a single log cabin, now, in the one month of October, ships 
a million bushels of wheat! From the blufis the lake looks exactly like the 
sea, as no opposite shore can be seen, and the white-crested waves come roll- 
ing into the harbor just as they do on the Atlantic. There are numerous 
schools in the city, free to all, and well endowed by the state." 

Milwaukie derives its name from Me-ne-aw-kee, an Indian word, said to 
signify rich or beautiful land. The first white person who located at Mil- 
waukie appears to have been Alexuvdrr Laframhoise, from Mackinaw, who 
established a trading house here about the year 1785. He soon returned to 
Mackinaw, and gave his business to his brother to manage for him : the latter 
remained here for several years, and raised a family. Laframhoise failing 
in business, his trading house was closed about the year 1800. At this period 
another trader established himself here, employing as clerk S. Chappue, who 
had previously been with Laframhoise. J. B. Beaubi«n established a trading 
post in Milwaukie at this time. Some four or five years later Laurent Fily 
was sent with a supply of goods, by Jacob Franks, of Green Bay, to carry 
on a summer trade at Milwaukie, buying deer skins in the red. Previous to 
this Jacques Vieau., of Green Bay, commenced trading here, and continued it 
regularly every winter, excepting that of 1811-12, until 1818, when his son- 
in-law, Solomon Juneau emigrated here from Canada, first as his clerk, and 
then on his own account, and he may be considered as the first regular set- 
tler and founder of Milwaukie. 

In the publications of the State Historical Society, Mr. Alex. F. Pratt 
gives this sketch of Mr. Juneau, and of the early history of the place : 

"Solomon Juneau emigrated to Milwaukie in the fall of 1818, and built 
him a log cabin among the natives. At that time his family consisted of a 
wife and one child. His nearest white neighbors were at Chicago, Green 
Bay and Prairie du Chien. He kept a few goods suitable for the Indian 
trade, and for the first seventeen years he was not only the only merchant in 
the place, but the only white man. During that period, a few Indian traders 
were occasionally there, but not permanently located. In the spring of 1835, 
a land office having been previously established at Green Bay, this land was 
brought into market, and Mr. Juneau purchased a small tract, consisting of 
about 130 acres, lying on the east side of the river, directly north of Wis- 
consin-street. Previous to this time, Geo. H. Walker, Esq., had come and 
made a claim on what is now called "Walker's Point," which he subsequently 
obtained a title to. Byron Kilbourn, Esq., about that time purchased a tract 
on the west side of the river, which has from that time been known by the 
name of 'Kilbourn Town.' Daniel Wells, Jr., W. W. Gilman, George D. 



WISCONSIN. 429 

Donsman, E. "W. Edgerton, T. C. Dousman, Geo. 0. Tiffany, B. H. Richards, 
William Brown, Jr., Milo Jones, Enoch Darling, and others, immigrated 
about the same time, and made large purchases of lands. In the course of 
the summer of 1835, a number of good buildings were erected, and a great 
many eastern speculators came and bought lands at high prices. Mr. Juneau, 
about this time, sold an undivided interest in his lands to Morgan L. Martin. 
lie built a fine dwelling house on the lot where Mitchell's banking house now 
stands; also a large store and warehouse on what is now known as 'Luding- 
ton's corner.' In 1836, when we came, he was doing a large business both 
in selling goods and lots. During that season, some two or three hundred 
thousand dollars' worth of goods had been brought there to sell. Ground 
rent was nearly as high as it is now. A merchant with a stock of goods 
would arrive one day, and by the next day noon he would have a store com- 
pleted to open in. Things were done on the California principle. They 
were usually built of rough boards with a 'grass floor,' and in several in- 
stances a blanket was hung up for a partition, and one half of the tenement 
rented to another for a dollar a day. The town was flooded with speculators, 
and all made money until the non-residents left and navigation closed, when 
a sudden change 'came o'er the spirit of their dreams.' 

The town was left with a large stock of goods, and but few inhabitants. 
Merchants and other business men enjoyed the winter in the best possible 
manner. During the fall quite a large number of actual settlers had arrived, 
of the right stamp, among whom were H. N. Wells, J. E. Arnold, Henry 
Williams, Hans Crocker, J. H. Tweedy, L. Blossom, J. W. Pixley, S. H. 
Martin, Geo. P. Delaplaine, Geo. Reed, Cyrus Hawley, Fred. Wardner, A. 0. 
T. Breed, Eliphalet Cramer, Rufus Parks, Curtis Reed, Orson Reed, Wm. 
M. Dennis, Truman L. Smith, Edmond D. Clinton, A. A. Bird, and many 
others, whom time will not allow us to mention. All had been doing a 'land 
ofiiee business,' and had plenty of money left to winter on. At this time our 
old friend Juneau was supposed to be worth at least $100,000, with a fair 
prospect of its being doubled by the rise of land in the spring. We have 
often seen him in those days go into his store, after business hours were over, 
and take from the drawers the money that his clerks had received during the 
day for goods and lots, amounting often to 8 or 10,000 dollars, and put it 
loose in his hat; and upon one occasion we recollect of his hat being knocked 
off in a playful crowd, when some $10,000 flew in various directions. In 
short, money seemed to be of no earthly use to him. If a man called upon him 
to subscribe for either a public improvement or a charitable object, whatever 
was required he subscribed, without asking why or wherefore. In the mean 
time he had looked on and seen others get rich on the rise of property that 
he had sold, and he commenced buying back lots and paying thousands for 
those he had previously sold for hundreds. We recollect very well one cir- 
cumstance: his re-purchasing the corner lot, near Youngs' Hall, for $3,700, 
which he had sold the year previous for $475. He was truly, in the lan- 
guage of the poet, 'The noblest work of God, an honest man.' He had 
implicit confidence in every body. 

The spring of 1837 disappointed all" our anticipations. A general stagna- 
tion in business prevailed in all directions. Immigration had almost entirely 
fallen off. Our currency, which was mostly of the Michigan 'Wild Cat' 
stamp, was no longer a legal tender. There was no sale for real estate. The 
second payments were becoming due on purchases of real estate, and all who 
supposed themselves rich in lands, were not only destitute of money, but the 



430 WISCONSIN, 

means to raise it. Some who were able to hold on, kept their property until 
they could get a handsome advance ; while the majority were compelled to 
sell for what they could get, and bankruptcy was the inevitable result. 

At this time, there were but few settlements in the interior; but the hard 
times which continued through the years 1837 and 1838, induced many to 
leave Milwaukie and locate a 'claim.' The lands between Milwaukie and 
Rock River were then surveyed, but were not brought into market until the 
fall of 1839. During this time they had become thickly se.ttled, and many 
of them quite valuable. The hard times at the east had led many to seek 
a home in the west; and in the fall of 1839, when these lands came into 
market, many of them had been so improved that they were worth from $10 
to $100 an acre, while the occupants had not the first 'red cent' to buy them 
with. Consequently, a large proportion of the settlers were compelled to 
either sell their improvements for what they could get, or pay from 25 to 50 
per cent, for money to enter their lands with. 

About this time, Alex. Mitchell, Harvey Birchard, the Messrs. Luding- 
tons, E. Eldred, and other capitalists, came to Milwaukie, and purchased lots 
at 1100 each, that had previously been sold from $1,000 to $1,500, and are 
now selling from $5,000 to $15,000 each. From that day to this, 'the rise 
and progress' of Milwaukie has been steady and onward. The price of land 
has continued to advance with the increase of business, and nearly all who 
commenced in business there at that time, and continued to the present, have 
become wealthy and independent. In 1846, the legislature passed an act 
to divide Milwaukie county, and establish the county of Waukesha; also 
another to incorporate the city of Milwaukie. At the first charter election 
in the new city, Solomon Juneau was elected mayor, which was a well mer- 
ited compliment to the ' old pioneer.' ". 

Mr. Juneau subsequently removed to Dodge county, where by hard labor 
he earned a comfortable living, until a few years since, when he was " gath- 
ered to bis fathers." 

Mr. Pratt also gives these amusing reminiscences of the judiciary of the 
Territory of Wisconsin : 

'' The Territory of Wisconsin was organized in July, 1836. It was divided 
into three judicial districts. Judge Dunn was appointed for the western 
district. Judge Irwin for the middle, and Judge Frazier, of Pennsylvania, 
for the eastern. Judge Frazier arrived in Milwaukie on a Sunday evening, 
in June, 1837. He put up at the small hotel which stood where ' Dicker- 
man's Block ' now stands, which was called the * * ^ >!< * * * Tavern, kept 
by Mr. Vail. On his arrival, he fell in with some old Kentucky friends, who 
invited him to a private room, for the purpose of participating in an inno- 
cent game of ^poker.^ The party consisted of the judge, Col. Morton, regis- 
ter of the land office, and two or three others — friends of the judge. They 
commenced playing for small sums at first, but increased them as the hours 
passed, until the dawn of day, the next morning — when small sums seemed 
beneath their notice. The first approach of day was heralded to them by 
the ringing of the bell for breakfast. The judge made a great many apolo- 
gies, saying, among other things, that as that was his first appearance in the 
territory, and as his court opened at 10 o'clock that morning, he must have 
a little time to prepare a charge to the grand jury. He therefore hoped that 
they would excuse him, which they accordingly did, and he withdrew from 
the party. The court met at the appointed hour — Owen Aldrich acting as 
sheriff, and Cyrus Hawley as clerk. The grand jury was called and sworn. 



WISCONSIN. 431 

The judge, with much dignity, commenced his charge ; and never before did 
we hear such a charge poured forth from the bench ! After charging them 
upon the laws generally, he alluded to the statute against gambling. The 
English language is too barren to describe his abhorrence of that crime. 
Among other extravagances, he said, that 'a gambler was unfit for earth, 
heaven, or hell,' and that 'God Almighty would even shudder at the sight 
of one.' 

At that time, we had but one session of the legislature, which had adopted 
mostly the statutes of Michigan, which allowed the court to exercise its dis- 
cretion in granting stays of executions, etc. A suit came up against a man 
in the second ward, who had no counsel. The judge ordered the crier to call 
the defendant. He did so, and the defendant appeared. The judge asked 
him if he had anything to say against judgment being rendered against him. 
He replied, that he did not know that he had, as it was an honest debt, but 
that he was unable to pay it. The judge inquired what his occupation was. 
He replied that he was a fisherman. Says the judge, '■Chnyoupay in fishV 
The defendant answered, that 'he did not know but he could, if he had time 
to catch them.' The judge turned to the clerk, and ordered him to 'enter up 
a judgment, payable in fish, and grant a stay of execution for twelve 
months ;' at the same time remarking to the defendant, that he must surely 
pay it at the time, and in cjood fish; for he would not be willing to wait so 
long for 'stinking fish.' The next suit worthy of note, was against Wm. M. 
Dennis, our present bank comptroller. He, like his predecessor, had no 
counsel. His name was called, and he soon made his appearance. He en- 
tered the court-room, wearing his usual smile, whittling, with his knife in 
the left hand. The court addressed him in a loud voice, "What are you 
grinning about, Mr. Dennis?' Mr. D. replied, that he was not aware that he 
was laughing. The court inquired if he proposed to offer any defense? He 
replied, that he did, but was not ready for trial. 'No matter,' said the judge, 
'there's enough that are ready; the clerk will enter it 'continued.' ' The 
next case, about which we recollect, was the trial of two Indians, who were 
indicted for murdering a man on Rock River. They were also indicted for 
an assault, with intent to kill, upon another man, at the same time. The 
trial for murder came off first. They were found guilty, and sentenced to 
be hanged. On the day following, they were tried for the assault, etc., found 
guilty, and sentenced to five years' imprisonment, and to pay a fine of five 
hundred dollars each. Governor Dodge, however, deeming it too severe to 
fine and imprison a man after he was hanged, commuted it to imprisonment 
for life. The Indians were confined in jail a year or two, but were finally 
pardoned by the governor. 

Judge Frazier soon afterward went to Green Bay, and held a court, from 
whence, for want of a jail in which to confine prisoners, he sentenced a man, 
for some trifling offense, 'to be banished to Turkey River.' After the court 
adjourned, he returned to Milwaukie on the steamboat Pennsylvania. She 
anchored in the bay, and the judge, who was dead .drunk at the time, was 
lowered by means of a tackle into a boat, and rowed to the landing at 
Walker's Point. From the effect of this bacchanalian revel he never recov- 
ered. His friend. Col. Morton, took him to his own house, called to his aid 
our best physicians, and all was done that human skill could devise, for the 
restoration of his health; but it was too late; the seeds of death had been 
sown; he lingered in great distress for four or five days, and breathed 
his last. The members of the bar, generally, neglected to attend the 



432 WISCONSIN. 

funeral ; and having no relatives in the state, he hardly received a decent 
burial." 



Green Bay^ the county seat of Brown county, is situated at the mouth of 
Fox River, at the head of Green Bay,* 120 miles N.E. from Madison, and 
114 N. of Milwaukie. It is the oldest town in Wisconsin, and occupies an 
important location. It has a good harbor, and is an important place of de- 
posit and transit for the imports and exports of northern Wisconsin. It is a 
great lumber mart, immense quantities being annually exported. The town 
has a beautiful situation, and contains several spacious warehouses, fine 
churches, and elegant residences. By the canal between Fox and Wisconsin 
Rivers, there is steam navigation between Green Bay and the Mississippi 
River. Fort Howard, named from Gov. Benj. Howard, of Missouri, is on 
the west side of Fox River, on a commanding eminence. Population about 
4,000. 

About 1745, the Sieur Augustin De Langlade, his son Charles, and 
probably some others, left Mackinaw and migrated to Green Bay, where they 
became the principal proprietors of the soil. They settled on the east side 
of Fox River, near its mouth, somewhat above and opposite the old French 
post, and on or near the site of the residence of Judge Arndt, at the upper 
end of Green Bay. At this time there appears to have been a small French 
garrison here, of whom Capt. De Velie was commander. Such was the in- 
fluence of Charles De Langlade, that he was appointed, by Vaudreuil, the 
governor of Canada, to command the border forces of the French and In- 
dians in the north-west, and it was by his management that the British were 
defeated and Gen. Braddock slain at Du Quesne, or Pittsburg, in 1755. 
Langlade was also at the capture of Fort William Henry, and also at the 
battle of Quebec, where Montcalm was killed. He received a pension from 
the British government, for his services in the American Revolution. He 
died at Green Bay, in Jan., 1800, at the age of 75, and was buried by the 
Bide of his father, in the cemetery at this place. 

The Green Bay settlement, from its inception in 1745 to 1785, a period of 
forty years, made but little progress. Mr. Grignon, in his "Recollections," 
published by the State Historical Society, says, "in 1785, there were but 
seven families, who, with their engages and others, did not exceed fifty-siy 
souls." In 1792, Charles Reaume arrived and took up his residence at the 
Bay. About this period others began to arrive, almost invariably from Can- 
ada. About the year 1812, the population amounted to nearly 250 persons. 
Previous to the advent of the Americans, in 1816, there were no schools. 
The earliest mill erected in the country was by Jacob Franks, about the year 
1809. He first built a saw mill, then a grist mill, on Devil River, three 
miles east of Depere. Previous to this, grinding was done by hand mills. 
In the summer of 1816, a body of American troops were sent to Green Bay, 
in three schooners, where they arrived about the 16th of July. Grignon, in 
his Recollections, says: 

"Col. Miller, the commander, the very day of his arrival, accompanied by CoL 

« Green Bay, which gives name to the town, is an arm of Lake Michigan, of about 100 
miles in length, and from 10 to 15 in breadth. The name, Green, was given by the early 
explorers, and it is supposed, from this fact, that they must have visited it in the spring, 
and have found the vegetation of the shores of the bay far in advance of other parts of the 
country, as is now sometimes the case, the trees being clothed with young leaves, rich in 
the velvet green of spring, while far to the south, even as low as the latitude of the south 
end of Lake Huron, all nature is in the cold Bombre hues of winter. 



WISCONSIN. 



4.^3 



Chambers, Mnj. frrntiot, Capt. I>en. O'Fallon, and other officers, visited Tomah at 
his villiijre, less than half a mile distant Col. Miller asked the consent of the 
Menomnnees for the erection of a fort. Tomah said: 

' My Brother! How can we oppose your locating a council fire among us? Yon are 
too strong for us Even if we wanted to oppose you, we have scarcely got powder and 
shot to make the attempt. One favor we ask is, that our French brothers shall not he dis- 
turbed or in any way molested. You can choose any place you please for your fort, and 
we shall not object.' 

Col. Miller thanked him and his people for their friendly consent to his request. 
and added that he had some spare provisions, and supposed a little pork and flour 
vrould not hurt him, as they seemed to be scarce articles with the Indians, and in- 
vited him to call and get a supply. Some of the Indians prompted Tomah to ask 
their new father for a little hroth also. Tomah expressed his thanks for Col. Mil- 
ler's kind offers, and added that he and his people would be very glad to have, if 
possible, a little hroth to use with the pork and flour. Col. Miller said, that although 
it was contrary to orders, he would take it upon himself to give them a little — 
enough for a dram apiece, and hoped they wcjuld be moderate in its use. 

The people of Green Bay were generally well pleased with the advent of the 
Americans, a home market was furnished for their surplus provisions, and a new 
impetus was given to the settlement. Vessels now began to arrive with supplies 
for the garrison, and we began to experience the benefits and convenience of lake 
commerce and navigation." 

We continue the history of Green Bay from the Recollections of Hon. 
Henry S. Baird. The article is valuable as a vivid description of the man- 
ners and customs of these early French settlers of Wisconsin : 

In the month of July, 1824, I first landed upon the shores of the Fox River. In 
September following, I came with my wife from Mackinaw, having resided at the 
latter place for two years previously. My knowledge of the early history of the 
state commenced at that period, and has continued uninterrupted until the present 
time. 

In 1824, Green' Bay, as well as the entire country, presented a far different view 
from its present appearance. Old Fort Howard then occupied its present site. 
The grounds around it were used mostly for fields of grain and gardens. A portion 
of the present town of Fort Howard was used by the troops as a parade and drill 
ground. The garrison consisted of four companies of the third regiment of United 
States Infantry, and commanded by the late Gen. .Tohn McNiel, the brother-in-law 
of ex-President Pierce. The ''settlement," so-called, extended from Fort Howard 
on the east, and from the premises now occupied by our venerable fellow-citizen, 
.Judge Arndt, on the east side of Fox River, to the present village of Depere, then 
known as Rapide des Peres. The lands on either side of the river were divided 
into small farms, or more particularly known to the old settlers as "claims." 
These claims are limited in width, generally from two to seven arpents, or French 
acres, but what they lacked in width they made up in depth, being on the average 
eighty arpents, or about two and three quarter miles long, and contained from one 
hundred to six hundred and forty acres each. Like those at St. Louis, Kaskaskia, 
Detroit, Prairie du Chien and other early settlements, these claims were generally 
" squatted " upon by traders and early pioneers, but were subsequently, by a series 
of acts of congress, "confirmed" and granted to the occupants on certain condi- 
tions. Their peculiar shape of " all long and no wide," has often been a matter of 
wonder to the shrewd Yankees, who love to have their farms in a square form, and 
take it all in at one view. Many laugh at what they deem the toUy and short- 
sightedness of the old settlers in thus limiting their locations. But when apprised 
of the reasons which induced this manner of location, they may cease to marvel. 
In my opinion, the reasons were two-fold : first, security against the hostile iUtacks 
to be apprehended from the native Indians, who were the sole occupants and pro- 
prietors of the country in the early years of its settlement by the traders, and 
whose passions were often inflamed hj jealousy and hatred of the whites in their 
encroachments upon the soil and freedom of the original owners. It is evident 
that it would be much easier to repel attack by a speedy union of the white8 thui 

28 



434 



WISCONSIN. 



liviii"' in close proximity to each other, and concentrating their whole force and 
mean^* of defense, at some elio;ibIe point of security, than it would have been if 
liviuif in spots remote and scattered over a large extent of country. Another rea- 
son was, that in those days the traders or whites who settled in the country were 
not influenced bv the same motive of cupidity that governs the "squatters" or 
" claimants " of the present day, in the desire to acquire large landed possessions, 
But few of those who came into the country at that early period, say about ono 
hundred years ago, designed to make it their permanent abode. Their principal 
object was to traffic with the Indians, and to obtain the rich furs and peltries, with 
which this whole region then abounded. Agriculture and the cultivation of the 
soil were, with them, secondary considerations. But very small portions of the 
small tracts of land thus occupied by the adventurers were cultivated by them. 
Small patches of Indian corn, a few acres of potatoes or other vegetables, scattered 
here and there through the settlement, comprised the farming interest of the coun- 
try ; and it was not until the arrival of more enterprising and grasping settlers, the 
keen and speculating Americans (a class feared and hated by the former class), 
that these claims were considered of any value, or worth the trouble and expense 
of obtaining titles to them. 

As before stated, the "settlement" at this place extended on both sides of the 
river from Fort Howard to Depere, a distance of about six miles, here and there 
interspersed with patches of timber, the cultivated land extending back from the 
river but a few acres. Beyond Depere, south or west, there was no white settle- 
ments for many years, except two or three families at the Grand Kaukauna, until 
we reached Prairie du Chien, on the Mississippi River, .and distant about 250 miles; 
where was a garrison of United States troops, and a few hundred inhabitants. All 
north, east or west of Green Bay was a dense forest, an unbroken wilderness, peo- 
pled only by the red man, and roamed by wild beasts. Depere, or rather " Kapide 
des Pere.'^," is supposed to be the spot first located by the Jesuits or early mission- 
aries, in or about the year 1671.* An old building, formerly occupied by these 
Beverend Fathers was situated very near the spot on which now stands the new 
orist mill of Messrs. Wilcox «& Wager. I frequently visited the spot, and the old 
foundation of the venerable edifice was visible for some time after 1 came here, 
and until, in cultivating the ground, the stones were removed or covered over. 
The trade and business of the settlement was principally carried on at what was 
then called by the unpretending and not very pleasing name of " Shanty Town." 
Three or four stores were located at this point, and together with the sutler store 
at Fort Howard, and two or three at other places in the settlement, supplied the wants 
of the community. In addition to the "regular merchants" were several fur 
traders, who carried on a regular traffic with the Indians ; but these had no per 
manent places of trade here. In the autumn of each year, they received, either 
from Mackinaw (then the great depot and head-quarters of the American Fur Com 
pany), or from Canada, their "outfit" of goods and merchandise, consisting of ar 
tides adapted to the wants of the natives, and departed for their distant " winter- 
ing grounds," situated in the wilderness. The principal trading posts, at that 
period, in northern Wisconsin, were the following: Milwaukie, Sheboygan, and 
Manitowoc, on Lake Michigan; Menomonee River, Peshtigo and Oconto, on Green 
Bay ; Fond du Lac, Calumet, and Oshkosh, on Winnebago Lake ; Wolf River, Lake 
Shawano, and the Portage of the Fox and Wisconsin. At all of these points In- 
dian villages were located, and it is a remarkable feature in the settlement of Wis- 
consin, that all or nearly all of the principal cities, towns and villages which now 
in all directions meet our view, were originally sites of Indian villages; showing that 
to the sao^acity and foresight of the aborigines, rather than to the judgment and dis- 
crimination of the whites, are we indebted for the beautiful and eligible locations 
' of the towns throughout the state. 

These traders conveyed the goods, which, however, were not all dry goods, in 
boats called batteaux, being of light draught of water, and constructed so as to 
meet with the least opposition from the current in rapids or swift streams, or in 

*The Mission of St. Francis Xavier, at DePere, was established in 1669: See Jeetiit Re- 
lations, 1669-70; Shea's Hist. Citkolic Missions; Smith's Hist. Wisconsin, 



WISCONSIN. 435 

birch bark canoes, which latter were constructed by the Indians. The boat or 
canoe was manned, according to size and capacity, by a crew consisting of from 
four to ten Canadian voyageurs, or by half-bloods, their descendants. This class, 
which once occupied so prominent a position in the early recollections of the 
times, but which has now nearly disappeared from the country they were the first 
to visit, deserves a passing notice. The Canadian voyagenrs, as the name indicates, 
came originally from Canada, principally from Quebec and Montreal. They were 
employed by the principal traders, under written contracts, executed in Canada, 
for a term of from three to five years — their wages from two hundred and fifty 
livres (fifty dollars) to seven hundred and fifty livres (one hundred and fifty dol- 
lars) per year, to which was added what was termed an "outfit," consisting of a 
Mackinaw blanket, two cotton shirts, a capote or loose sack coat, two pairs of coarse 
pants, shoes and socks, and some other small articles, including soap. Their food, 
when in the "wintering ground," consisted, for the greater portion of the time, of 
corn and tallow, occasionally enriched by a piece of fat pork — or venison and -bear 
meat, when they happened to be plenty ; yet with this spare and simple diet, they 
were healthy and always cheerful and happy. Their powers of endurance were 
astonishing. They would row or paddle all day, and when necessary would carry 
on their backs, suspended by a strap or band crossing their breast or forehead, 
large packs of furs or merchandise, weifi^hing from one hundred to one hundred 
and thirty pounds, for whole days, and when night came, enjoyed their frugal meal 
and joined in merry jokes, recounted stories of their many hair-breadth escapes 
by "flood and forest," or perhaps joined in the dance to the music of the violin, 
if among their companions any were capable of "sawing sweet sounds." In the 
spring of the year, they returned to the settlements or principal trading-posts, to 
spend the summer months in comparative ease, and in the enjoyment of the pas- 
times and frolics they so highly prized. Always improvident, open-hearted and 
convivial, they saved nothing, nor thought of the wants of the future, but spent 
freely the whole of their hard-earned and scanty wages in a few weeks of their 
stay among their friends, and again returned in the fall to pass through the same 
routine of toil, hardship, and privation. Intermarriages frequently took place be- 
tween them and the native women. These marriages were encouraged by the 
traders, as it not only increased the influence of the traders and their engagees over 
the Indians, but was the means of securing their trade, bound the men more closely 
to the country, and insured their continuance in the fur trade, with which they 
had then become familiar. The half-bloods were the descendants of the early 
vryagetirs, and in character and manners closely resembled their sires. 

The commerce of the country was carried on through the medium of a few sail 
vessels plying between this place and the ports on Lake Erie. These vessels were 
generally of from twenty-five to seventy tuns burden. Occasionally, perhaps once 
or twice in the season of navigation, a steamer from Buffalo would look in upon 
us; but these were far different in structure and capacity from the splendid " float- 
ing palaces" which have visited our waters in later years. All kinds of provisions 
and supplies were brought here from Ohio and Michigan, and the inhabitants were 
solely dependent upon those states for everything like provisions, except a limited 
quantity of grain and vegetables raised by the miserable farmers of the country. 

The buildings and improvements in the country were then few, and circumscribed 
within a narrow compass, and in a great degree partook of the unpretendinfr and 
simple character of their occupants. Some constructed of rough or unhewn lojrs, 
covered with cedar bark, here and there a sprinkling of lodges or wigwams, formed 
by long poles stuck in the ground in a circular form, and brought together and 
united at the top by a cord, thus forming an inclosure perhaps twelve or fifteen' 
feet in diameter at the base, and covered with large mats composed of a kind of 
reed or grass, called by the Indians "Puckaway." The mode of ingress and Piiress 
was by raising a smaller mat, covering an aperture left in the side for that |nirpot*e. 
Light was admitted from the top of the structure, throut;h an opening which served 
as well to emit the smoke from the fire, which was made directly in the center of 
the habitation. These wigwams were sometimes occupied by families of the half- 
blood Canadians and Indians, sometimes by the natives. 

The inhabitants of the settlement, exclusive of the native Indians, were mostly 



436 WISCONSIN. 

Canadian French, and those of mixed blood. There were, in 1824, at Green Bay, 
hut six or eijrht resident American families, and the families of the officers sta- 
tioned at Fort Howard, in number about the same. The character of the people 
was a compound of civilization and primitive simplicity — exhibiting the polite and 
lively characteristics of the French and the thoughtlessness and improvidence of 
the aborigines. Possessing the virtues of hospitality and the warmth of heart 
unknown to residents of cities, untrammeled by the etiquette and conventional 
rules of modern " high life," they Avere ever ready to receive and entertain their 
friends, and more intent upon the enjoyment of the present than to lay up store 
or make provision for the future. With few wants, and contented and happy hearts, 
they found enjoyment in the merry dance, the sleigh-ride, and the exciting horse 
race, and doubtless experienced more true happiness and contentment than the 
plodding, calculating and money-seeking people of the present day. This was the 
character of the settlers who occupied this country before the arrival of the Yan- 
kees'—a class now entirely extinct or lost sight of by the present population; but 
it is one which unites the present with the past, and for whom the "old settlers" 
entertain feelings of veneration and respect. They deserve to be remembered and 
placed on the pages of history as the first real pioneers of Wisconsin. Several of 
these persons have left descendants who still survive them; and the names of Lawe, 
Grignon, .Juneau, Porlier, and others of that class, will survive and serve as me- 
morials of the old race of settlers, long after the last of the present generation shall 
have been "gathered to their fathers." 

During the early years of my residence here, the social circle, although limited, 
"Was by no means insignificant. It was composed of the families of the garrison 
and the Americans, and several of the "old settlers." If it was small, it was also 
united by the ties of friendship and good feeling. Free from the formalities and 
customs which are observed by the ton of the present day, we met to enjoy our- 
selves, more like members of one family than as strangers. The young people of that 
period (and all felt young then) would assemble on a few hours' notice at the house 
of a neighbor, without form or ceremony. Young ladies were then expected to 
appear at an early hour in the evening, and not at the usual hour of I'etiring to 
rest, nor were they required to appear in either court ov fancy dresses. The merry 
dance succeeded, and all enjoyed themselves until an early hour in the morning. 
One custom prevailed universally, among all classes, even extending to the Indians : 
that of devoting the holidays to festivity and amusement, but especially that of 
"calling" on New Year's day. This custom was confined to no class in particu- 
lar; all observed it; and many met on New Year who perhaps did not again meet 
till the next. All then shook hands and exchanged mutual good wishes — all old 
animosities were forgotten — all difi"erences settled, and universal peace established. 
May this good old custom be long observed, and handed down to future genera- 
tions as a memento of the good olden time. During the winter season, Green Bay 
A^as entirely insulated. Cut off from communication with all other parts of the 
civilized world, her inhabitants were left to their own resources for nearly half the 
year. Our mails were " few and far between," sometimes but once a month — never 
more than twice, did we receive them, so that the 7iews when received here was no 
longer new. The mails were carried on a man's shoulders from Chicago to (ireen 
Bay, through the wilderness, a distance of about two hundred and fifty miles, and 
could not contain a very great quantity of interesting reading matter. Under such 
circumstances it became necessary that we should devise some means to enliven 
our time, and we did so accordingly ; and I look back upon those years as among 
the most agreeable in my life. 

The country, at that early day, was destitute of roads or places of public enter- 
tainment — nothing but the path, or " Indian trail," traversed the wide expanse of 
forest and prairie from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi, and the travel by land 
was performed on foot or horseback; but there was then another mode of locomo- 
tion, very generally adopted by those who took long journeys — now become obso- 
lete, and which would doubtless be laughed at by the present " fast going" genera- 
tion — that of the Indian or bark canoe. I will not take time to describe the vessel, 
as most of you have doubtless seen such, and perhaps many, now present, have 
taken voyages in these frail barks. The canoe was used in all cases where com- 



WISCONSIN. 



437 




fort and expedition were desired. You may smile at the use of the terms "com- 
fort and expedition," where the traveler sat cooped up all day in a space about four 
feet square, and at night encamped on the bank of the stream, cooked his own 
supper, and slept on tlie ground, with no covering but a tent and blanket, or, often 
times, nothing but the wide canopy of heaven— having, after a day of toil and la- 
bor by his crew, accomplished a journey of thirty to forty miles I But these jour- 
neys were not destitute of interest. The voyageur was enlivened by the merry 
son"- of his light-hearted and ever happy Canadian crew — his eye delighted by the 
constant varying scenery of the country through which he passed — at liberty to 
select a spot for his encampment, and to stop when fatigued with the day's travel 
— and, above all, free from care and from the fearful apprehensions of all modern 
travelers on railroads and steamboats, that of being blown up, burned, or drowned. 
1 can better illustrate this early mode of travel,by giving an account of a " party 

of pleasure," undertaken and 
accomplished by myself In 
May, 1830, being obliged to 
go on the annual circuit to 
Prairie du Chien, to attend 
court, I concluded to make it 
a matter of pleasure as well 
as business. 1 accordingly 
obtained a good sized and sub- 
stantial north-west bark canoe 
— about five fathoms, or thirty 
feet, in length, and five feet 
wide in the center — a good 
tent, or "markee," together 
with mattresses, blankets, 
bedding, mess basket, and all 
other things required as an 
"outfit" on such expeditions. 
The party consisted of my 
wife, self, two small children, 
two young ladies as compan- 
ions, and a servant girl ; my crew, of four Canadians — experienced men and good 
singers — and two Menomonee Indians, as bow and steersmen. The canoe was 
propelled both by oars and paddles. 

We ascended the Fox River to Fort Winnebago, and descended the Wisconsin to 
the Mississippi, and thence up the latter four miles to Prairie du Chien. The voyage 
occupied eight or nine days in going, and about the same length of time in return- 
ing — during which the ladies "camped out" every night save two. They did all 
the cooking and hotisehold work; the former was no small item — for, with appetites 
sharpened by pure air and exercise, and with abundance of fresh venison, with 
fowl and fish, to satisfy them, the quantity of viands consumed by the party would 
have astonished modern epicures, and perhaps shock the delicate tastes of city 
belles. We frequently encamped early in the afternoon — at some spot which at- 
tracted our attention from its natural beauty, or romantic appearance — and strolled 
along the bank of the stream, plucking beautiful wild flowers, which abounded, or 
clambering up some high bluff or commanding headland, obtained a view of the 
surrounding country, and traced the meandering stream through its high banks, 
far in the distance. It was in the nierry month of May, when the forest was 
clothed in its deepest verdure — the hills and prairies redolent with flowers, and 
the woods tenanted by melodious songsters. It was truly a " trip of pleasure " and 
enjoyment. Many trips for pleasure have been undertaken, where the parties may 
have experienced the refinements and accommodations, and enjoyed the luxuries 
to be found, in the present day, in old and long settled countries — but 1 believe 
few, if any, realized more true delight and satisfaction, than did this "Party of 
Pleasure in a Bark Canoe." 

The present "State of Wisconsin," although formerly a part of the Territory of 
Michigan, was for many years rather an appendage than a component part of that 



The Portage. 

The engraving represents a party of voyageurs carrying their 
bark canoe and packing their " plunder " over a portage. The 
term " portage " is applied to tliose points where the canoes 
are carried by land around rapids or other obstructions in a 
river, or from tlie head -waters of one stream to those of another, 
as between those of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. 



438 



WISCONSIN. 



territory. In 1824, things had assumed a more orderly and regular character ; jus- 
tice was administered according to the established rules and practice of other 
states, and of the common hxw. But in the subordinate, or justices' courts, many 
singuhir incidents transpired. 

I happened to be present at a trial which took place in a justice's court in Towa 
county. The court was held in a small log school-house. The suit was brought 
to recover the amount of a note of hand. The defendant plead either payment or 
want of consideration — each party had employed counsel, and a jury of six were 
impanneled to try the issue. A witness was called and sworn. In the course of the 
examination, one of the counsel objected to some leading question put by the opposite 
side, or to some part of the witness' answer as improper testimony. The justice 
overruled the objection, and the witness proceeded; but ere long another objection 
similar to the first was made from the same side. On this second objection being 
made, the foreman of the jury, a large and portly individual, who bore the title of 
colonel, and, probably owing to his exalted military rank, was permitted to wear 
his hat during the trial, manifested a good deal of impatience, shown by fidgeting 
in his seat and whispering to his fellow jurors; but the justice again overruled the 
objection and told the witness to proceed. This he did for a short time, when he 
made a statement which was clearly irrelevant and contrary to every rule of evi- 
dence and common sense. The attorney who had so often and so unsuccessfully 
attempted to exclude this sort of evidence, could no longer silently submit — he 
again rose from his seat and most respectfully appealed to the court, protesting 
against such statements going to the jury as testimony. Thereupon the worthy 
foreman rose from his seat, and swore he would no longer sit there to hear the ob- 
jections of that fellow. That he had taken an oath as a juror, to decide the case 



v^4^^.\t^ 




Voyageurs Camp. 
The day*3 toil ended, they rest from labor. 

according to the evidence, and if he could not hear the whole story from the wit 
ness, he should leave. Accordingly he made several strides toward the door, when 
the justice rose from the bench, and approaching the juror, placed his hand upon 
the colonel's shoulder, and begged that he should return to his seat, promising that 
the troublesome attorney should not again interfere. After some persuasion, ho 
consented to do so — at the same time, while pressing his hat more firmly upon his 



WISCONSIN. 



4.9 



head, he exclaimed, "Well, I'll try it once more, but if I will stand any nior. 

•>f that felloios nonsense^ The attorney gave up in despair, and the opposite 
rrunsel had it all his own way. 




South-western view of Madison, 

Shows the apjwaranro of the city, as seen from Washington-avenue, near the railroad station ; the City 
Hall appears on the left; the Court House on the right; the Episcopal Church, State Capitol, the Baptist 
and Catholic Churches in the central part. 

Madison, the county seat of Dane county, and capital of "Wisconsin, is 80 
miles W. of Milwaukie, about 100 E. from' Prairie du Chien, and 154 N.W. 
of Chicago. It is generally pronounced to possess the finest natural site of 
anv inland town in the Union. It is situated on rising ground, an isthmus 
between Third and Fourth Lakes of the chain called Four Lakes. ''On the 
northwest is Lake Mendota, nine miles long and six wide; on the east Lake 
Monona, five miles long and three wide. The city is celebrated for the beauty, 
health and pleasantness of its location; commanding, as it does, a view of 
nearly every characteristic of country peculiar to the west — the prairie, oak 
opening, mound, lake, and woodland. The surface of the ground is some- 
what uneven, but in no place too abrupt for building purposes. The space 
between these lakes is a mile in width, rising gently as it leaves their bjinks 
to an altitude of about seventy feet, and is then alternately depressed and 
elevated, making the site of the city a series of gently undulating swells. 
On the most elevated ground is the state house, a fine structure of limestone, 
in the center of one of Nature's Parks of fifteen acres, overlooking the 
"Four Lakes" and the surrounding city. From this the streets diverge in 
every direction, with a gradual descent on all sides. To the west, about a 
mile distant, is the State University, in the midst of a park of 40 acres, 
crowning a beautiful eminence, 125 feet above the lake. This institution w:is 
founded in 1848, and has an annual income of $30,000. On the south side 
of Lake Monona is a spacious Water-Cure establishment, surrounded by an 
extensive grove, and presenting a very striking appearance on approaching 



440 WISCONSIN. 

the city. Around Madison, in every direction, is a well-cultivated, and beau- 
tiful undulatin<r country, which is fast being occupied by pleasant horaoo." 

Madison possesses many handsome buildinprs and several churches of a 
superior order. Beside the State University, it has other literary institutions, 
male and female, of the first order, about 20,000 volumes in its public libra- 
ries, and is generally regarded as the literary emporium of the state, being 
the point for the assemblage of conventions of all kinds, and a favorite re- 
sort for the literary and scientific men of Wisconsin. The town is a thriv- 
ing business place, and has ample railroad connections with all parts of the 
country. Population, in 1860, 6,800. 

The "State Historical Society op Wisconsin," organized in Madi- 
son in 1849, is the most valuable and flourishing institution of the kind west 
of the Alleghanies. By an act, most honorable to this growing state, the 
sum of one thousand dollars annually has been granted to promote its ob- 
jects. This society, although in its infancy, has already secured a most val- 
uable collection of books and papers ; also an interesting collection of orig- 
inal paintings of distinguished men, ancient relics, etc. The following article 
upon the history of Madison, is from the pen of Lyman C. Draper, Esq., 
Cor. Sec. Wisconsin Historical Society, a gentleman who has probably col- 
lected more original unpublished materials for western history, than any per- 
son living in this state or in any other: 

"The site of Madison attracted the attention of Hon. James D. Doty, as 
early as 1832. In the spring of 1836, in company with Hon. S. T. Mason, 
of Detroit, he purchased the tract of land occupied by the present city. The 
first cost of this tract was about SI, 500. The territorial legislature which 
met at Belmont, Lafayette county, the next winter, passed an act locating the 
capital here, and John Catlin and 3Ioses M. Strong staked out the center of 
the village in February of the same winter. In the mean time commission- 
ers were appointed by the general government, to construct the capitol edi- 
fice: Messrs. James D. Doty, A. A. Bird, and John F. O'Neil, were the com- 
missioners. Eben Peck was sent on with his family to erect a house, whei'e 
the men employed in building the capitol might board and lodge, and was 
the first settler at Madison. He arrived on the 14th of April, in 1837, and 
put up a log house, which remains standing to this day, upon its original 
site, on block 107, Butler-street. This was, for about a year, the only public 
house in Madison. 

On the 10th of June succeeding, A. A. Bird, the acting commissioner for 
constructing the capitol, accompanied by a party of thirty-six workmen, ar- 
rived. There was no road, at that time, from Milwaukie to the capital, and 
the party were compelled to mtke one for their teams and wagons as they 
came along. They left Milwaukie on the 1st of June, with four teams. It 
rained incessantly, the ground, drenched with water, was so soft that even 
with an ordinary road, their progress would have been slow, but when to this 
are added the obstructions of fallen trees, unbridged streams, hills whose 
steepness labor had not yet mitigated, and the devious course which they ne- 
cessarily pursued, it is not surprising that ten days were spent in accomplish- 
ing a journey, which, since the advent of the iron horse into the Four Lake 
country, we are able to perform in a little more than three hours. They 
Inrded Rock River near the site of the present city of Watertown, and the 
Crawfish at Milford. The first glimpse they had of the sun during their 
journey was on the prairie, in this county, now known as the Sun Prairie — 
■i name given it at the time, as a compliment to the luminary which beamed 



WISCONSIN. 44-j^ 

forth so auspiciously and cheerfully on that occasion, and possibly to encour- 
age Old Sol to persevere in well doing. 

Among the party that came with Bird was Darwin Clark, Charles Bird, 
David Hyer, and John Pierce ; the latter accompanied by his family, being 
the second settler with a family. On the same day that this party reached 
here, Simeon Mills, now a resident of Madison, and well known through the 
county, arrived from Chicago. John Catlin had been appointed postmaster, 
but was not here, and Mr. M. acted as his deputy. He erected a block build- 
ing, fifteen feet square, and in this opened the postoffice and the first store 
in Madison. The building is yet extant, and at present stands in the rear 
of a blacksmith shop, and is used as a coal house. During the following 
month John Catlin arrived, and was the first member of the legal profession 
that settled in Madison. William N. Seymour, another old settler and well 
known citizen, came here the same season, and was the second lawyer in the 
place. The workmen upon the capitol proceeded at once to getting out stone 
and timber for that edifice, and, on the Fourth of July, the cornerstone was 
laid, with due ceremony. Speeches were made on the occasion and toasts 
drunk, whether in cold water, or some stronger beverage, tradition does not 
mention. 

The first framed building erected was a small office for the acting commis- 
sioner; the first framed dwelling was built by A. A. Bird. This still stands 
upon its original site, on the bank of Lake Monona, back of the Capital 
House. The boards used in these buildings were sawed by hand. A steam 
saw mill, to saw lumber for the capitol, was built during the latter part of the 
same season, on the shore of Lake Mendota, just below the termination of 
Piiikney-street. In the month of September, of the same year, John Stoner 
arrived, being the third settler with a family. A Methodist clergyman, the 
Rev. Mr. Stebbins, the presiding elder of the territory, preached the first ser- 
mon delivered in Madison, during the same month. Four families, with 
their inmates and guests, constituted the entire population of Madison, and 
with two or three families at Blue Mounds, the whole population of Dane 
county during the winter of 1837—8. In the spring of 1838, Messrs. A. A. 
Bird, Simeon Mills, William A. Wheeler, and others, who spent the winter 
here, brought on their families and became permanent residents. During the 
summer the Madison Hotel was built, and the first session of the supreme 
court of the territory was held in July, in the sitting room. Judge Dunn, 
of Lafayette county, was then chief justice, with Judges Frazier and Irwia 
as associates. The work on the capitol went on somewhat slowly. On the 
8th of November, the Wisconsin Enquirer, by J. A. Noonan, made its appear- 
ance, being the pioneer paper at the capital. 

The resident population of Madison, the second winter, was about one 
hundred souls. The first female child born in Madison was Wisconsinia 
Peck, born in the fall of 1837; the first male child was Madison Stoner, 
born in 1838. Dr. Almon Lull, the first physician, settled here during the 
same year. 

The Wisconsin Enq%iirer of May 25, 1839, contains an article respecting 
Dane county, in which the population of the county is estimated at over 
three hundred, more than half of whom resided in Madison. This was, 
doubtless, too high an estimate, as the population by the census of 1840 was 
but 314. The village then contained two stores, three public houses, three, 
groceries, and one steam mill — in all, thirty-five buildings. The same article 
states that prices had ranged during the year then past as follows: corn, $1 25 



442 WISCONSIN. 

per bushel; oats, 75 cents; potatoes, $1 00; butter, 37^ to 62^ cents; eir.ss, 
37^ to 75 cents per dozen; pork and beef, from 7 to 12 cents per pound. The 
anniversary of our national independence was celebrated in due style, for the 
first time in Madison, this season. John Catlin, Esq., was president of the 
day; A. A. Bird and Simeon Mills, vice presidents. The Declaration was 
read by Greo. P. Delaplaine, and the oration pronounced by William T. Ster- 
ling;. Hon. E. Brigham acted as marshal. 

For a number of years the growth of the village was slow. Immediately 
after the location of the capital, all the lands in the vicinity were entered 
by speculators, and'lots and land were held at a prospective value. The lo- 
cation being at a central point between the Mississippi and Lake Michigan, 
the advancing army of immigrants, on either hand, found a wide, fertile and 
beautiful extent of country, at that time nearer market, and therefore holding 
out superior attractions to the agriculturist. They did not consequently care 
to indulge the speculator's appetite for fancy prices. This condition of affairs 
continued until 1848. In the meantime the fertile valley of Rock River had 
been filled with settlers, and immigration began to turn into Dane county, 
tvhich possesses a soil as bountiful and a surface of country as attractive as 
any county in the state, but which, before it was tapped by railroads, was too 
far from market to render agriculture remunerative. 

Tlie beginning of the real prosperity and growth of Madison commenced 
with the admission of the state into the Union, in 1848. The constitutional 
convention then permanently located the capital here; until that time there 
had b(;en fears of its removal, and capitalists had hesitated to invest their 
money in the vicinity. Since that period its progress in wealth and popula- 
tion has been rapid and constant. 

In 18i7, L. J. Farwell, of Milwaukie, attracted by the beauty of the lo- 
cation, and foreseeing its advantages as the natural business center of the in- 
terior, the point of convergence of the principal lines of travel, and the cap- 
ital of the state, made an extensive purchase of real estate, comprising a 
portion of the village plat and of lands lying adjacent, which included the 
Unimproved water power between Lakes Monona and Mendota. To the 
active enterprise, the liberal policy, and the public spirit of this gentle- 
man, Madison is largely indebted for her present prosperity and growing 
greatness." 

We conclude this sketch of Madison with Child's account of the first ses- 
sion of the territorial legislature in the place, which met Nov. 26, 1838: 

The new capitol edifice was not yet in a suitable condition to receive the legis- 
lature ; so we had to assemble in the basement of the old American House, where 
Gov. Dodge delivered his first message at the new seat of government. We ad- 
journed fi-om day to day, until we could get into the new capitol building. At 
length we took possession of the new Assembly Hall. The floors were laid with 
green oak boards, full of ice; the walls ot the room were iced over; green oak 
beats, and desks made of rough boards ; one fire-place and one small stove. In a 
few days the flooring near the stove and fire-place so shrunk on account of the 
heat, that a person could run his hands between the boards. The basement story 
was all open, and James Morrison's large drove of hogs had taken possession; they 
were awfully poor, and it would have taken two of them, standing side by side, to 
have made a decent shadow on a bright day. We had a great many smart mem- 
bers in the house, and sometimes they spoke for Buncombe. When members of 
tliis ilk would become too tedious, I would take a long pole, go at the hogs, and stir 
them up; when they would raise a young pandemonium for noise and confusion. 
The speaker's voice would become completely drowned, and he would be compelled 
to stop, not, however, without giving his squealing disturbers a sample of his swear- 
ing ability. 



WISCONSIIf. 



443 



The weather was cold; the halls were cold, our ink would freeze, everything 
froze — so when we could stand it no lon!i;er, we passed a joint resolution to adjourn 
for twenty days. I was appointed by the two houses to procure carpeting for both 
halls during the recess; 1 bought all I could find in the territory, and brought it to 
Madison, and put it down after covering the floor with a thick coatins; of hay. 
After this, we were more comfortable. The American Hotel was the only public 
house in Madison, except that Mr. Peck kept a few boarders in his old log house, 
which was still standing not long since. We used to have tall times in those 
days — times long to be remembered. The Forty Thieves were then in their in- 
fancy; stealing was carried on in a small way. Occasionally a bill would be fairly 
stolen through the legislature; and the territory would get gouged a little now and 
then. 




The Four Lakes. 

The " Four Lakes," in the midst of which Madison is so beautifully 
placed, is a striking feature of the country, which is called the "garden spot" 
of Wisconsin. The land around them is undulating, and consists mostly of 
prairies and "oak openings," bearing in some respects a resemblance to En- 
glish park scenery. Fourth Lake, or Lake Mendota, is the largest of the 
chain, and from 50 to 70 feet deep. It is navigable for small steamers. 
"The land around this lake rises gradually from its margin, and forms, in the 
distance, the most beautiful elevations, the slopes of which are studded with 
clumps of woods, and groves of trees, forming the most charming natural 
scenery. The water of all these lakes, coming from springs, is cold and clear 
to a remarkable degree. For the most part, their shores are made of a fine 
gravel shingle; and their bottoms, which are visible at a great depth, are 
composed of white sand, interspersed with granite bowlders. Their banks, 
with few exceptions, are bold. A jaunt around them affords almost every 
variety of scenery — bold escarpments and overhanging bluifs, elevated peaks, 
and gently sloping shores, with graceful swells or intervals, affording mag- 
nificent views of the distant prairies and openings; they abound in fish of a 
great variety, and innumerable water-fowl sport upon the surface. Persona 
desiring to settle in pleasant locations, with magnificent water views and wood- 



444 WISCONSIN. 

land scenery, may find hundreds of unoccupied places of unsurpassed beauty 
upon and near their margins." 

The term " Four Lake Country," is applied to Dane county, in which these 
lakes are situated. This county contains about 1,250 square miles, nearly 
equal to the entire state of Rhode Island, which has 1,300 square miles. 
Only one sixth of the land is yet settled, and all is susceptible of culture. 
•Were Dane county as thickly settled as the French departments of Rhone, 
Nurd, and Lower Rhine, it would sustain a population of 700,000 souls." 

The first permanent American settler, within the limits of Dane county, was 
Ebenezer Brigliam, of Blue Mounds. " He journeyed from Massachusetts to St. 
Louis in 1818; thence, in the spring of 1828, he removed to Blue Mounds, the 
most advanced outpost in the mines, and has resided there ever since, being, by 
four years at least, the oldest white settler in the county. The isolated position he 
thus settled upon will be apparent from the statement of a few facts. The nearest 
settler was at what is now Uodgeville, about twenty miles distant. Mineral Point, 
and most of the other diggings, where villages have since grown up, had not then 
been discovered. On the south-east, the nearest house was on the O'Plaine River, 
twelve miles west of Chicago. On the east, Solomon Juneau was his nearest neighbor, 
at the mouth of the Milwaukie Kiver; and on the north-east, Green Bay was the 
nearest settlement — Fort Winnebago not then being projected. The country at 
this time was part of Michigan Territory. 

For several years after his coming the savages were sole lords of the soil. A 
large Indian village stood near the mouth of Token creek; another stood on the 
ridge between the Second and Third Lakes, in plain view of Madison ; and their 
witnvams were scattered all along the streams, the remnants of their gardens, etc., 
being still visible. Then there was not a civilized village in the state of any con- 
siderable size. When the capital was located, he was the nearest settler to it — 
twenty-four miles distant! He stood on the ground before its selection as the seat 
of government was thought of, and from the enchanting beauty of the spot, pre- 
dicted that a village would be built there." 



Watertown, Jefi'erson county, is finely situated on both sides of Rock River, 
on the Fond du Lac and Rock River Railroad, 40 miles easterly from Madi- 
son, at the great bend of the river, at the foot of Johnson's Rapids, where a 
dam across the river creates a great water power, which is extensively used 
for manufacturing purposes. It was settled in 1836, and has had a rapid 
growth. Population, in 1860, 5,800. 

Prairie du Chien, the county seat of Crawford county, stfl,nds upon 
the left bank of the Mississippi, at the terminus of the Milwaukie and Mis- 
sissippi Railroad, about three miles above the mouth of Wisconsin River, 96 
miles W. of Madison, 192 from Milwaukie, 529 above St. Louis, and 296 
below the Falls of St. Anthony. "It is beautifully situated on a dry allu- 
vial prairie, about six miles in length along the river, by two miles wide. 
The southern and widest portion of the prairie is gently undulating, and so 
high above the river as never to be subject to inundation, and it is one of the 
best sites for a town on the river. The water is deep, affording natural and 
spacious harbors. On the opposite side of tlie river the bluffs rise directly 
from the water, are covered with a thick growth of forest trees, and are only 
broken by ravines, which afford roadways into the country west from the 
river. There is no room for any considerable town to be built on the river 
elsewhere, nearer than Dubuque, seventy miles south of this place, and for 
a distance of nearly one hundred miles north, on account of the high bluffa 
which rise, like the highlands of the Hudson, from the water's edge. Prairie 



WISCONSIN". 445 

du Chien can never have a competitor for the western trade between those 
limits." 

There are two landings here, one at the terminus of the Milwaukie and 
Mississippi Railroad, on the slough around the eastern side of an island in 
the Mississippi, the other, McGregor's landing, about 1^ miles northward of 



South-western view of Fort Q-aivford, at Prairie du Chien. 

The Hospital is situated on the right. The high grounds seen back from the fort, with the horizontal 
ranges of stone cropping out from the surface, is characteristic of the appearance of the bluffs on this 
side of the Mississippi. 

the railroad depot. Fort Craioford, now occupied by several laborers and 
their families, is delightfully situated on a gentle elevation of the prairie, 
about half a mile from the shore. Water is obtained within the walls of the 
fort from a well 65 feet deep. Population is about 5,000. 

According to tradition, Prairie du Chien was named from an Indian chief 
by the name of CJden, or Dog, who had a village on the prairie, near where 
Fort Crawford now stands — Chien, or Dog, is a favorite name among the In- 
dians of the north-west. About the year 1737, the French established a 
trading post at this place, and built a stockade around their dwellings to 
protect them from the Indians, and from that day to modern times it con- 
tinued to be a trading and military post, though occasionally a worn out voj/- 
ageur got married and settled down upon the spot. The land at this point 
was not purchased from the Indians, and none surveyed except the private 
claims on the prairie, for many years after the government took possession 
of it as a military post. There were not, until 1835, any Americans that 
emigrated to the prairie for settlement. 

In 1819, Lewis Cass, the governor of Michigan Territory, sent blank com- 
missions for the diflferent officers of the counties, to be filled up by the in- 
habitants. These were taken by Lieut. Col. Leavenworth, then on his way, 
with the fifth regiment, to occupy Forts Crawford and Armstrong, and to 
build a fort at the mouth of St. Peters. Two companies of this regiment, 
under Maj. Muhlenberg, were detached to Prairie du Chien. Soon after re- 
ceiving the blank commissions, the principal inhabitants assembled at the 
house of Nicholas Boilvin, and appointed John W. Johnson, U. S. factor, aa 
chief justice of the county court; Wilfred Owens, judge of probate; N. 
Boilvin, J. W. Johnson, and James H. Loekwood, justices of the peace; J. 
S. Findley, clerk; J. P. Gates, register; and Thomas McNair, sheriff. 



446 WISCONSIN 

The followiiij^ extracts are copied from vol. 2 of the "Collections of the 
State Historical Society of Wisconsin," from an article entitled '■'■Early Times 
and Eoents in Wisroiisiti,'' by Hon. James H. Lockwood: 

"In the year 1820-21, the county authorities of Crawford erected a jail 
in the old village of Prairie du Chien, in the rear of village lot No. 17 of 
that village, made of hewn oak logs of about one foot square; the house 
was 25 by 16 feet, and divided by the same kind of logs into a debtors' and 
criminals' apartments. 

There is a tract of land nearly opposite the old village of Prairie du Chien 
in Iowa, which was granted by the Spanish lieut. governor of Louisiana to 
one Bazil Girard, and running through it was a small stream or brook, usually 
called Girard's creek; but, in 1823, the commandant of Fort Crawford had 
a body of men detailed to cultivate a public garden on the old farm of Gi- 
rard, on said creek, and Martin Scott, then a lieutenant of the fifth infantry, 
and stationed at Fort Crawford, was directed to superintend the party. Fond 
of shooting, and a great shot generally, he took his dogs and gun every 
morning, got into his little hunting canoe, and spent the day in shooting 
woodcocks which were plenty in the marshes about there, and returning in 
the evening would boast of the number that had bled that day. After a 
while he gave the creek the name of Bloody Run, which name it still bears. 
The name generally suggests to strangers the idea of some bloody battle 
having been fought there, and I have been frequently questioned as to the 
tradition relative to it. and a few years since the editor of our village paper 
had somewhere picked up the same romantic idea, and published a long tra- 
ditionary account of a bloody battle pretended to have been fought there 
years ago. But the creek is indebted for its name to the hunting exploits of 
Major Martin Scott, when a lieutenant, and stationed at Fort Crawford. 

On the 16th of September, 1816, I arrived at Prairie du Chien. a traders' 
village of between twenty-five and thirty houses, situated on the banks of 
the Mississippi, on what, in high water, is an island. The houses were built 
by planting posts upright in the ground with grooves in them, so that the 
sides could be filled in with split timber or round poles, and then plastered 
over with clay, and white-washed with a white earth found in the vicinity, 
and then covered with bark, or clapboards riven from oak. 

The village, now called the old village of Prairie du Chien, was designated 
by Lyons as the main village, as it was so at the time he surveyed the private 
land claims of Prairie du Chien. 

There were on the prairie about forty farms cultivated along under the 
blufi"s, where the soil was first rate, and inclosed in one common field, and 
the boundaries generally between them marked by a road that afforded them 
ingress and egress to their fields ; the plantations running from the bluffs to 
the Mississippi, or to the slough of St. Freole, and from three to five arpents 
wide. The owners did not generally live immediately on their farms, but 
clustered together in little villages near their front, and were much the same 
description of inhabitants as those of Green Bay, except that there were a 
number of families of French extraction, entirely unmixed with the natives, 
who came from the French villages of Illinois. The farmers' wives instead 
of being of the Indian tribes about, were generally of the mixed blood: 
They were living in Arcadian simplicity, spending a great part of their time 
in fishing, hunting, horse racing or trotting, or in dancing and drinking. 
They had little or no ambition for progress and improvement, or in any way 
bettering their condition, provided their necessities were supplied, and thev 



WISCONSIN. 447 

could often collect together and dance and frolic. "With these wants grati- 
fied, they were perfectly satisfied to continue he same routine and habits of 
their forefathers before them. They had no aristocracy among them except 
the traders, who were regarded as a privileged class. 

It was said, that about 1809 or 1810, a trader, an Irishman by birth, of 
the name of Campbell, was appointed by the U. S. government sub-Indian 
agent at Prairie du Chien, and by the governoi: of the Territory of Illinois 
a justice of the peace. The currency of Prairie du Chien was at that time 
flour, and Campbell charged for celebrating the rites of matrimony 100 
pounds of flour, and for dissolving it 200 pounds, alleging that when people 
wanted to get wwiarried, they would willingly give double what they would 
originally to form the matrimonial connection. 

In speaking of the courts of justice of the country, and of their county 
seats, Mr. Brisbois related to me, that sometime previous to the war of 1812, 
he and Mr. Campbell had a dispute about a heifer that was worth at the 
time perhaps eight dollars ; and as each believed it to be his property, they 
applied to the lawyer at Cahokia to assist them in finding out who was the 
real owner. The mode of traveling in those days was in a canoe, manned 
with six or eight men to paddle, and taking with them some flour, tea, and 
sugar for the Burgeois; and some hulled corn and deer tallow, enough to 
season the soup, for the men, depending upon shooting game by the way, or 
buying wild fowl or venison from the Indians. The parties litigant were 
obliged to take their witnesses with them, paying them for their time and ex- 
penses, from their departure until their return home. The parties were also 
obliged to take a bundle of beaver skins, and dispose of them at St. Louis to 
pay the expenses of lawyers, etc.; and the lawyers, as usual, were disposed 
to oblige the parties by putting over the case from time to time, and the 
parties continued the suit in this manner until it had cost them about fifteen 
hundred dollars each, when they took it out of court and settled it. But 
which retained the heifer, if I ever heard, I do not now recollect. 

The coutume de Paris so far prevailed in this country generally, that a part 
of the ceremony of marriage was the entering into a contract in writing, gen- 
erally giving, if no issue, the property to the survivor; and if they desired 
to be divorced, they went together before the magistrate, and made known 
their wishes, and he, in their presence, tore up the marriage contract, and 
according to the custom of the country, they were then divorced. I was 
once present at Judge Abbott's at Mackinaw, when a couple presented them- 
selves before him, and were divorced in this manner. When the laws of 
Michigan were first introduced at Prairie du Chien, it was with difficulty that 
the justice of the peace could persuade them that a written contract was not 
necessary, and some of them believed that because the contract of marriage 
gave the property to the survivor, that they were not obliged to pay the debts 
which the deceased owed at the time of his death. 

There was an instance of this at Prairie du Chien. A man by the name 
of Jean Marie Quen (de Lamouche), who had been married by contract, died 
without issue, leaving a widow, some personal property, and a good farm, but 
was indebted to Joseph Rolette about $300, which his widow refused to p.iy, 
alleging that the contract of marriage gave her all the property; nor could 
she be convinced to the contrary, until I had brought a suit against her and 
obtained a judgment." 

" In speakincf of the early settlers, and their marriage connections, 1 should per- 
haps explain a little. In the absence of religious instructions, and it becoming so 



448 WISCONSIN. 

common to Ree the Indians use so little ceremony about marriage, the idea of a 
verbal matrimonial contract became familiar to the early French settlers, and they 
generally believed that such a contract was valid without any other ceremony. 
Many of the women, married in this way, believed, in their simplicity and igno- 
rance, that they were as lawfully the wives of the men they lived with, as though 
they had been married with all the ceremony and solemnity possible. A woman 
of Prairie du Chien, respectable in her class, told me that she was attending a ball 
in the place, and that a trader, who resided on the Lower Mississippi, had his 
canoe loaded to leave as soon as the ball was over, proposed to marry her; and as 
he was a trader and ranked above her, she was pleased with the offer, and as his 
canoe was waiting, he would not delay for*further ceremony. She stepped from 
the ball room on board his canoe, and went with him down the Mississippi, and 
they lived together three or four years, and she had two children by him. She 
assured me that she then believed herself as much the wife of this man as if she 
had been married with all the ceremony of the most civilized communities, and 
Avas not convinced to the contrary, until he unfeelingly abandoned her and married 
another; and from her manner of relating it, I believed her sincere." 

The traders in the British interest, in the war of 1812, resorted to Mack- 
inaw as their head-quarters. In order to obtain the whole control of the 
Indian trade, they fitted out an expedition under Col. McKay, consisting of 
three or four companies of Canadians, commanded by traders and officered 
by their clerks, all in red coats, with a body of Indians. Having made a 
secret march, they arrived on the prairie without being expected. Making 
a formidable show, and the Americans being out of ammunition and provis- 
ions, they surrendered, and the British kept possession during the war. 

"In the spring of 1817, a Roman Catholic priest from St. Louis, called Pere 
Priere. visited Prairie du Chien. He was the first that had been there for many 
years, and perhaps since the settlement, and organized a Roman Catholic Church, 
and disturbed some of the domestic arrangements of the inhabitants. He found 
several women who had left their husbands and were living with other men; these 
he made by the terror of his church to return and ask pardon of their husbands, 
and to be taken back by them, which they of course could not refuse. 

Brevet General Smyth, the colonel of the rifle regiment, who came to Prairie du 
Chien to erect Fort Crawford, in 1816, had arrived in June, and selected the mound 
where the stockade had been built, and the ground in front, to include the most 
thickly inhabited part of the village. The ground thus selected encroached u})on 
the ancient burying ground of the prairie, so that the inhabitants were obliged to 
remove their dead to another place. 

During the winter of 1816, or early in the spring of 1817, Lieut. Col. Talbot 
Chambers arrived at Fort Crawford, and assumed the command, and the houses in 
the village being an obstruction to the garrison, in the spring of 1817, he ordered 
those houses in front and about the fort to be taken down by their owners, and re- 
moved to the lower end of the village, where he pretended to give them lots." 

"When I first came to the country, it was the practice of the old traders and 
interpreters to call any inferior article of goods American, and to speak to the In- 
dians in a contemptuous manner of the Americans and their goods, and the goods 
which they brought into the country but too generally warranted this reproach. 
But after Mr. Astor had purchased out the South-west Company and established 
the American Fur Company, he succeeded in getting suitable kinds of goods for 
the Indians, except at first the North-west Indian gun. He attempted to introduce 
an imitation of them, manufactured in Holland, but it did not succeed, as the In- 
dians soon detected the difference. 

At that time there were generally collected at Prairie du Chien, by the traders 
and U. S. factors, about three hundred packs of one hundred pounds each of furs 
and peltries, mostly fine furs. Of the different Indian tribes that visited and tradtd 
more or less at Prairie du Chien, there were the Menomonees, from Green Bay, 
who frequently wintered on the Mississippi ; the Chippewas, who resided on the 
head waters of the Chippewa and Black Rivers; the Foxes, who had a large village 



WISCONSIN. 449 

where Cassville now stands, called Penah, i. e. Turkey; the Sauks, who resided 
about Galena and Dubuque; the Winnebagoes, who resided on the Wisconsin 
River; the lowas, who then had a village on the Upper Iowa River;, Wabashaw's 
band of 8ioux, who resided on a beautiful prairie on the Iowa side of the Missis- 
sippi, about one hundred and twenty miles above Prairie du Chien, with occasion- 
ally a Kickapoo and Pottawatomie. 

The Sauks and Foxes brought from Galena a considerable quantity of lead, 
molded in the earth, in bars about two feet long, and from six to eight inches wide, 
and from two to four inches thick, being something of an oval form, and thickest 
in the middle, and generally thinning to the edge, and weighing from thirty to forty 
pounds. It was not an uncommon thing to see a Fox Indian arrive at Prairie du 
Chien, with a hand sled, loaded with twenty or thirty wild turkies for sale, as they 
were very plenty about Cassville, and occasionally there were some killed opposite 
Prairie du Chien." 

"In the year 1828, Gen. Joseph M. Street was appointed Indian agent at Prairie 
du Chien, and arrived alone in the fall of that year to assume the duties of hi» 
oflSce; and, in the winter, returned to Illinois, and brought his family to Prairie 
du Chien in the spring of the following year, being the first family who settled in 
Prairie du Chien that made a profession of the Protestant faith of any of the dif- 
ferent sects." 

"In 1830, the present Fort Crawford was commenced, and in 1831, it was occu- 
pied with a part of the troops, leaving the sick in the old hospital, and the surgeon 
in the old fort. The fort, I think, was finished in 1832. In 1833, the authorities 
of Crawford county concluded to build a ccmrt house and jail, and commenced 
raising funds by increasing the taxes; and, in 1836, constructed a stone building 
of sufficient size to have on the ground floor a room each for criminals and debtors, 
and two rooms for the jailer, with a court room and two jury rooms on the second 
floor. The taxable inhabitants then in the county were confined to the prairie. 
We were then attached to Michigan Territory, and so well were our county affairs 
managed, that the taxes were not raised more than five mills on a dollar to pay for 
this improvement; and this was the first court house erected in Wisconsin. 



The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in a small grave- 
yard, in a grove of locust trees, a short distance north of Fort Crawford : 

Sacred to the memory of Capt. Edgar M. Lacy, 5th Reg. U. S. Inft., who died at Fort 
Crawford, April 2, 1839, aged 33 years. He awaits the last Review. Erected by the 5th 
Infantry. 



Sacred to the memory of Willoughbt Morgan, Col. 1st Infy, U. S. Army, who died at 
Fort Crawford, April 4, 1832. Erected by the 5th Infantry. 



Racine is on the W. shore of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of Root River, 
73 miles E.S.E. from Madison, 23 S.E. from Milwaukie, and 62 N. from Chi- 
cago. The Chicago and Milwaukie Railroad, connecting with the Racine and 
Mississippi Railroad, here opens a vast extent of prairie country to its trade. 
The outlet of Root Ri\er at this place gives it great commercial advantages ; 
the average width in the city being 230 feet, and for more than half a mile 
it is 12 feet deep. Lake Michigan is 70 miles wide opposite Racine; the 
harbor is one of the most commodious on the entire chain of lakes. The 
city is finely located upon the high banks of the lake and river. Its broad, 
straight, and beautifully shaded avenues extend along the lake for miles. It 
contains several splendid buildings, 18 churches, among which are 4 German, 
8 Welsh, and 1 Scandinavian; 4 newspapers are published here. Population, 
in 1840, 300; in 1850, 5,111; in 1860, 7,600. 

The Racine College buildings are located in a delightful grove, overlook- 
ing a lake front of uncommon beauty. The college was founded by the citi 
29 



450 



WISCONSIN. 



zens of Racine, under the patronage of the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of 
Wisconsin, at the instance of the lit. Rev. Jackson Kemper, D.D. The site 
on which the college stands, comprising ten acres of valuable land, was given 
by Charles S. and Truman Gr. Wright. The college was incorporated in 1852. 
The first Episcopal clergyman who preached in Racine was Rev. Lemuel B. 
Hull, of Milwaukie, in the spring of 1840. 




Northern view of Racine. 

The above shows the appearance of the central part of Racine, as entered from the west. The swing 
bridge over Root River is in the central part. The eastern terminus of the Racine and Mississippi Rai I- 
road appears on the left. The lake is a few rods beyond the buildings in the distance. 

In 1834, Antoine Ouilmette came, with his Indian family, from Grosse 
Point, and located himself one mile from Racine. In November, of the same 
year, the east fractional half of section 9, was claimed by Capt. Knapp. of 
Racine. Gr. S. Hubbard, of Chicago, and J. A. Barker, of Buffalo, surveyed 
and laid out lots in 1836. The Root River postoffice was established in the 
same year, but discontinued in May, and the Racine postoffice established, 
Dr. B. B. Carey postmaster. The first regular inhabitants located themselves 
near the mouth of the river. The first house of worship was erected by the 
Presbyterians, on Wisconsin -street, and in a building lately used as a school 
house. The Rev. Mr. Foot was the first minister. The first school is be- 
lieved to have been at the foot of Main-street, near the river. 

Kenosha, the county seat of Kenosha, the most southern lake port of 
Wisconsin, is on the W. shore of Lake Michigan, 10 miles S. of Racine. 
It has a good harbor and piers. It commands the trade of one of the finest 
farming districts of the west. Two small creeks empty into the lake, one 
above, the other below the port. Population is about 4,000. 

Kenosha was known at first by the name of Pike River. In 1841, it was 
incorporated a village by the name of Southport; when incorporated a city, 
in 1850, it received the name of Kenosha, the Indian word for Pike. In Feb., 
1835, a company was organized in Hannibal, Oswego county, N. Y., under the 
name of the "Western Emigration Society," for the purpose of procuring a 
town site and effecting a settlement on the new lands of the west. An ex- 



WISCONSIN. 45] 

plorincc committee being appointed, they proceeded to the west, and on the 
6th of June arrived at Pike Creek, where they selected a site for settlement. 
As soon as the news of the selection reached Oswego county, about fifteen 
families, mostly from the town of Hannibal, came on during the summer and 
fall of 1835. "Eight families, members of the company, settled at Pike 
Creek, viz: David Doolittle, Waters Towslee, I. Gr. Wilson, Hudson Bacon, 
David Crossit, Amos Grrattan, Samuel Resique, and Michael Van De Bogart. 
These, with the members of their households, thirty-two persons in all, com- 
prised the population of Pike Creek during the first winter of its settlement. 
Their habitations were rude shanties, built of logs and covered with bark. 
N. R. Allen and John Bullen erected a frame building in the fall of 1835, 
being the first frame building in the place ; this building, however, was not 
completed until the following year; it was located on the lake shore, near 
the south pier of the harbor." 

Janesville, capital of Rock county, is on both sides of Rock River, 45 
miles S.E. of Madison, at the intersection of the Milwaukie and Mississippi 
with the Fond du Lac and Rock River Railroad. It is one of the most im- 
portant cities in the state, and is built principally on a level plain between 
the river and the bluffs, which are about 100 feet high. It has several large 
mills, for which the falls of the river at this point afi"ord excellent sites. It 
is the center of an active and increasing trade. It was settled about the year 
1836, and incorporated a city in 1853. It has 8 churches, the State Institu- 
tion for the Blind, and, in 1860, 7,500 inhabitants. 

Beloit^ a few miles below Janesville, in Rock county, on the railroad from 
Chicago to Madison, near the Illinois state line, is also on Rock River, which 
afi"ords power for manufactories and mills of every description. The town 
was incorporated in 1845, and is adorned with fine churches and dwellings, 
spacious streets, and is the seat of that well known and popular institution, 
Beloit College. Pop\ilation about 5,000. 

Mineral Point, the capital of Iowa county, is 47 miles W. S.W. of Madi- 
son, and 40 from Galena, Illinois. It stands on a point of land between two 
small streams, and is in the heart of the rich lead region. Immense quan- 
tities of lead are exported from this place, which is a point of active busi- 
ness, and has about 3,000 inhabitants. The following places in this section, 
are also connected with mining operations : Dodgeville, Platteville, Hazel 
Green, Lancaster, Highland, Mifflin and Potosi. The last named, Potosi, is 
on Grant River, near its mouth, 15 miles above Dubuque, and is the princi- 
pal mineral depot of Wisconsin, large quantities of lead being shipped from 
here in steamboats. Cassville, 28 miles above Dubuque, on the Mississippi, 
is another important shipping point for lead. 

This whole region is rich in lead, and numerous smelting furnaces are in 
operation. Many lodes of mineral have been worked that have produced 
$100,000 clear of all expenses. The price of mineral in 1838 averaged 
about $30 per 1,000 lbs. It has been sold as high as $40, and as low as $6. 
These fluctuations are not frequent, and a fair estimate may be made that 
mineral will not, for any length of time, be less than $25. 

The great lead region of the north-west lies principally in this state, in- 
cluding, in Wisconsin, 62 townships of its south-western corner, about 10 in 
the north-western corner of Illinois, and about 8 in Iowa. Dr. Owen, in 
his Report of the Geology of Wisconsin, says : 

" This lead region is, in general, well watered ; namely, by the Pekatonica, Apple, 
Fever, Platte and Grand Rivers, the head-waters of the Blue Kiver and *^vjrar 



452 WISCONSIN. 

Creek: all these streams beinc; tributaries of the Mississippi. The northern boun- 
dary of the Wisconsin lead retiion is nearly coincident with the southern boundary 
line of the blue lime.stone, where it fairly emerges to the surface. No discoveries 
of any importance have been made after reaching that formation; and when a 
mine is sunk through the cliff limestone to the blue limestone beneath, the lodes 
of lead shrink into insignificance, and no longer return to the miner a profitable 
reward for his labor. 

All the valuable deposits of lead ore, which have as yet been discovered, occur 
either in fissures or rents in the cliff rock, or else are found imbedded in the recent 
deposits which overlie these rocks. These fissures vary in thickness from a wafer 
to even fifty feet ; and many of them extend to a very great, and at present un- 
known depth. Upon the whole, a review of the resources and capabilities of this 
lead region, taken in connection with its statistics (in so far as it was possible 
to collect these), induces me to say, with confidence, that ten thousand miners 
could find profitable employment within its confines. If we suppose each of these 
to raise daily one hundred and fifty pounds of ore, during six months of each year 
only, they would produce annually upward of one hundred and fifty millions 
pounds of lead — more than is now furnished by the entire mines of Europe, those 
of Great Britain included. This estimate, founded upon reasonable data, presents 
in a striking point of view, the intrinsic value and commercial importance of the 
country upon which I am reporting — emphatically the lead region of northern 
America. It is, so far as my reading or experience extends, decidedly the richest 
in the known world." 

In the Reports of the State Historical Society, Mr. Stephen Taylor has 
given some interesting items upon the origin of lead mining by the first set- 
tlers of the country, with a sketch of the state of society among the early 
miners. Says he : 

"For some time prior to the settlement of the lead mines, the miners, under the 
regulations of the war department, were licensed to explore and occupy the min- 
eral lands in that region, though in consequence of the hostility of the Indians to 
the explorations and encroachments of the whites, they seldom ventured far be- 
yond that protection which numerical strength and the defensive organizations 
near Galena secured. 

It was in the autumn of 1827, upon the cessation of the Winnebago disturbances, 
that the more daring and enterprising, prompted by the hope of discovering vast 
mineral treasures, the existence of which over a wide extent of territoi'y, the many 
flattering accounts had so truthfully pictured, banded together in well armed 
squads, overrun the country prospecting in all directions. They were usually, in 
those times, governed by certain surface indications, the most infallible of which 
were the old Indian diggings, which were found in almost every direction, and 
their locations were marked by the many small aspen groves or patches indigenous 
to the upturned clay of the prairies in the lead region. By the rude and super- 
ficial mode of excavation by the red men, much mineral remained in the diggings, 
as well as among the rubbish; mining in these old burrows, therefore, not only at 
once justified the labor, but frequently led to the discovery of productive mines. 
'Gravel mineral,' carbonized so as to be scarcely distinguished from water-worn 
pebbles, and occasionally lumps weighing several pounds, were exciting evidences 
of the existence of larger bodies upon the highlands in the vicinity. The amorpha 
canescenSy or ' masonic weed,' peculiar to the whole country, when found in a clus- 
ter of rank growth, also attracted the attention of the Indian as well as the more 
experienced miner, as it was supposed to indicate great depth of clay or the exist- 
ence of crevices in the rock beneath. By such means were the mineral resources 
of Wisconsin explored and developed, and thus was the manner of the discovery 
of the productive mines at Mineral Point — a piece of land elevated about two 
hundred feet, narrowing and descending to a point, situated in the midst of a val- 
ley, as it were — a ravine bounding the same both eastward and westward, through 
which tributaries of the Pekatonica River flow, uniting in a wider valley to the 
southward. It was upon this point that the 'leads were struck,' the fame of which 
spread, and so quickly became the center of attraction, the miners flocking to them 



» WISCOITSIN. 453 

from every quarter. Tt was customary, upon the discovery of new diggings, to dis- 
tinguish them by some appelhition, so this locality, on account of its peculiar posi- 
tion and shape, was formerly called 'Mineral Point,' and hence the name of tlie 
present village, the nucleus of which was formed by the erection of a few log 
cabins, and huts built with square cut sods, covered in with poles, prairie grass 
and earth. These very comfortable though temporary shelters were located in the 
vicinity of the intersection of what are now called Commerce and High-stroets, at 
the margin of the westerly ravine, and in view from the diggings on the point. 

Females, in consequence of the dangers and privations of those primitive times, 
were as rare in the diggings as snakes upon the Emerald Isle, consequently the 
bachelor miner, from necessity performed the domestic duties of cook and washer- 
man, and the preparation of meals was indicated by appending a rag to an upright 
pole, which, fluttering in the breeze, telegraphically conveyed the glad tidings to 
his hungered brethren upon the hill. Hence, this circumstance, at a very early 
date, gave the provincial sobriquet of 'Shake Raff,' or 'Shake Raff under the RilJ' 
which that part of the now flourishing village of Mineral Point, lying under the 
hill, has acquired, and which in all probability it will ever retain. So much for 
the origin of Mineral Point. T will now venture a few remarks regarding the 
manners and customs of its inhabitants in days of yore. 

The continued prosperity of the mines, in a comparatively brief period, increased 
the population of the village to several hundred, comprised, as is usual in mineral 
regions, of representatives from every clime and country, and in such conglomera- 
tion, it is fair to presume, of every stripe of character. This increase of popula- 
tion, including many of those expert in the 'profession.' warranted the establish- 
ment of numerous gambling saloons, groceries — a refined name for grogireries — 
and other like places of dissipation and amusement, where the unwary, and those 
flushed with success in digging, could be 'taken in and done for,' or avail them- 
selves of opportunities voluntarily to dispose of their accumulated means, either 
in drowning their sorrows in the bowl, or 'fighting the tiger' in his den. 

Notwithstanding such were the practices almost universally, more or less, in- 
dulged in by the denizens, yet the protracted winters in this then secluded, uncul- 
tivated and sparsely populated country, and, for that reason, the absence of those 
more reputable enjoyments which mellow and refine sociality in other regions, in 
a measure justified a moderate participation in this mode of driving dull cares 
away. These congenial customs, peculiarly western, were as firmly based as the 
laws which governed the Medes and Persians, and wo to those, from lands of 
steadier habits, Avho would endeavor to introduce innovations adverse to the estab- 
lished policy of those days ! Hence the proprietv and necessity of harmonizing 
with, and following in the trail of the popular will. But such, I am happy in the 
conviction, is not now the case — virtue, in the proirress of events, has naturally 
succeeded profligacy, and Mineral Point, freed from contamination, stands re- 
deemed of her former errors."* 

La Crosse, the capital of La Crosse county, is beautifully situated on the 
Mississippi, at the mouth of La Crosse River, 200 miles N.W. of Milwaukie 
by railroad, and 303 miles below St. Paul, by the river. It contains a large 



* "Among the most distinguished of the earliest pioneers of Mineral Point, are Col. Robt. 
C. Hoard, Col. Robert S. Black (now of Dodgeville), Col. Henry M. Billings, Col. Daniel 
M. Parkison, Col. Abner Nichols, Francis Vivian, Parley Eaton, Levi Sterling, Edward 
Beouehard, Josiah Tyaek, James James, Samuel Thomas, Mrs. Hood, Amzi W. Comfort, 
0. P. Williams (now of Portage City), M. V. B. Burris, Milton Bevans, Peter Hartinan, 
John F. O'Neill, William Sublett, John Phillips, John Milton, George Cubbnge, James 
Hitchins, John Caserly, Edward Coode, and William Tregay. And the following, who 
have since paid the debt of nature, viz: Col. John D. Ansley, Col. John McNair, Robert 
Dougherty, Capt. William Henry, Stephen Terrill, Mark Terrill, Dr. Edward McSherry. Dr. 
Richard G. Ridgley, Nicholas Uren, Richard Martin, Jame,'! S. Bowden, John Hood, Lord 
Blaney, Joseph Sylvester, Matthew G. Fitch, Thomas McKnight, Stephen B. Thrasher, 
Robert W. Gray, Joseph Morrison, James Hugo, Hugh R. Hunter, Edward Jaaies (late U. 
S. Marshal), William Prideaux, Joseph James, Benjamin Salter, and " Cadwallader, the 
keg-maker." 




454 WISCONSIN. 

number of saw mills, and considerable quantities of pine lumber are manu 
factured. It is a place of rapid increase and prosperity, and its merchants 
transact a heavy business with the adjacent country, which is rapidly filling 
up. Population, in 1853, 300 ; and in 1860, about 4,000. 

The place pos.sesses peculiar advantages from being the terminus of the 
Milwaukie and La Crosse E-ailroad. "It is probably the most northerly east 
and west road that will be built in the state for many years, and has, conse- 
quently, as tributaries, all northern Wisconsin, west of Lake Winnebago, 
with the exception of a narrow strip on the borders of Lake Superior, and 
the greater portion of Minnesota, extending far away to the Red River of 
the North, the Sascatchawine, and, ultimately, the North Pacific Railroad." 

About 60 miles above La Crosse is that beautiful expansion of the Mississippi, 
known to ail travelers as Lake Pepin. For about 25 miles the river is expanded 

to a width of from two to three 

miles, with majestic bluffs of lime- 

_^^ T T^^" -- ^_ stone on each shore. On the Wis- 

^^=^0; ^^^^_ consin shore, rising about two hun- 

. ^^=="- - ^^^'^^^ dred feet above the water, is the 

noted Maiden's Rock, the scene 
of the Indian legend of Winona, 
the daughter of an Indian chief 
She was betrothed by her father 
to a favorite warrior ; but her af- 
fections were fixed on one younger 
though not less brave. On the 
day appointed for her wedding, she 
The Maiden's Kock. wandered from the gay assemblage 

under pretense oi searchmg for 
Od Lake Pepin, an expansion of the Mississippi. some berries that grew in profu- 

sion on this blufl', when her com- 
panions, to their surprise, heard from her lips a low, plaintive sound : it was the 
death song, and in a moment more, ere they could interfere, she cast herself head- 
long from the rock, and was buried in the deep, cold waters below. 

Prescott and Hudson are two flourishing towns in this part of the state. 
The first is at the junction of the St. Croix River, with the Mississippi — the 
last on that expansion of the St. Croix, called Lake St. Croix. 

The St. Croix River which separates Wisconsin from Minnesota, is cele- 
brated for its pineries, the value of its trade in lumber exceeding three mil- 
lions of dollars per annum. 

"The lumbermen of the St. Croix, during the sessions of the Wisconsin and 
Minnesota legislatures of 1850-1, procured the incorporation of the 'St. Croix 
Boom Company,' with a capital of $10,000. This work was considered absolutely 
necessary, to facilitate the business of driving, assorting, and rafting logs. The 
stock was speedily taken ; and by the following season the boom was built and 
ready for service. The work is substantial and permanent. Piers of immense 
size are sunk at proper distances, from the Minnesota shore to the foot of a large 
island near the center of the stream, and again from the head of the island to the 
Wisconsin shore. The boom timbers are hung from pier to pier, and the whole 
river is entirely commanded, vrith no possibility of scarcely a single log escaping. 
The charter of the company compels them, however, to give free passage to all 
boats, rafts, etc., ascending or descending the river. This duty is rather difficult 
to perform at certain times, particularly when the logs are running into the boom 
briskly, and bands are not to be had to raft and run them out: sornetimes a barrier 
of three or four miles intervene, and thus temporarily closes navigation. With a 
full complement of men the boom can always be kept clear at the point where it 
crosses the main channel of the river. The importance of the lumber business of 
the St. Croix River would hardly be estimated by a stranger. Large quantities are 



WISCONSIN". 455 

floated down the Mississippi to St. Louis. The business of gettinji; out the timber 
is carried on in the winter, and affords employment to large numbers of young 
men. 

Fond dii Lac, the capital of Fond du Lac county, is 72 miles N.N.W. of 
Milwaukie, with which it has railroad connections. It stands at the southern 
extremity of Lake Winnebago, the largest of the inland lakes of the state, 
being about 30 miles long and 10 broad, forming a link in the chain of nav- 
igable waters which connect the Great Lakes with the Mississippi. The 
Portage Canal, on this water way, between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, was 
opened in 1856, and steamers pass from the lake to the Wisconsin River. 
Anciently it was a French trading post, established here for the purpose of 
traffic with the Winnebagoes, who had a village where Tayehudah now is, 
three miles east of the site of the place. The town has grown up within a 
very few years. Population 1860, 5,450. 

A traveler here in the fall of 1859, discourses thus agreeably upon the 
town and country: 

"I like the west, and especially Wisconsin. The country has captivated me — 
the prairie.'^, the pure air, clear sky, fine farms, the perfectly rural air of the whole 
and the hospitality of the people. What splendid farming land around Fond du 
Lac — how easy to till to a New England farmer; smooth fields without a rock, 
scarce a stone, that when first cultivated yield 40 bushels of wheat to the acre, and 
Bifterward IS or 20; garden ground unequaled for vegetables, and a good market in 
the city for all that is for sale. Corn planted in June ripens before the last of 
August. Apples, pears, grapes and filums thrive well, and all the small fruits yield 
abundantly. Here is a wild plum of fine flavor, and much used to make a sauce 
for meat, with spices added. All the fruit trees 1 saw looked healthy and vigorous, 
and free from the ravages of insects. 

The winters are longer than ours, and the thermometer indicates greater cold, 
but residents say the 'cold is not so severe as at the east, from the absence of wind. 
Long storms are very uncommon, and a clear air and bright sun belong to their 
winter, and the dry, pure atmosphere render this climate advantageous to those 
afflicted with pulmonary complaints. It seemed to me especially good for nervous 
people and those troubled with neuralgic pains. Fever and ague are not known 
here; accounts of its good effects in consumptive cases are authenticated. 

Fond du Lac, the citt/ of fountains, named from the Artesian wells which supply 
it with water, bears the promise of a great city. The site is part prairie and part 
woodland, a river dividing it. Twelve years ago it had but one chimney, and the 
pockets of most of its early settlers, were as deficient in means as the houses of 
this most necessary appurtenance; now it has a population of thousands, churches 
of various kinds, some fine stores, and one especially fine block, containing a hall 
which is said to be the handsomest in the w^est, and capable of accommodating 
three thousand people. The hall has a center dome of stained glass, and the effect 
is very pleasing. From the top of the building an incomparable view is to be had 
of the city, lake, prairie, river and woods. The foreign element here is German, 
and an intelligent class of people, obedient to law, and comprehending the oppor- 
tunities a free country offers to them and their children. The people look healthy 
and happy, and there is an appearance of comfort and thrift about them and their 
dwellings. There are no showy houses, but neat, well-arranged buildings, with 
yards, in which stand the forest trees found there, and enlivened by flowers and 
shrubs. The settlers have shown a taste and respect for the forest trees leaving 
them unmolested, and clumps of oaks and hickories in the cultivated fields are 
pleasant to look upon, and their shade must delight the cattle in summer. The 
Ijeauty of this country is indescribable, the whole having the appearance of a well 
cared for park. 

A ridge of limestone runs from Green Bay to the end of Lake Michigan, numer- 
ous streams run from this, and vast quantities of limestone slabs ready for use can 
be taken from the quarries and furnished to the city at two cents a square foot 



456 WISCONSIN. 

Gravel is abundant and accessible, and the city is removing the planks from the 
road, laying on gravel, and will in time have fine sidewalks and good roads. On 
this ridge are some fine farms, and the aspect of the country reminds me of 
Dutchess county, New York. From the high peaks, views of the city, prairie and 
lake are to be had, and in the clear air everything is so distinct that the eye seeks 
in vain for the horizon." 

Oshkosh, is named from an Indian chief of the Menomonee tribe, the word 
signifying "brave." It is a thriving city, with great facilities for trade, 
where but a few years since all was a dense wilderness. It stands on the 
western bank of Lake Winnebago, at the mouth of the Fox River, and 
has railroad connections with the east, west and south. The city con- 
tains 6 churches, 4 newspapers, a large number of grist and other mills, 
manufactures annually about 30 millions of feet of lumber, and has about 
6,000 inhabitants. 

When the Fox River Improvement is completed, this city will be on the 
direct line of steamboat navigation between Lake Michigan and the Missis- 
sippi. This enterprise is described as follows in Ritchie's work on the state: 

" The Fox River, or, as it is called by the Indians, Neenah, is one of the most 
important rivers in the state. It rises in Marquette county, and flows nearly south- 
west, toward the Wisconsin ; when within one and a half miles of that river, it 
changes its direction to the north; after flowing a few miles, it passes through Lake 
Winnebago, and falls into Green Bay. Its whole length is estimated at two hun- 
dred miles. 

The wholejength of canal necessary to secure a steamboat communication from 
Green Bay to Lake Winnebago, is about five miles. It is 100 feet wide on the bot- 
tom, and 120 at the top (two feet wider than the famous Welland Canal). The 
locks are 40 feet wide, by 160 long, and built in the most permanent manner, of 
solid stone masonry, and in a style that will not suffer in comparison with any 
similar work in the eastern states. It is calculated that with the improved manner of 
working these locks, a steamer can pass each in the short space of three minutes. 
This will afford a rapid transit for the vast amount of freight that must and will 
seek an outlet through this thoroughfare to an eastern market. The capacity of 
the river for all purposes of navigation is undoubted; at no season of the year can 
there be any failure of water. 

Twelve miles above Oshkosh, westward, is the mouth of the Wolf River, a trib- 
utary of the Fox, and navijrable for steamers for one hundred and fifty miles. 
Forty miles above the mouth of Wolf River is the town of Berlin ; sixty miles 
further is Portage City and the town of Fort Winnebago; above which places, for 
sixty miles, and below for one hundred and thirty-five miles, the Wisconsin is now 
navigable for steamers. 

Through these, a ready communication will be secured with the Mississippi and 
its tributaries; and it is confidently calculated that, at no distant day, steam tugs, 
with between 200 and 500 tuns burden in tow, each, from St. Peter s River, from 
St. Paul, and other places in that direction, will land their cargoes at Green Bay, 
to be shipped to an eastern market. The objection to be urged to this route, from 
so remote a locality, is, that it will take too long to make the transit. To this we 
have to reply, that it is estimated by those who know better than we, that this 
great distance can and will be overcome by just these kinds of crafts in fi'om four 
to six days, and by passenger boats in much less time. This improvement will 
open about 1,000 miles to steam navigation, between Lake Michigan and the Mis- 
sissippi River, including the navigable streams in the interior of northern Wiscon- 
sin, Iowa and Minnesota. This stupendous work, when completed, will do far 
more for the prosperity and advancement of the vast regions, opened to the ad- 
vantages of connection with the Atlantic market, than any other improvement con- 
templated." 

Portage City is at the head of navigation on the Wisconsin River, about 
200 miles from its mouth, and on the ship canal one and a half miles long, 



WISCONSIN. 



457 



connecting it with the Fox or Neenah River. It is a flourishing town, and 
is a great depot for pine lumber. By means of the Wisconsin and Missis- 
sippi Rivers, there is now uninterrupted steamboat navigation between this 
place and New Orleans. The Wisconsin is the largest river that intersects 

the state. Its whole length is 
estimated at 600 miles, and in 
its upper portion it is bordered 
by immense forests of pine. 
Fort Winnebago, which stood 
on or near the site of Portage 
City, was commenced in 1828. 
under the superintendence of 
Major Twiggs and Captain Har- 
ney. This Twiggs was the 
Gen. David Twiggs who reaped 
eternal infamy by his base sur- 
render of the American army, 
in Texas, at the beginning of the Rebellion. It was an important post at an 
early day, affording protection to emigrants. Another officer, here at that 
period, was a young lieutenant, Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, who after- 
ward became the president of the so-called Confederate States of America. 




Fort Wikm;bago in 1831. 



Mrs. John H. Kinzie, in " Wau-bun, the 'Early Day' in the North-west," 
gives a graphic narrative of her experiences at Fort Winnebago, where she 
passed the winter of 1830-31, the first months of her wedded life. This 
winter was one of unusual severity, and in some parts of the country, par- 
ticularly the lead mining district, the snow was of an unheard of depth — 
five or six feet upon a level. Toward the beginning of March the weather 
moderated, and Mrs. Kinzie prepared to make a journey on horseback to 
Chicago with her husband. This was then through a wilderness country, and 
the undertaking so perilous that the commandant, Major Twiggs, endeavored 
to dissuade them from it : but the brave-hearted, high spirited young 
woman remained resolute. The story of their experience by the way, we 
abridge from Mrs. Kinzie's narrative. The route selected was south by 
Dixon's, then called Ogie's Ferry, where was to be found the only means of 
crossing the broad and rapid stream of Rock River ; and it was calculated 
that the entire distance would be traveled over in six days : 

The morning of the 8th of March, having taken a tender leave of their friends, 
they mounted and were ready for the journey. The party consisted of Mr. and 
Mrs. Kinzie and two French Canadians, Pierre Roy and JPlante, the latter to act 
as a guide, on the assurance that he " knew every mile of the way, from the Portage 
to Ogie's Ferry, and from Ogie's Ferry to Chicago. 

Some of the young officers escorted them as far as Duck Creek, four miles dis- 
tant. In attempting to cross this stream in a canoe, a couple of favorite grey- 
hounds sprang in upon Mrs. Kinzie, and the canoe balanced a moment — then 
yielded — and quick as thought, dogs and lady were in deepest of water. That even- 
ing the party camped out on the edge of the timber, under the shelter of a tent; 
but so intense was the cold that, although Mrs. Kinzie's riding habit was placed to 
dry over against the log on which their fire was made, it was in a few minutes 
frozen so stiff as to stand upright, giving " the appearance of a dress out of which 
a lady had vanished in some unaccountable manner." Says Mrs. Kinzie: 

"At break of day we are aroused by the shout of ' the bourgeois,' 

'Howl how! how! ' 



458 WISCONSIN. 

All start from their slumbers. The fire Avhich has been occasionally replenished 
through the night, is soon kindled into a flame. The horses are caught and saddled 
while a breakfast is preparing — the tent is struck — the pack-horse loaded — ' tout 
demanche,' as the Canadian says. 

Our journey this day led us past the first of the Four Lakes. Scattered along 
its banks was an encampment of Winnebagoes. How beautiful the encampment 
looked in the morning sun! The matted lodges, with the blue smoke curling from 
their tops — the trees and bushes powdered with a light snow which had fallen 
through the night — the lake, shining and sparkling, almost at our feet — even the 
Indians, in their peculiar costume, adding to the picturesque ! 

Our road, after leaving tlie lake, lay over a ' rolling prairie,' now bare and deso- 
late enough. The hollows were filled with snow, which, being partly thawed, fur- 
nished an uncertain footing for the horses, and I could not but join in the ringing 
laughter of our Frenchmen, as occasionally Brunet and Souris, the two ponies, 
would flounder, almost imbedded, through the yielding mass. It was about the 
middle of the afternoon when we reached the ' Blue Mound.' I rejoiced much to 
have got so far, for I was sadly fatigued, and every mile now seemed two to me. 
It was my first journey on horseback, and I had not yet become inured to the ex- 
ercise. When we reached Morrison's I was so much exhausted that, as my hus- 
band attempted to lift me from the saddle, I fell into his arms. ' I'his will never 
do,' said he. 'To-morrow Ave must turn our faces toward Fort Winnebago again.' 

The door opened hospitably to receive us. We were welcomed by a lady with 
a most sweet, benignant countenance, and by her companion, some years younger. 
The first was Mrs. Morrison — the other, Miss Elizabeth Dodge, daughter of Gen. 
Dodge. 

My husband laid me upon a small bed, in the room where the ladies had been 
sitting at work. They took off my bonnet and riding-dress, chafed my hands, and 
prepared me some warm wine and water, by which I was soon revived. A half 
hom-'s repose so refreshed me that I was able to converse with the ladies, and to 
relieve my husband's mind of all anxiety on my account. Tea was announced soon 
after, and we repaired to an adjoining building, for Morrison' s, like the establish- 
ment of all settlers of that period, consisted of a group of detached log-houses or 
cabins, each containing one or at most two apartments. 

The table groaned with good cheer, and brought to mind some that I had seen 
among the old-fashioned Dutch residents on the banks of the Hudson. 

I had recovered my spirits, and we were quite a cheerful party. Mrs. Morrison 
told US that during the first eighteen months she passed in this country, she did 
not speak with a white woman, the only society she had being that of her husband 
and two black servant women. 

The next morning, after a cheerful breakfast, at which we were joined by the 
Rev. Mr. Kent, of (xalena, we prepared for our journey. I had reconciled my hus- 
band to continuing our route toward Chicago, by assuring him that I felt as fresh 
and bright as when I first set out from home. 

We had not proceeded many miles on our journey, however, before we discovered 
that Monsieur Plante was profoundly ignorant of the country, so that Mr. Kinzie 
was obliged to take the lead himself, and make his way as he was best able, accord- 
ing to the directions he had received. We traveled the live-long day, barely making 
a halt at noon to bait our horses, and refresh ourselves with a luncheon. The ride 
was as gloomy and desolate as could well be imagined. A rolling prairie, unvaried 
by forest or stream — hillock rising after hillock, at every ascent of which we vainly 
hoped to see a distant fringe of ' timber.' But the same cheerless, unbounded pros- 
pect everywhere met the eye, diversified only here and there by the oblong open- 
ings, like gigantic graves, which marked an unsuccessful search for indications of 
a lead mine. 

Just before sunset we crossed, with considerable difficulty, a muddy stream, 
which was bordered by a scanty belt of trees, making a tolerable encamping-ground; 
and of this we gladly availed ourselves, although we knew not whether it was near 
or remote from the place we were in search of 

We had ridden at least fifty miles since leaving 'Morrison's,' yet I was sensible 
of very little fatigue; but there was a vague feeling of discomfort at the idea of 



WISCONSIN. 459 

being lost in this wild, cold region, altogether different from anything I had ever 
before experienced. 

The exertions of the men soon made our 'camp' comfortable, notwithstanding 
the difficulty of driving the tent-pins into the frozen ground, and the want of trees 
sufficiently large to make a rousing fire. The wind, which at bed-time was suf- 
ficiently high to be uncomfortable, increased during the night. It snowed heavily 
and we were every moment in dread that the tent would be carried away; but the 
matter was settled in the midst by the snapping of the poles, and the falling of the 
whole, with its superincumbent weight of snow, in a mass upon us. 

The next morning the horses were once more saddled for our journey. The 
prospect was not an encouraging one. Ai-ound us was an unbroken sheet of snow. 
We had no compass, and the air was so obscured by the driving sleet, that it was 
often impossible to tell in what direction the sun was. I tied my husband's silk 
pocket handkerchief over my veil, to protect my fece from the wind and icy parti- 
cles with which the air was filled, and which cut like a razor; but although shielded 
in every way that circumstances rendered possible, I suffered intensely from the 
cold. We pursued our way, mile after mile, entering every point of woods, in 
hopes of meeting with, at least, some Indian wigwam, at which we could gain in- 
telligence. Every spot was solitary and deserted, not even the trace of a recent 
fire, to cheer us with the hope of human beings within miles of us. Suddenly, a 
shout from the foremost of the party made each heart bound with joy. 

' Une cloture! tnie cloture !' — (a fence, a fence.) 

It was almost like life to the dead. We spurred on, and indeed perceived a few 
straggling rails crowning a rising ground at no great distance. Im ever did music 
sound so sweet as the crowing of a cock which at this moment saluted our ears. 
Following the course of the inclosure down the opposite slope, we came upon a 
group of log-cabins, low, shabby, and unpromising in their appearance, but a most 
welcome shelter from the pelting storm. 'Whose cabins are these?' asked Mr. 
Kinzie of a man who was cutting wood at the door of one. 'Hamilton's,' was the 
reply ; and he stepped forward at once to assist us to alight, hospitality being a 
matter of course in these wild regions. 

We were shown into the most comfortable looking of the buildings. A large 
fire was burning in the clay chimney, and the room was of a genial warmth, not- 
withstanding the apertures, many inches in width, beside the doors and windows. 
A woman in a tidy calico dress, and shabby black silk cap, trimmed with still 
shabbier lace, rose from her f^at beside a sort of bread-trough, which fulfilled the 
office of cradle to a fine, fat oaby. 

Before dinner Mr. Hamilton came in and was introduced to me, and was as 
agreeable and polite as the son of Alexander Hamilton would naturally be. The 
housekeeper, who was the wife of one of the miners, prepared us a plain comfort 
al)le dinner. The blowing of a horn was the signal for the entrance of ten or 
twelve miners, who took their places below us at the table. They were the rough- 
est looking set of men 1 ever beheld, and their language was as uncouth as their 
persons. They wore hunting shirts, trowsers, and moccasins of deerskin, the for- 
mer being ornamented at the seams with a fringe of the same, while a colored belt 
around the waist, in which was stuck a large hunting-knife, gave each the appear- 
ance of a brigand. 

Mr. Hamilton passed most of the afternoon with us, for the storm raged so with- 
out that to proceed on our journey was out of the question. He gave us many 
pleasant anecdotes and reminiscences of his early life in New York, and of his ad- 
ventures since he had come to the western wilderness. When obliged to leave U3 
for a while, he furnished us with some books to entertain us, the most interesting 
of which was the biography of his fither. 

The next day's sun rose clear and bright. Refreshed and invigorated, we looked 
forward with pleasure to a recommencement of our journey, confident of meeting 
no more mishaps by the way. Mr. Hamilton kindly offered to accompany us to 
his next neighbor's, the trifling distance of twenty-five miles. The miner who owned 
the wife and baby, and who, consequently, was somewhat more humanized than 
his comrades, in taking leave of us ' wished us well out of the country, and that 
we might never have occasion to return to it 1 1 pity a body,' said he, ' when I 



460 WISCONSIN. 

Bee them makina; such an awful mistake as to come out this way, for comfort never 
touched this western country.' 

There was no halting upon the route, and as we kept the same pace uniil three 
o'ch)ck in the afternoon, it was beyond a question thatwhen we reached ' ICellogg's,' 
we li;id traveled at least thirty miles. 'Kellogg's' was a comfortable mansimi, just 
within the verge of a pleasant 'grove of timber,' as a small forest is called by west- 
ern travelers. We found Mrs. Kellogga very respectalde looking matron, who soon 
informed us she was from the city of New York. iShe appeared proud and de- 
lighted to entertain Mr. Hamilton, for whose family, she took occasion to tell us, 
she had, in former days, been in the habit of doing needle-work. We had intended 
to go to Dixon's the same afternoon, but the snow beginning again to fall, obliged 
us to content ourselves where we were. In the meantime, finding we were jour- 
neying to Chicago, Mr. Kellogg came to the determination to accompany us, hav- 
ing, as he said some business to accomplish at that place. 

No great time was required for Mr. Kellogg's preparations. He would take, he 
said, only two days' provisions, for at his brother-in-law Dixon's we should get our 
supper and breakfast, and the route from there to Chicago could, he well knew, be 
accomplished in a day and a half Although, according to this calculation, we had 
sufficient remaining of our stores to carry us to the end of our journey, yet Mr. 
Kinzie took the precaution of begging Mrs. Kellogg to bake us another bag of bis- 
cuits, in case of accidents, and he likewise suggested to Mr. K. the prudence of 
furnishing himself with something more than his limited allowance; but the good 
man objected that he was unwilling to burden his horse more than was absolutely 
necessary. It will be seen that we had reason to rejoice in our own foresight. 

It was late on the following daj'^, when we took leave of our kind hostess. We 
journeyed pleasantly along through a country, beautiful in spite of its wintry ap- 
pearance. Just at sunset, we reached the dark, rapid waters of the Rock River. 
All being safely got across, a short walk brought us to the house of Mr. Dixon. 
We were nsliered into Mrs. Di.xon's sitting-room; and seated by a glowing iire, 
while Mrs. Dixon busied herself in preparing us a nice supper, I felt that the com- 
fort overbalanced the inconvenience of such a journey. 

A most savory supper of ducks and venison, with their accompaniments, soon 
Bmoked upon the board, and we did ample justice to it. Traveling is a great sharp- 
ener of the appetite, and so is cheerfulness, and the latter was increased by the 
encouraging account Mr. Dixon gave us of the remainder of the route yet before 
us. 'There is no difficulty,' said he, 'if you keep aiittle to the north, and strike 
the great Sauk trail. If you get too far to the soutu, you will come upon the Win- 
nebago Swamp, and once in that, there is no telling when you will ever get out 
again. As for the distance, it is nothing at all to speak of 

The following morning, which was a bright and lovely one for that season of tha 
year, we took leave of Mr. and Mrs. Dixon, in high spirits. We traveled for the 
first few miles along the beautiful, undulating banks of Rock River, always in an 
easterly direction, keeping the beaten path, or rather road, which led to Fort Clark 
or Peoria. The Sauk trail, we had been told, would cross this road, at the distance 
of abcmt six miles. After having traveled, as we judged, fully that distance, we 
came upon a trail, bearing north-east, which we followed till it brought us to the 
great bend of the river with its bold rocky bluffs, when, convinced of our mistake, 
we struck off from the trail, in a direction as nearly east as possible. The weather 
had changed and become intensely cold, and we felt that the detention we had met 
with, even should we now be in the right road, was no trifling matter. But we 
were buoyed up by the hope that we were in the right path at last, and we jour- 
neyed on until night, when we reached a comfortable 'encampment,' in the edge 
of a grove near a small stream. 

We were roused at peep of day to make preparations for starting. We must 
find the Sauk trail this day at all hazards. What would become of us should we 
fail to do so? It was a question no one liked to ask, and certainly one that none 
could have answered. On leaving our encampment, we found ourselves entering 
a marshy tract of country. Myriads of wild geese, brant, and ducks rose up 
screaming at our approach. The more distant lakes and ponds were black with 
them, but the shallow water through which we attempted to make our way was 



WISCONSIN. in-. 



frozen hj the seventy of the night, to a thickness not sufficient to bear the horses 
but just such as to cut their feet and ankles at every step as they broke throu'-h it' 
bometimes the difficultv of going forward was so great that we were oblicred to re' 
trace our steps and make our way round the head of the marsh. ° 

This swampy region at length passed, we came upon more solid ground chiefly 
the open praine. But now a new trouble assailed us. The weather had moderated 
and a blinding snow storm came on. Without a trail that we could rely upon and 
destitute of a compass, our only dependence had been the sun to point out our di 
rection, but the atmosphere was now so obscure that it was impossible to tell in 
what quarter of the heavens he was. We pursued our way, however, and a devious 
one It must have been. After traveling in this way many miles, we came upon an 
Indian trail deeply indented, running at right angles with the course we were 
pursuing. Ihe snow had ceased, and the clouds becoming thinner we were able 
to observe the direction of the sun, and to perceive that the trail ran north and 
south What should we do ? Was it safest to pursue our easterly course or was 
It probable that by following this new path we should fall into the direct one we 
had been so long seeking? If we decided to take the trail, should we go north or 
south ? Mr. Kinzie was for the latter. He was of opinion that we were still too 
far north. ^ Finding himself in the minority, my husband yielded, and we turned 
our horses heads north, much against his will. After proceeding a few miles 
however, he took a sudden determination. ' You may go north, if you please ' said 
he, ' but I am convinced that the other course is right, and I shall face about— fol- 
low who will, bo we wheeled round and rode south again, and many a lon.^ and 
weary mile did we travel. The road, which had continued many miles through the 
prairie, at length, in winding round a point of woods, brought us suddenly unon 
an Indian village. A shout of joy broke from the whole party, but no an.swerin<r 
shout was returned— not even a bark of friendly welcome— as we galloped up to 
the wigwams. All was silent as the grave. We rode round and round then dis 
mounted and looked into several of the spacious huts. They had evidently been 
long deserted. *^ -^ 

Our disappointment may be better imagined than described. With heavy hearts 
we mounted and once more pursued our way, the snow again falling and adding to 
the discomforts of our position. At length we halted for the ni^^ht We h-id I6ne 
been aware that our stock of provisions was insufficient for another day and here 
we were— nobody knew where— in the midst of woods and prairies— certainly far 
from any human habitation, with barely enough food for a slender evenin^r's meal 

1 he poor dogs came whining around us to beg their usual portion, but tliey were 
obliged to content themselves with a bare bone, and we retired to rest with the 
feeling that if not actually hungry then, we should certainly be so to-morrow 

The morrow came. Plante and Roy had a bright fire and a nice pot of coffee 
tor us. It was our only breakfast, for on shaking the bag and turning it inside out 
we could make no more of our stock of bread than three crackers, which the rest 
ot the party insisted 1 should put in my pocket for my dinner. We still had the 
trail to guide us, and we continued to follow it until about nine o'clock when in 
emerging from a wood, we came upon a broad and rapid river. A collection' of 
Indian wigwams stood upon the opposite bank, and as the trail led directly to the 
water it was fair to infer that the stream was fordable. We had no opportunity 
of testing It, however for the banks were so lined with ice, which was piled up 
tier upon tier by the breaking-up of the previous week, that we tried in vain to 
find a path by which we could descend the bank to the water. The men shouted 
again and again in hopes some straggling inhabitant of the village might be at 
hand with his canoe. No answer was returned save by the echoes. What was to 
be done / 1 looked at my husband and saw that care was on his brow althou<^h 
he still continued to speak cheerfully. 'We will follow this cross-trail down the 
bank of the river, said he. 'There must be Indians wintering near in s<,me of 
these points of wood. I must confess that I felt somewhat dismayed at our pros- 
pects, but I kept up a show of courage, and did not allow my despondency to be 
seen. All the party were dull and gloomy enough. ^ r- j 

We kept along the bank, which was consideraljly elevated above the water, and 
bordered at a little distance with a thick wood. All at once my horse, who was mor- 



462 WISCONSIN". 

tally afraid of Indians, began to jump and prance, snorting and pricking up his 
ears as if an enemy were at hand. I screamed with delight to my husband, who 
was at the head of the file, 'Oh John! John! there are Indians near — look at 
Jerry! ' At this instant a little Indian dog i-an out from under the bushes by the 
roadside, and began barking at us. Never were sounds more welcome. We rode 
directly into the thicket, and descending into a little hollow, found two squawa 
crouching behind the bushes, trying to conceal themselves from our sight. 

They appeared greatly relieved when Mr. Kinzie addressed them in the Potto- 
watomie language. 

The squaw, in answer to Mr. K.'s inquiries, assured him that Chicago was ' close 

' That means,' said he, ' that it is not so far off as Canada. We must not be too 
sanguine.' 

The men sat about unpacking the horses, and I in the meantime was paddled 
across the river. The old woman immediately returned, leaving the younger one 
with me for company. 1 seated myself on the fallen trunk of a tree, in the midst 
of the snow, and looked across the dark waters. I am not ashamed to confess my 
weakness — for the first time on my journey 1 shed tears. The poor little squaw 
looked into my face with a wondering and sympathizing expression. 

'What would my friends at the east think,' said 1 to myself, 'if they could see 
me now? What would poor old Mrs. Welsh say ? She who warned me that if I 
came mvay so fa)- to the tvest, I should break my heart? Would she not rejoice to 
find how likely her prediction was to be fulfilled ? ' 

These thoughts roused me. I dried up my tears, and by the time my husband 
with his party, and all his horses and luggage, were across, I had recovered my 
cheerfulness, and was ready for fresh adventures. 

We followed the old squaw to her lodge, which was at no great distance in the 
■woods. The master of the lodge, who had gone out to shoot ducks, soon returned. 
He was a tall, finely formed man, with a cheerful, open countenance, and he lis- 
tened to what his wife in a quiet tone related to him, while he divested himself of 
his accoutrements in the most unembarrassed, well-bred manner imaginable. Soon 
my husband joined us. He had been engaged in attending to the comfort of his 
horses, and assisting his men in making their fire, and pitching their tent, which 
the rising storm made a matter of some difficulty. From the Indian he learned 
that we were in what was called 'the Big Woods,' or ' Piche's Grove,'* from a 
P'renchman of that name living not far from the spot — that the river we had crossed 
was the Fox River — that he could guide us to Piche's, from which the road was 
perfectly plain, or even into Chicago if we preferred — but that we had better re- 
main encamped for that day, as there was a storm coming on, and in the mean 
time he would go and shoot some ducks for our dinner and supper. He was ac- 
cordino-ly furnished with powder and shot, and set oiF again for game without de 
lay. 

The tent being all in order, my husband came for me, and we took leave of our 
friends in the wigwam with grateful hearts. The storm was raging without. The 
trees were bending and cracking around us, and the air was completely filled with 
the wild-fowl screaming and quacking as they made their way southward before 
the blast. Our tent was among the trees not far from the river. My husband took 
me to the bank to look for a moment at what we had escaped. The wind was 
sweeping down from the north in a perfect hurricane. The water was filled with 
masses of snow and ice, dancing along upon the torrent, over which were hurry 
in«- thousands of wild-fowl, making the woods resound to their deafening clamor. 
Had we been one hour later, we could not possibly have crossed the stream, and 
thei-e seems to have been nothing for us but to have remained and starved in the 
wilderness. Could we be sufficiently grateful to that kind Providence that had 
brouirht us safely through such dangers ? 

The storm raged with tenfold violence during the night. We were continually 



* Probably at what is now Oswego. The name of a portion of the wood is since corrupted 
into Specie'! Grove. 



WISCONSIN. 4g3 

startled by the crashinjr of the falling trees around us, and who could tell but that 
the next would be upon us? Spite of our fatigue, we passed an almost sleepless 
night When we arose in the morning, we were made fully alive to the perils by 
which we had been surrounded. At least fifty trees, the giants of the forest, lay 
prostrate within view of the tent. When we had taken our scanty breakfast,' and 
were mounted and ready for departure, it was with difficulty we could thread our 
way^, so completely was it obstructed by the fallen trunks. 

Our Indian guide had joined us at an early hour, and after conducting us care- 
fully out of the wood, about nine o'clock brought us to Piche's, a log-cabin on a 
rising ground, looking off over the broad prairie to the east. We had hoped to 
get some refreshment here, Piche being an old acquaintance of some of the party; 
but alas ! the master was from home. We found his cabin occupied by Indians 
and travelers — the latter few, the former numerous. 

There was no temptation to a halt, except that of warming ourselves at a bright 
fire that was burning in the clay chimney. A man in Quaker costume stepped For- 
ward to answer our inquiries, and ofi'ered to become our escort to Chieaso, to which 
placehe was bound — so we dismissed our Indian friend, Avith a satisfactory remu- 
neration for all the trouble he had so kindly taken for us. 

The weather was intensely cold. The wind, sweeping over the wide prairie, with 
nothing to break its force, chilled our very hearts. 1 beat my feet asrainst the sad- 
dle to restore the circulation, when they 'became benumbed with cold, until they 
became so bruised I could beat them no longer. Not a house or wigwam, not even 
a clump of trees as a shelter, offered itself for many a weary mile. At length we 
reached the west fork of the Du Page. It was frozen, but not sufficiently so to 
bear the horses. Our only resource was to cut a way for them through the ice. 
It was a work of time, for the ice had frozen to several inches in thickness, during 
the last bitter night. Plante went first with an axe, and cut as far as he could 
reach, then mounted one of the hardy little ponies, and with some difficulty broke 
the ice before him, until he had opened a passage to the opposite shore. 

How the poor animals shivered as they were reined in among the floating ice ! 
And we, who sat waiting in the piercing wind, were not much better. We'^were 
all across at last, and spurred on our horses, until we reached Hawley's* — a laro-e, 
commodious dwelling, near the east fork of the river. '^ 

The good woman welcomed us kindly, and soon made us warm and comfortable. 
"We felt as if we were in a civilized land once more. We found, upon inquiry, 
that we could, by pushing on, reach Lawton's, on the Aux Plaines, that night— we 
should then be within twelve miles of Chicago. Of course we made no unneces- 
sary delay, but set off as soon after dinner as possible. The crossing of the east 
fork of the Du Page was more perilous than the former one had been. 

It was almost dark when we reached Lawton's. The Aux Plainesf was frozen 
and the house was on the other side. By loud shouting, we brought out a man 
from the building, and he succeeded in cutting the ice, and bringing a canoe over 
to us; but not until it had become difficult to distinguish objects^in'^the darkness. 
A very comfortable house was Lawton's, after we did reach it — carpeted, and with 
a warm stove — in fact, quite in civilized style. Mrs. Lawton was a young woman, 
and not ill-looking. She complained bitterly of the loneliness of her'condkion, and 
having heen 'brought out there into the woods; which was a thing she had not 
expected, when she came from the east.' We could hardly realize, on rising the 
following morning, that only twelve miles of prairie intervened between us" and 
Chicago le Desire, as I could not but name it. 

Soon the distance was traversed, and we were in the arms of our dear, kind 
friends. A messenger was dispatched to ' the garrison ' for the remaining 'mem- 
bers of the family, and for that day at least, I was the wonder and admiration of 
the whole circle, ' for the dangers 1 had seen.' " 



* It was nenr this spot that the brother of Mr. Hawley, a Methodist preacher, was killed 
by the Sauks, in 1832, after having been tortured by them with the most wanton barbarity. 

t Riviere Aux Plaines was the original French designation, now changed to Desplainet, 
pronounced as in English. 



464 



WISCONSIN. 



North of Milwaukie, on the shores of Lake Michigan, are several thriving 
city-like towns, containing each several thousand inhabitants. They are 
Ozankee^ Sheboygan, Manitowoc, and Two Rivers. 

City of Sujy.rior is at the head of Lake Superior, on the Bay of Superior 
and Nemadji River. It was laid out in 1854, by a company of gentlemen 
who judged from its site that it must eventually be a large city. It has a 
splendid harbor, six miles long and one broad, admirably sheltered from storms, 
and capable of containing the shipping of the entire chain of lakes. In 
three years, its population had increased to 1,500 souls, and many buildings 
had been constructed. 

La Fointe, one of the oldest towns in the north-west, was first occupied 
by the French Jesuits and traders, in 1680. It is on Madeline Island of 
Lake Superior, which is separated from the mainland by a narrow channel. 
It has an air of antiquity, in its ruined port, dilapidated pickets, that form- 
erly inclosed the place, and the old Fur Company's buildings, some of which 
are still standing. Here was the scene of the labors of Fathers Claude 
Allouez and Jean Marquette, and of an Indian battle between the warlike 
Dacotahs and Algonquins, in which the chapel of the Holy Spirit, erected 
by these devoted missionaries, was destroyed. Near it, on the mainland, is 
the newly laid out town of Bayfield. 



THE TIMES 

OF 

THE REBELLIOISr 

IN 

WISCONSIN. 



To the calls of the Government for troops, no state responded with 
greater alacrity than Wisconsin. She has sent to the field, since the com- 
mencement of the war, fortj^-four regiments of infantry, four regiments 
and one company of cavalry, one regiment of heavy artillery, thirteen 
batteries of light artillery, and one comj)any of sharp-shooters, making 
an aggregate (exclusive of hundred day men), of seventy-five thousand 
one hundred and thirty -three men. To this large number, furnished 
by this young state, should be added thi-ee regiments of one hundred 
day men, who nobly responded to the call at a critical moment, when 
their services were much needed, and whose services were of so much 
importance to the government, as to call forth from the commander- 
in-chief the highest special commendation. 

Wificonsin stood firmly and unwaveringly by the flag of the union. 
The bravery of her troops was not excelled. The " Iron Brigade " 
secured a distinguished place in the history of the war. East, west 
and south, upon many of the bloody fields of battle, Wisconsin's brave 
sons won for themselves an undying fame. Unflinchingly they fought 
for the union, and looked death in the face in a thousand differ- 
ent forms; without a murmur they fell, shattered and mangled upon 
the cold and gory field ; without a murmur they bore the privations 
incident to a soldier's life; many alas! lingered and died in hos- 
pitals. Many a fireside was made desolate ; the orphan children, the 
widowed mothers, the mourning fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters 
of Wisconsin can be numbered by thousands. 

Early in the war the state suffered a great loss in the death of her 
excellent governor, Louis P. Harvey. He was born at East Haddam, 
Conn., in 1820 ; in 1828, emigrated with his parents to Ohio, and was 
educated at the Western Eeserve college. He was accidentally 
drowned, April 19, 1862, at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, while step- 
ping from one boat to another. He had gone there to carry, with his 
own hands, the means of relieving the soldiers of his state, wounded 
30 ^^^) 



466 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

at the battle of Shiloah. "We give an extract of a private letter, con- 
taining some particulars of his life and character : 

Governor Harvey had lived in Wisconsin about fifteen years — first engaged in 
teachino;, then in mercantile pursuits. Six years ago he was chosen to represent 
his district in the senate, which office he held for two terms. He was then chosen 
secretary of state; and in 1861 was nominated for governor by the republican 
convention, and also by the union convention. He was elected by a good major- 
itj, and was inagurated the first Monday after January. During the newspaper 
quarrel that always precedes an election, I never saw a single opprobrious reflec- 
tion upon the conduct or character of Mr. Harvey, though I daily saw all the 
leading democratic papers of the state. 

The duties of his office at such a time as this could not under any circumstances 
be light, and his were especially onerous : and it is said that he habitually worked 
till eleven and twelve o'clock at night, and was at it again at four or five in the 
morning. He was quite annoyed by a difficulty he had in getting the last regi- 
ment off — the 19th, an Irish regiment. Everything before had been done with such 
hearty good-will and enthusiasm, that it was painful to see the last regiment, or 
part of it, influenced to mutiny. But the governor, with the catholic priest, har- 
monized them in part, and they were sent on to St. Louis. 

Immediately upon receiving the news of the Pittsburg battle, he resolved to go 
to the aid of the wounded. He sent dispatches to the principal towns to collect 
hospital supplies, and forward to his care. When his wife at first expressed a 
dislike to have him go, he said, " I expected to hear that from others, but I hoped 
to receive encouragement from you." 

He stopped on his way to visit the Wisconsin soldiers in the hospital at Cairo, 
and spent three days with them without taking off his clothes. Then he proceeded 
to Pittsburg. In a letter he wrote back, and probably the last he every wrote, he 
said : " I thank God for the good impulse to come here. I have accomplished 
more than I could have expected." 

He was drowned on Saturday evening. The next day, Sabbath, a friend, meet- 
ing Governor Harvey's mother in church, said: "How happy you always look I" 
" Why shouldn't I," she said, " when I have such good sons ? " 

Gov. Harvey was to the time of his death a member of the congregational church. 
His cordial, unostentatious manner made him many warm personal friends. 

The following shows how truly his death was lamented : 

Our good Governor Harvey is dead. Our brave, good governor, whom every 
body loved, and over whose untimely fate all good hearts most sincerely mourn. 

It is only an hour since the sad tidings of his death came to us across the wires 
in this city of Madison, the capital of Wisconsin. And the news has put all the 
people into mourning. Sincerer grief, more real and earnest sorrow I never saw 
exhibited. All persons, belonging to all political parties without any distinction, 
feel the great calamity as if it were personal ; as if some dear, and unspeakably 
beloved friend had been snatched suddenly from their families and homes. 

On the streets 1 met with rude, hard men, who, perhaps, had never wept before 
in their lives, and they could not speak to me without tears gushing out of their 
eyes, and voices half choked with bitter sobs. So sudden was the terrible blow, 
so unlooked for, so impossible, nearly, to be realized, that men, women, and little 
children are profoundly affected by it, not knowing what to make of it, feeling 
only that, if it is so, our public loss is great indeed ; hoping against hope that the 
dreadful lightning words may be yet proven untrue by more faithful dispatches. 

But alas ! there is no hope. All is over with our noble governor in this world. 
Those ugly, treacherous waters of the Tennessee, swallowed up all his life, and 
have left us all in such grief that no words of mine could depict it. 

It was only yesterday that the big-hearted governor, hearing of our terrible dis- 
asters at Pittsburg Landing — or, as history is likely to record it, our disasters at the 
battle of Corinth — issued his messages to every city in the state, calling upon the 
inhabitants to contribute all and every thing they could lay their hands on in the 
shape of linen, etc., and forward the same to him by the very next trains, that he 



IN WISCONSIN. 4(37 

might himself carry those stores to our poor, wounded soldiers. Alas ! poor gentle- 
man ! He little thought that while engaged on this great-hearted errand of mercy, he 
should fall a victim to the veriest accident which ever struck a brave man down. 

Stepping from one boat to another on the Tennessee river, his foot fell short, 
and down he went into the rapid waters, never more to rise again ! 

While I write, the funeral cannon are booming over the city, and the uncon- 
scious, unsympathizing four lakes which encircle it, but not over unsympathizing 
hearts ! Believe me, that few things could have befallen us which would have 
afflicted all classes so deeply. The proof is externally shown in the closing of the 
stores, in their decoration with crapes and the garments of death, in the flags 
hanging half-mast high from the capitol and the public buildings, in the tolling 
of all the bells in the churches, in the mournful grasps of men in the streets, in 
the white lips which announce to every incomer from the country the sad tidings, 
the appalling tidings, that our good governor, who left us so lately with such be- 
nevolence and mercy, and charity in his heart and hand, would never, never 
more return to us. 

The governor's lady was at the station soliciting help for the poor wounded sol- 
diers at the very moment that the station master was reading the telegraphic 
message which announced her husband's death. She heard it, all too soon, and 
fainted on the street. Her idol, whom she loved so dearly, was broken — broken, 
and no help ! May (xod help her! 

All over this state, all over the United States, this man's fate will be lamented 
and sorrowed over. He was only elected in January last, and no man ever began 
a public career with more brilliant promise, more encouraging auspices. And 
now all is over. The dark curtain has fallen, and the starry curtain has been up- 
lifted, and he has gone under it where all good men go — to God and the blessed 
majority of the angels. » 

The ''Iron Brigade of the West" was composed of the 2d, 6th 
and 7th regiments, and was commanded by General Gibbon. 

The 2d regiment, which was identified with the army of the Potomac from 
its first organization, and which was the representative of Wisconsin at the first 
battle of Bull Run, was joined later in the season, by the 6th and 7th regiments. 
In the organization of the army by General McClellen, these regiments, together 
with the 19th Indiana, were organized as a brigade, and assigned to the command 
of Brigadier General (iibbon. General King having been promoted to the com- 
mand of a division. Thenceforward their history is identical, and Wisconsin 
may well be proud of their record, which has procured for them the name of the 
" Iron Brigade of the West" 

The winter was spent in camp at Arlington, Va., preparing for the spring cam- 

f>aign. In the grand review of the 27th of March, the Winconsin troops, particu- 
arly the 2d, were complimented for their soldierly appearance and thorough ac- 
quaintance with military drill. 

They participated in the advance on Richmond, under command of Major Gen- 
eral McDowell; and subsequently under Major General Pope, acted as rear guard 
to the " Army of the Potomac," at the time it fell back on Washington. In the 
performance of this duty, "the 6th Wisconsin, the very last to retire, marched 
slowly and steadily to the rear, faced to the front again as they reached their new 
position, and saluted the approaching enemy with three rousing cheers, and a 
rattling volley. Every Wisconsin man who heard those cheers felt his heart 
thrill with pride for the gallant fellows who gave them." 

In the three days fight of the 28th, 29th and 30th of August, at Gainesville and 
Bull Run, Gibbon's brigade suffered terribly. The 2d went into the fight with 
about 430 men, and lost in killed, wounded and missing, 286; the colonel and 
one captain being killed, and Major Allen, Captain Smith, and Lieutenants Bald- 
win, Bell and Esslinger, wounded. " Colonel O'Conner fell fighting bravely, and 
dearly beloved by his regiment." Captain J. F. Randolph, of company " H," was 
also killed in this battle. No truer or braver man has gone into action, or Allien 
a sacrifice to the wicked rebellion. The loss of the 6th, was 17 killed and 91 



468 



TIMES OF THE REBELLION 



wounded, the latter number includinji; Colonel Cutler and Lieutenants Johnson 
.and Tichenor ; and the 7th lost, in killed and wounded, 75 men, includinj: Ca])tain 
Kiayton, company " B," killed, and Captains Walker and Walthers, Lieutenants 
Bird and Hobart, wounded. A correspondent from the field says of their action 
in these battles: 

"Gibbon's brigade covered the rear, not leaving the field till after nine o'clock 
at night, gathering up the stragglers as they marched, preventing confusion, and 
showing so steady a line that the enemy made no attempt to molest them." 

Afterward, in the short campaign in Maryland, under command of Major Gen- 
eral McClellen, they nobly sustained their reputation at the battles of South 
Mountain and Antietam, which terminated the campaign by forcing the rebels to 
retire across the Potomac. In the battle of Sharpsburg, September 14th, Captain 
W. W. Colwell, company " B," 2d regiment, of La Cross, was killed, while in 
command of the line of skirmishers. A fine officer, beloved by the whole regi- 
ment. His last words, as he was raised by the men of his command, were, 
"Advance the right, and press forward; don't give way." The 2nd went into 
the battle of Antietam, September 17, 150 strong, and came out with 59. Lieute- 
nant Sanford, company " I," was killed ; Lieutenant Colonel Allen, Captains Gib- 
son and Ely, and Lieutenants Jones and Hill wounded. 

This short and meagre sketch of this brigade, cannot be more appropriately 
terminated, than by recalling a special order issued by their commanding general, 
of which the following is a copy. 

Headquarters Gibbon's Brigade, near Sharpsburg, Md., ] 

October 7th, 1862. j 

Special Order No. — 

It is with great gratification that the brigadier-general commanding announces 
to the Wisconsin troops the following indorsement upon a letter to his excellency, 
the governor of Wisconsin. His greatest pride will always be to know that such 
encomiums from such a source are always merited. 

'' I beg to add to this indorsement the expression of my great admiration of the 
conduct of the three W^isconsin regiments, in General Gibbon's brigade. I have 
seen them under fire acting in a manner that reflects the greatest possible credit 
and honor upon themselves and their state. They are equal to the best troops in 
any army in the world. [Signed,] George B. McClellan," 

By command of Brigadier General Gibbon. 

The 20th regiment was organized under the call for seventy-five thousand. 
The men were recruited during the months of June and July, 1861. The organi- 
zation was completed and the regiment mustered into the United States service in 
the beginning of August. The field-officers of this regiment were all promoted 
from the old regiments in the field. 

On the 30th of August they left Camp Randall under orders for St. Louis, 
where they arrived on the 31st. On the 6th of September they were ordered to 
Rolla, at which place they remained for ten days, when they marched to Spring- 
field on the 23d. They remained in the vicinity of Springfield until the beginning 
of December, when they were called upon to take part in the movement of Gen- 
eral Herron's forces, for the purpose of effecting a junction with General Blunt, 
who was holding the enemy in check near Cane Hill, Ark., and thereby prevent 
the rebels from entering Missouri. On Sunday, the 7th of December, they came 
in sight of the enemy at Prairie Grove, Ark., having marched one hundred miles 
in three days. Their conduct, during the terrible fight which followed, shovi'ed 
they did not need their general's reminder, as he placed them in position, that 
" W^isconsin had never been disgraced by her sons in arms." They charged upon 
and took a rebel battery of six guns at the point of the bayonet, and being una- 
ble to take the guns from the field, disabled them, and slowly retired without confu- 
sion, under the fire oi five rebel regiments. Captains John McDermott and John 
Weber, and Lieutenant Thomas Bintlifi", were killed in this fearful charge, and 
. Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Bertram, Captains 0. Gillett and H. C. Strong, with Lieu- 
tenants Jackson, Bird, Butler, Blake, Ferguson, Root and Miller wounded. The 
total loss was 49 killed, 148 wounded and 8 missing. 



IN WISCONSIN. 469 

In an official order of General Herron to Governor Solomon, he said: " I con- 
gratulate you and the State on the glorious conduct of the 20th Wisconsin in- 
fantry in the great battle of Prairie Grove." 

The famous Iron Brigade was later known in the War as Meredith's Brigade, and at 
Gettysburg was composed of the 2d, 5th, and 7th Wisconsin, 19th Indiana, and 24th 
Michigan. The heroic bravery of this brigade of western men in the battles at this point, 
almost surpasses belief. They held the key of the position, inflicted terrible losses upon 
the enemy, and suffered terribly, some of these regiments losing three quartern of their men. 
On being asked by Gen. Doubleday to hold a certain point to the last extremity, he re- 
ported : " Full of the memory of past achievements, they replied cheerfully and proudly, 
" If we can't hold it, where xcill you find the men who can ?' " 

The credit of saving Admiral Porter's fleet of gunboats and trans- 
ports from the peril of certain destruction on the rocks and among 
the rapids by the sudden fall of Eed Eiver, during Banks' unfortunate 
expedition, in the spring of 1864, was due to the skill and energy of 
a Wisconsin volunteer officer. How the vessels were extricated is 
thus told by Admiral Porter: 

Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey, acting engineer of the 19th army corps, proposed a 
plan of building a series of dams across the rocks at the falls, and raising the 
water high enough to let the vessels pass over. This proposition looked like 
madnes8,"and the best engineers ridiculed it, but Colonel Bailey was so sanguine 
of success that I requested General Banks to have it done, and he entered 
heartily into the work. Provisions were short and forage was almost out, and the 
dam was promised to be finished in ten days, or the army would have to leave us. 
I was doubtful about the time, but had no doubt about the ultimate success, if 
time would only permit. General Banks placed at the disposal of Colonel Bailey 
all the force he required, consisting of some three thousand men and two or three 
hundred wagons ; all the neighboring steam-mills were torn down for materinl ; 
two or three regiments of Maine men were set to work felling trees, and on the 
second day after my arrival at Alexandria from Grand Ecore the work had fairly 
began. Trees were falling with great rapidity; teams were moving in all direc- 
tions, bringing in brick and stone ; quarries were opened ; flat-boats were built to 
bring stones down from above ; and every man seemed to be working with a vigor 
I have seldom seen equaled, while perhaps not one in fifty believed in the success 
of the undertaking. These falls are about a mile in length, filled with rugged 
rocks, over which, at the present stage of water, it seemed to be impossible to 
make a channel. 

The work was commenced by running out from the left bank of the river a 
tree-dam, made of the bodies of very large trees, brush, brick, and stone, cross-tied 
with other heavy timber, and strengthened in every way which ingenuity could 
devise. This was run out about three hundred feet into the river; four large coal- 
barges were then filled with brick and sunk at the end of it. From the right bank 
of the river, cribs filled with stone were built out to meet the barges. All of 
which was successfully accomplished, notwithstanding there was a current run- 
ning of nine miles an hour, which threatened to sweep every thing before it. It 
will take too much time to enter into the details of this truly wonderful work. 
Suffice it to say, that the dam had nearly reached completion in eight days' work- 
ing time, and the water had risen sufficiently on the upper falls to allow the Fort 
Hindman, Osage, and Neosho to get down and be ready to pass the dam. In 
another day it would have been high enough to enable all the other vessels to pass 
the upper falls. Unfortunately, on the morning of the 9th inst., the pressure of 
water became so great that it swept away two of the stone barges, which swung 
in below the dam at one side. Seeing this unfortunate accident, I jumped on a 
horse and rode up to where the upper vessels were anchored, and ordered the 
Lexington to pass the upper falls, if possible, and immediately attempt to go 
through the dam. I thought I might be able to save the four vessels below, not 
knowing whether the persons employed on the work would ever have the heart to 
renew their enterprise. 

The Lexington succeeded in getting over the upper falls just in time — the water 



470 



TIMES OF THE REBELLION 



rapidly fiillins; as she was passing over. She then steered directly for the opening 
in the daui, through which the water was rushing so furiou.sly that it seemed as 
if nothing but destruction awaited her. Thousands of beating hearts looked on, 
anxious for the result. The silence was so great, as the Lexington approached the 
dam, that a pin might almost be heard to fall. Siie entered the gap with a full 
head of steam on, pitched down the roaring torrent, made two or three spasmodic 
rolls, hung for a moment on the rocks below, was then swept into deep water by 
the current, and rounded to safely into the bank. Thirty thousand voices rose in 
one deafening cheer, and universal joy seemed to pervade the face of every man 
present. The Neosho followed next, all her hatches battened down, and every 
precaution taken against accident. She did not fare as well as the Lexington, her 
pilot having become frightened as he approached the abyss and stopped her engine, 
when I particularly ordered a full head of steam to be carried; the result was, 
that for a moment her hull disappeared from sight under the water. Every one 
thought she was lost. She rose, however, swept along over the rocks with the cur- 
rent, and fortunately escaped with only one hole in her bottom, which was stopped 
in the course of an hour. The Hindman and Osage both came through beauti- 
fully, without touching a thing; and 1 thought if I was only fortunate enough to 
get my large vessels as well over the falls, my fleet once more would do good ser- 
vice in the Mississippi. The accident to the dam, instead of disheartening Col- 
onel Bailey, only induced him to renew his exertions after he had seen the success 
of getting four vessels through. 

The noble-hearted soldiers, seeing their labor of the last eight days swept away 
in a moment, cheerfully went to work to repair the damages, being confident now 
that all the gunboats would finally be brought over. These men had been work- 
intf for eight days and nights up to their necks in water, in the broiling sun — cut- 
ting trees and wheeling bricks— and nothing but good humor prevailed among 
them. On the whole, it was very fortunate that the dam was carried away as the 
two barges that were swept away from the center swung around against some 
rocks on the left, and made a fine cushion for the vessels, and prevented them, as 
it afterward appeared, from running on certain destruction. The force of the 
water and the current being too great to construct a continuous dam, at six hun- 
dred feet across the river, in so short a time, Colonel Bailey determined to leave a 
gap of fifty-five feet in the dam and build a series of wing dams on the upper 
falls. This was accomplished in three days' time, and on the 11th inst, the 
Mound City, Carondolet, and Pittsburg came over the upper falls, a good deal of 
labor having been expended in hauling them through, the channel being very- 
crooked, scarcely wide enough for them. Next day the Ozark, Louisville, Chilli- 
cothe, and two tugs also succeeded in passing the upper falls. Immediately after- 
ward the Mound City, Carondolet, and Pittsburg started in succession to pass the 
dam, all their hatches battened down, and every precaution taken to prevent acci- 
dent. The passage of these vessels was a most beautiful sight, only to be realized 
when seen. They passed over without an accident, except the unshipping of one 
or two rudders. This was witnessed by all the troops, and the vessels were heart- 
ily cheered as they passed over. Next morning at ten o'clock, the Louisville, 
Chillicothe, Ozark, 'and two tugs passed over without any accident except the loss 
of a man, who was swept off the deck of one of the tugs. 

In 'Wisconsin, as in other states, there were some men of disloyal 
stamp. All through the west, particularly in the year 1863, this feel- 
ing often exhibited itself in actual violence. The more usual mani- 
festations were in opposition to the drafts; and riots, from this source, 
were not uncommon. In some instances the enrolling officers, while 
]iroceeding to their duty, were ambushed and assassinated. Among 
the various Draft Eiots was quite a serious one in Ozaukee county, 
this state. The details we take from the Milwaukee papers. 

The resistance to tlie draft in Ozaukee county has assumed quite a serious as- 
pect. Early on Monday morning, the day on which the draft was to take place. 



IN WISCONSIN. 4yj 

processions came into the village of Ozaukee, and paraded the streets with ban- 
ners on which were inscribed " No Draft." At a preconcerted signal— the firing 
of two cannon — they marched to the courthouse, where they found the commis- 
eioner, Mr. Pors, had just commenced operations. The mob immediately attacked 
the courthouse, the commissioner fled, a part of the multitude pursuing him and 
assulting him with stones, brickbats and other missiles, until he took refuge in 
the postoffice. The other part continued their assault on the courthouse, and des- 
troyed the papers and other machinery connected with the draft. 

The commissioner, having escaped from the hands of the rioters, they turned 
round and wreaked their vengeance upon several eminent citizens who had been 
counseling obedience to the laws. Among those assaulted and beaten were : S. A. 
White, the county judge; L. Towsley, the district attorney; Judge Downs, regis- 
ter of deeds, and A. M. Blair, a leading lawyer. All these gentlemen were se- 
verely injured, and narrowly escaped with their lives. It is reported that Judge 
Downs had his leg broken. 

The rioters then commenced destroying private property. The houses of Mr. 
Pors, Mr. Loomis, Mr. Blair, Dr. Stillman and H. H. Hunt were sacked. The 
Ozaukee Stone Mills were leveled to the ground. They pursued the proprietor 
with the purpose of taking his life, but he managed to secrete himself, and after- 
ward escaped to this city. Previous to this they had obtained all the sheriff's 
papers in connection with the draft and destroyed them. 

The house of Commissioner Pors was also visited with particular vengeance. 
The furniture was smashed up and dumped out on the street. Jellies, jams, and 
preserves were poured over the Brussels carpets, and ladies' personal apparel torn 
into shreds. The mob continued in their high-handed career, and every person 
who was known to be a peaceful, law-abiding and law-obeying citizen was threat- 
ened with violence to his person and property. In many cases these threats were 
carried out with fearful exactness. 

We are confident the leaders in this riot will be dealt with summarily. We 
believe the body of the people there have been led on by designing, factious men, 
who are never content unless engaged in some riotous proceeding, no matter what 
its nature, if it only be resistance to the lawful constituted authority. Pillage 
and plunder is their great object, and they have led on innocent,^ unsuspecting 
people to commit their develish deeds under the cry of " No Draft." We expect 
these modern Swiiterres and Marats will be caged. 

The provost-marshal-general of the state, W. D. Mclndoe, arrived here last 
night, and accompanied by eight companies of the '28th regiment, 600 strong, un- 
der command of Colonel Lewis, left for the scene of the disturbances in Ozaukee 
county. 

The steamers Comet and Sunbeam had previously been chartered by the gover- 
nor, and at half past three o'clock Wednesday morning took their departure for 
Port Washington, with the provost-marshal-general and troops on board. 

The propeller Kenosha, which arrived here at nine o'clock Tuesday night, 
brought information that the mob at Ozaukee had three pieces of artillery, one 
of which was planted on the pier, and two on an elevation commanding the pier, 
and that they threatened to prevent the landing of troops. To prevent a colli- 
sion at the pier, it was understood the troops would be landed at Port Ulao, five 
miles this side, and marched into Port Washington before daylight this morning. 

P. S. — The Comet has just returned— two o'clock. The troops landed at Port 
Ulao and proceeded by land to Port Washington, arriving about seven o'clock in 
the morning. The rioters were completely taken by surprise, not one of them 
expecting that anything would be done by the State or United States authorities. 

Seventy of the rioters have been captured and are in the custody of provost- 
marshal Mclndoe. Some prominent citizens of Port Washington are among the 
prisoners. The destruction is represented as much greater than at first reported, 
six houses having been gutted. Clothing, furniture, and pianos were piled up in 
promiscuous confusion. 

The troops marched to the rear of the town on the west side. Colonel 
Lewia immediately sent out scouts and extended his lines so as to completely 



472 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

surround the town. Advancing in this manner, the scouts soon came in contact 
•with some of the rioters, who appeared frightened out of their wits, having be- 
come aware of the presence of a body of troops. They rushed wildly from one 
side of the town to the other, endeavoring to make their escape. But it was no 
use. The lines of the soldiers gradually closed up, and the rioters were com- 
pletely bagged — caught amid the ruin and destruction they had made. In a very 
short time the soldiers had arrested about seventy, including several women. 
The prisoners were taken and confined in the courthouse under guard. We Ccan 
only surmise what will be the fate of the men. The law provides that all who 
resist or counsel resistance to the draft shall be sentenced to serve in the ranks 
of the army during the war. This is a very mild sentence, and will be carried 
out to the letter. 

Arrival of the Rioters in Milwaukee. — The steamer Sunbeam brought here 
this morning 81 of the Ozaukee rioters, who were under the charge of a detach- 
ment Irom the 28th, consisting of Captain White's company. The company 
marched through the city in the form of a hollow square, with the prisoners in 
the center. They looked decidedly crestfallen, and were probably deeply ashamed 
of the scrape they have got themselves into. They have been taken to Camp 
Washburn, and will undoubtedly be put into the army without any further chance 
of a draft. 

Resistance to the Draft in Washington county. — Sofiie of the citizens of Wash- 
ington county, catching the contagion from Ozaukee county, disgraced themselves 
and the state nearly to the same extent on Tuesday as was the case in the latter 
county. 

On Monday there was no disturbance, and Mr. E. H. Gilson, the commissioner, 
completed, successfully, at West Bend, the draft for the towns of Barton, Farm- 
ington, Jackson, Kewaxcum and West Bend, employing a little girl to draw the 
ballots. Tuesday, in taking up the town of Trenton, a large crowd packed the 
court house, and as soon as it was completed began to shout. 

Sheriff Weimar and B. S. Weil endeavored to stem the tide, and counseled obe- 
dience to the laws. It was of no use, however, and Mr. Gilson, and the little girl, 
were advised to leave the building, which they did in haste. Gilson started for 
L. F. Frisby's office, but was overtaken by 15 or 20 excited men, one of whom 
caught him by the throat, another by the watch-guard, and another struck him a 
heavy blow in the right side with a stone of the size of a man's two fists. They 
told him to give up the rolls containing the list of men subject to draft, or they 
would murder him on the spot. 

He evaded their demands as well as he could, meanwhile falling back until he 
reached Mr. Frisby's office, when he expostulated with them and appealed to them. 
Frisby and Weil did the same, and in the meantime Gilson managed to get into 
the office and escaped from the back door, seizing upon his overcoat with his revolver 
in it as he escaped. A friend who had left a horse in the woods, about a half a 
mile distant, for him, informed him of what he had done, and he was not long in 
reaching the horse, which he mounted and made for Hartford at the top of hia 
speed. When near that place he met five or six men on horseback, armed with 
clubs, going in the direction of West Bend. They called to him: 

"Are you running away from the draft?" 

" No, but they are drafting you right fast up at West Bend." 

" By G — d, we'll see about that," they replied, and put spurs to their horses. 

Mr. Gilson reached Hartford in time to get aboard the train, and at once came 
to Milwaukee. He at once left here for Madison, arriving there yesterday morn- 
ing. He is an old resident of Washington county, and has hitherto been one of 
the most influential men there. 

iVlr. Gilson resides at Newburg, in that county. He expects to hear that his 
house has been destroyed, and his family insulted and outraged. These high- 
handed proceedings call for, and will, we doubt not, receive prompt and vigorous 
action on the part of the executive. 



IN WISCONSIN. ^tjo 

Two Hundred Arrests made — Trouble in other Towns. — Ozaukee, Wednesday 
Evening. Editors Sentinel : — I have but a few minutes to write before the Sun- 
beam leaves with eighty-one " rebels " on board, bound for Fort Lafayette and a 
job of dirt digging. The work of repressing the outbreak goes bravely on. 
Nearly 200 arrests have been made, and a detachment of 200 soldiers have gone 
to Saukville to suppress a riot there. 

A squad of 20 soldiers were out this p. m., near Belgium, and were attacked by 
a body of men, outnumbering them six or seven to one. The boys stood their 
ground bravely, wounding one of the rebels severely, if not fatally, and capturing 
fifty-nine. Two others brought in nine before dark. 

Marshal Mclndoe is doing his work well, and is ably assisted by the officers 
and men belonging to the department. They are sustained by the citizens, and 
it is more than probable that mob law will receive a lesson which will be remem- 
bered for some time. 

A six-pounder field piece was captured about nine o'clock this morning, and is 
now under guard at the court-house. The insurgents were well armed, but are 
no match for the volunteers who are sustaining the cause of law and order. 

The feeling of satisfaction is universal among the citizens and passengers. 

The town presents a sad appearance. Seven buildings are completely gutted- 
Four elegant pianos are among the property destroyed. 



MINNESOTA. 



Minnesota derives its name from the Minnesota River. The water of this 
river is clear, but has a blueish hue, owing to the peculiar colored clay of ita 

bed. The name, Minnesota, indicates 
this peculiarity, and signifies " sky- 
tinted water." In 1679, Father Hen- 
nepin, a Dutch Franciscan friar, and 
two others, of La Salle's expedition, 
accompanied the Indians to their 
villages, 180 miles above the Falls 
of St. Anthony. "He was the first 
European who ascended the Missis- 
sippi above the mouth of the AVis- 
consin; the first to name and describe 
the Falls of St. Anthony; the first 
to present an engraving of the Falls 
of Niagara to the literary world.* 
The first white man who visited 
the soil of Minnesota was a French- 
man, Daniel Greysolon du Luth, who 
in 1678 left Quebec to explore the 
country of the Assineboines. On the 




Abms of Minnesota. 
Motto— i«^oi7e dn Nord— The Star of the North. 



2d of July, of the next year, he planted the king's arms in Kathio, the great 
village of the Dakotahs, and, in the succeeding September, convened a coun- 
cil of the Indian nations at the head of Lake Superior. He built a fort, a 
trading post at the mouth of Pigeon River, and advanced as far as Mille Lac. 
In June, 1680, leaving his post, he met Hennepin among the Dakotahs, and 
descended the Mississippi with him. Before the termination of that century, 
other Frenchmen also visited Minnesota. 

In 1689, Perrot. accompanied by Le Sueur, Father Marest, and others, took 
formal possession of Minnesota, in the name of the French king. They also 
built a fort on the west shore of Lake Pepin, just above its entrance — the 



* From " The History of Minnesota, from the Earliest French Exploration to the Present 
Time; by Edward Duffield Neill, Secretary of the Minnesota Historical Society. Phila- 
delphia, T. B. Lippincott & Co., 1858." 

^ (475) 



476 MINNESOTA. 

first French establishment, in Minnesota. Le Sueur, in 1695, built a second 
post, on an island below the St. Croix. 

At this period, Le Sueur discovered, as he supposed, a copper mine on 
Blue Earth lliver, a tributary of the Minnesota. He returned in 1700, built 
a fort on the Minnesota, remained during the winter, and in the spring de- 
scended the Mississippi, with one hundred tuns of blue and green earth 
destined for France: but it is not known that he ever returned. 

Within the next 60 years, Minnesota was visited by the French fur traders. 
In 1763, Capt. Jonathan Carver, a native of Connecticut, visited the country, 
and subsequently published his travels in England, in which he first called 
the attention of the civilized world to the existence of the ancient monu- 
ments in the Mississippi valley, which h" dis'^'^ver'^d "' the vicinity of Lake 
Pepin, and described. He also described a cave near St. Paul, which bears 
his name to this day. He designed to have returned to the country, with 
which he was greatly delighted: but the American Revolution intervening 
prevented. 

"After tlie Frencli came the British fur traders. The British North-west Fur Company 
occupied trading posts at Sandy Lake, Leech Lake, and other central points within the 
limits of Minnesota. That at Sandy Lake was built in 1794, the year of Wayre's v.clo- 
ry. It was a large stockade, and contained two rows of buildings used as dwellings, pro- 
vision store, and workshops. Fort William, on the north side of Lake Superior, eventu- 
ally became their principal depot. This fort was on so large a scale as to accommodate 
forty partners, with their clerks and families. About these posts were many half-breeds, 
whose members were constantly increasing by the intermarriages of the French traders 
with the Indian women. Their goods, consisting principally of blankets, cutlery, printed 
calicoes, ribbons, glass beads, and other trinkets, were forwarded to the posts from Mon- 
treal, in packages of about 90 pounds each, and exchanged in winter for furs, which in 
the summer were conveyed to Montreal in canoes, carrying each about 65 packages and 10 
men. The Mackinaw Company, also English merchants, had their headquarters at Mack- 
inaw, while their trading posts were over a thousand miles distant, on the head watt'rs of 
the Mississippi. Between the North-west and the Hudson's Bay Company a powerful ri- 
valry existed. The boundaries of the latter not being established, desperate collisions 
often took place, and the posts of each were frequently attacked. When Lieut. Pike 
ascended the upper Mississippi in 1805, he found the fur trade in the exclusive possession 
of the North-west Company, which was composed wholly of foreigners. Although the 
lake posts were surrendered "to our government in 1796, American authority was not felt 
in that quarter until after the war of 1812, owing to the influence the English exercised 
over the Indians. It was from fear of American rivalry that the British fur traders insti- 
gated the Indians to border wars against the early settlements. In 181G, congress passed 
a law excluding foreigners from the Indian trade." 

In 1800, when the Territory of Indiana was organized, that part of Minnesota east of 
the Mississippi was included within it; and in 1«03, when Louisiana was purchased, that 
part of Minnesota west of the Mississippi for the first time became United States territory. 
The first American officer who visited Minnesota on public business, was Zebnlon Mont- 
gomery Pike, a native of New Jersey, then a young lieutenant in the army. His errand 
was to" explore the country, form alliances with the Indians, and expel the British traders 
found violating the laws of the United States. He was well treated by them; but as soon 
as he had departed, they disregarded the regulations he had established. Pike purchased 
the site of Fort Snelling, where, in 1819, barracks were erected, and a garrison stationed 
by the United States, which was the first American establishment in the country. Further 
explorations were made in 1820, by Gov. Cass; in 1823, by Major Long, and in 1832, by 
Hei.rv R. Schoolcraft, the last of whom discovered the source of the Mississippi. 

From 1836 to 1839, M. Nicollet (under whom was John C. Fremont), was engaged in 
nuking geographical surveys in this region, and ten years later, a scientific corps under 
Dr. Dale Owen, by their explorations, revealed much additional information respecting the 
topograph v and geology of this northern country: as also have the published journals of 
Staijsbury) Pope and Marcy, officers of the U. S. corps of topographical engineers. All 
these .surveys and explorations were by order of government. 

The first settlers in Minnesota, aside from the missionaries, fur traders, and military, 
were a lew Swiss emigrants from Pembina, the colony of Lord Selkirk, in the valley of the 
Red River, upward of 600 miles north of Fort Snelling. In the years of 1837 and 1838, 



MINNESOTA. 477 

thev opened farms on the site of St. Paul and viciuity. At this time the American emi 
Diants had made no settlements on the Mississippi above Prairie du Chien. lu October, 
1633, Rev. W. T. Boutwell established, at Leech Lake, the first Protestant mission ui 
Minn'esota west of the Mississippi. In May, 1835, the first church in Minnesota -A-as organ- 
ized in the garrison at Fort Snelling, by Rev.Tlios. S. Williamson and Rev. J.D. Stevens, 
missionaries of the American Board of Foreign Missions to the Dakotahs. In 1843, a 
settlement was begun on the site of Stillwater, a mill and other improvements commenced. 
The next year the first mill in Minnesota, above Fort Snelling, was built by B. Gervais, 
five miles north-east of St. Paul, at a point later known as Little Canada. In the year 
1842. a store and some other trading shops were opened at St. Paul, which made it the 
nucleus of a settlement. 

Previous to the organization of Wisconsin as a state, that part of Minne- 
sota east of the Mississippi was included within it, and that part west in the 
Territory of Iowa. 

" On the 3d of March, 1849, a bill was passed organizing the Territory of Minnesota, 
whose boundary on the west extended to the Missouri River. At the time of the passage 
of the bill, organizing the Territory of Minnesota, the region was little more than a wild- 
erness. The west bank of the Mississippi, from the Iowa line to Lake Itasca, was unceded 
bv the Indians. . , , ^ 

" At Wapashaw was a trading post in charge of Alexis Bailly, and here also resided the 
ancient voyageur, of fourscore years, A. Rocque. At the foot of Lake Pepin was a store- 
house kept by Mr. F. S. Richards. On the west shore of the lake lived the eccentric 
Wells, whose wife was a bois brule — a daughter of the deceased trader, Duncan Graham. 
The two unfinished buildings of stone, on the beautiful bank opposite the renowned Maid- 
en's Rock, and the surrounding skin lodges of his wife's relatives and friends, presented a 
rude but picturesque scene. Above the lake was a cluster of bark wigwams, the Dakotah 
villau^e of Ravmneecha, now Red Wing, at which was a Presbyterian mission house. The 
next'settlemeiit was Kaposia, also an Indian village, and the residence of a Presbyterian 
missionaiv, the Rev. T. S. Williamson, M.D. r , c. r^ • 

On the east side of the Mississippi, the first settlement, at the mouth of the St. Croix, 
was Point Douglas, then, as now, a small hamlet. At Red Rock, the site of a former 
Methodist mission station, there were a few farmers. St. Paul was just emerging from a 
collection of Indian whisky shops, and birch-roofed cabins of half-breed voyageurs. Here 
and there a frame tenement was erected; and, under the auspices of the Hon. H. M.Rice, 
who had obtained an interest in the town, some warehouses were being constructed, and 
the foundations of the American House were laid. In 1849, the population had increased 
to two hundred and fifty or three hundred inhabitants, for rumors had gone abroad that it 
might be mentioned in "the act, creating the territory, as the capital." 

The officers appointed by President Tavlor for the territory were. Alex. Ramsay, of Pa., 
governor; C. K. Smith, of Ohio, secretary; A. Goodrich, of Tenn., chief justice; B. B. 
Meeker, of Ky., and David Cooper, of Pa., associate judges; H. L. Moss, U. S. district 
attornev; and" A. M. Mitchell, of Ohio, marshal. The governor and other officers soon 
alter arrived at St. Paul, and on the 1st of June the territorial government was organized. 
Henry H. Siblev, of Mich., was shortlv after elected the first delegate to congress. The 
territorial legislature met on the 3d of "September, and elected David Olmsted president 
of the council, and Joseph W. Furber as speaker of the house. The next day they assem- 
bled in the dining room of the town hotel, and, after a prayer by Rev. E.D. Neill,the gov- 
ernor delivered his message. One of the first acts of the body was to incorporate " the 
Historical Society of Minnesota." The total population of the territory, on the 11th ot 
June, 1849, was 4,049. 

On the 33d of Feb., 1856, the U. S. senate authorized the people of Minnesota to form 
a state constitution, preparatory to admission into the Union. This was effected in the 
succeeding October, and on the 7th of April, 1858, the senate passed the bill admitting 
Minnesota into the Union. Henry M. Rice and James Shields were the first representa- 
tives of the new state in the national senate. In a census taken in 1857, preliminary to 
admission, the population was ascertained to be 150,037. . . , , 

Like all new states, Minnesota has been injured by the spirit of speculation m land, 
especiallv in town sites. Prior to the commercial revulsion of 1857, it was estimated that 
86S town sites had been recorded, enough to accommodate a town population of over two 
million. 

Minnesota extends from latitude 43° 30' to 48°, and in longitude from 
8U° -19' to 91° 12': it is bounded on the E. by Lake Superior and Wiscon- 



478 



MINNESOTA. 



sin; on the N. by the British Possessions; on the "W. by Dakotah Terri- 
tory, and on the S. by Iowa: its greatest length north and south is 380 miles, 
and it has a breadth varying from 183 to 358 miles: total area 81,259 square 
miles. 

Minnesota occupies the elevated plateau of North America. At the "highth of 
land," or Hauteurs des Terres, in the northern part of the state, lat. 47 deg. 7 min, 
and long. 95 deg., "are the sources of the three great river systems of the conti- 
nent. The slopes of the adjacent valleys, meeting upon this central ridge, give to 
the surfece of Minnesota, with the general aspect of an undulating plain, the shape 
of a pyramidal roof, down whose opposite sides the waters descend to their ocean 
outlets." Two thirds of this surface feeds the Mississippi with its waters, which 
thus find their way to the Gulf of Mexico, while the remainder of the surface con- 
tributes in about equal proportions to the Red River of the North, flowing into 
Hudson's Bay, and to Lake Superior, whose final outlet to the ocean is through the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Highth of Land is about 1,500 feet above the Gulf 
of Mexico, and is the only hilly region, excepting the trap summits north of Lake 
Superior. 

The majestic Mississippi takes its rise among the hills of Lake Itasca, and flows 
for 797 miles through the state. The Minnesota, 470 miles long, empties into the 
Mississippi five miles above St. Paul, and is now navigable for steamers for 238 
miles, to the mouth of the Yellow Medicine. The Red River has a length of 379 
miles, to the British line. The St. Croix River, so valuable for its pineries, is nav- 
igable for 52 miles. Lake Superior washes 167 miles of the border of the state, 
and the St. Louis River, at its extreme west end, is navigable 21 miles. 

Hon. B. B. Meeker, a ten years' resident in Minnesota, writing in 1860, gives a 
description of its climate, soil and general resources, which we copy in an abridged 
form; 

The climate of Minnesota is already proverbially good. Its complete exemption from 
all those diseases and maladies local to most new countries, and so justly a terror to all new 
comers, is conceded by all who have tested it by actual residence. There is hardly a town, 
or city, or neighborhood in the state, that is not able to bear testimony to more than one 
complete restoration from chronic disease of the lungs or some of the varied types of con- 
sumption assumed by that most subtile of all the agents of the fell destroyer. 

Perhaps no locality on our continent has less of fever and ague. Indeed, if there be any 
cases of this kind, their origin is readily traced to some other states or territories, and but 
a short residence is necessary to eradicate it entirely. Hundreds and hundreds of families 
are annually driven from other western states to take up their residence in Minnesota, to 
escape this offensive and troublesome foe to the emigrant and his family. This is not only 
true of one, but of evert/ portion of the state; and what is very remarkable, it is just as 
healthy around the lake shores and along the valleys of our water courses, as upon the 
prairies and table lands of the interior. In no part of America are the seasons better de- 
fined or more emphatically marked. 

We will commence with the spring. This season usually begins about the middle of 
March, when the snow begins to melt and disappear suddenly. April is fickle and fluctu- 
ating — May tranquil, warm, and genial. The latter part of April the farmers plant pota- 
toes and sow their spring wheat. About the first of May they sow their oats, and about 
the tenth plant their corn. After the first of May frosts rarely ever appear, certainly not 
to the same extent they do in states further south and east. This is a very remarkable fact, 
and is demonstrated yearly. I was informed by an aged missionary, in the spring of 1849, 
that he had lived in the country then sixteen years, and that he had observed the appear- 
ance of frost averaged two weeks earlier in northern Illinois than in Minnesota. Why this 
difference in favor of a more northern state, is an interesting problem for philosophers and 
geologists, with whom I leave the solution — the fact, however, is incontestable. 

Summer in this state is indeed hot, sometimes even overpowering; but always succeeded 
by cool, breezy, delicious nights. Sleep here is repose indeed, and not exhaustion, as in 
more southern states. In no part of the world do crops grow more rapidly than in Minne- 
sota, owing chiefly to two causes, the intense heat of summer days and the warm nature of 
the soil. This peculiarity of the soil and climate explains the hurried and swift maturity 
of the various species of corn, that many who have not witnessed the fact, believe can not 
ripen with any degree of certainty north of Ohio or Illinois. This quick action of the sua 
and soil on vegetation and grain, is necessarily a spur to the farmer, who is hurried from 
one department of his labor to another without much time for rest or relaxation. At first 
he will be apt to conclude that the planting of corn is too close on the sowing of wheat, 
oats, and barley ; and the weeding of the former too near the harvesting of the latter. But 



MINNESOTA. 479 

he will soon learn by observation and experience to keep them separate and apart by taking 
time by the forelock. 

The autumns of Minnesota are bright, clear, and dry — well adapted to the cutting and 
curing of hay, and the in-gathering of the crops. It is also the best season for sport, as 
hunting, fishing, and driving. No state in the Union has better natural roads and thorough- 
fares, and at this season you can safely drive a carriage to the Red River — thence down 
that rich valley of land to the British interior — or westward to the Rocky Mountains, or 
southerly to Iowa or Missouri. A good team road you can find at this season in almost 
any direction, and perfect health by the way. 

The winter here is cold, dry, and severe. Snow falls for sleighing generally about the 
twentieth of November, and from that time to Christmas. After that but little snow falls, 
and it is uniform winter till spring comes, when it makes its exit rather unceremoniously. 
But let no one suppose that winter here is cheerless and void of social interest. In no part 
of the country are there more social appliances and social pleasures than in Minnesota. 
Lyceums, lecture-rooms, social and dancing parties, sleighing excursions by day and by 
moonlight, are common sources of pleasure from the capitol to the country hamlet. This, 
too, is the season for harvesting the pine forest — an employment half business and half 
pleasure — a crop gathered in the winter and manufactured and sold in the spring and 
summer. 

Minnesota, like all the other states, has more or less of poor or indiff"erent soil ; at the 
same time few states in the Union have more productive or remunerating lands than Min- 
nesota, and these are admirably distributed so as ultimately to equalize the population 
through the several important districts marked by the physical geography of the country. 
The great natural subdivisions of the state are : 

I. The Lake Superior region or the region extending some sixty miles around the head 
of the great lake that bears that name. This district is for the most part woodland. Most 
of the soil is thin, low, and wet, with here and there a fertile locality of hard wood, as ash, 
sugar maple, and elm, having a clay or hard-pan subsoil. But little of this region is at 
present settled, and it is generally unknown to the emigrating public, as no road has yet 
been completed — from Superior City to the Mississippi — a distance of eighty miles only. 
It is to be regretted, and the government is to be blamed, that it has never constructed this 
road either for military or postal purposes, as well as for calling into requisition and settle- 
ment a large tract of the public domain, thus uniting, by a comparatively small expense, 
the two great valleys of the continent, the Lake and Mississippi. It would be essentially 
a national highway, and would speedily force into settlement all the cultivable lands be- 
tween the two mighty waters. This, too, is the mineral, the copper and iron district of 
Minnesota — the only region in America where copper is found in massive purity. AVhen the 
slumbering wealth of this region shall be appreciated, and capital and operatives shall have 
found a lodgment in this portion of Minnesota, agriculture in this vicinity will find an in- 
exhaustible market and a rich reward at the head of the lake. 

II. In the north-west of the state, heads the great valley or basin of the Red River of 
the North. This is almost a distinct region of country, and has many peculiarities in soil 
and population. The valley proper, is about thirty miles in width, being timbered and 
prairie and of the very richest soil, composed of a deep black loam, resting upon a clayey 
foundation. This is a vast luxuriant grass region — the ancient paradise of the buffalo herds 
— from which they have just been driven by the vanguard and outpost of our progressive 
population. This great valley is admirably adapted to the cultivation of hemp, barley, 
maize, wheat, oats, and potatoes. 

III. The Upper Mississippi. By this I mean so much of the valley of the Upper Mis- 
sissippi as lies north of the Falls of St. Anthony. On the east side or left hand of this 
river, from its source to the falls, the soil is generally inferior, and yet there are many por- 
tions of it are good and yield well. On the west side, however, the soil is not only good 
but generally excellent. The Sauk River valley, the Crow River valley and its branches, 
are not surpassed in fertility and productiveness in any western state. This region is not 
only well settled but populous, and is very productive in wheat, rye, oats, corn, and pota- 
toes, which are shipped in large quantities from the falls to St. Louis, the most accessible 
and best market. 

IV. The St. Peter's or Minnesota valley. This is an immense district of agricultural and 
grazing lands, stretching south-westerly first, and then north-westerly, embracing a tract 
of some five hundred miles, fertile in corn, wheat, barley, oats, and potatoes, all of which 
are easily and cheaply floated to the Mississippi, thence south to the best market. 

V. Lower Minnesota, or all that country lying west of the Mississippi and south of the 
St. Peter's or Minnesota River, including the very rich and fertile country drained by the 
Blue Earth. This whole country is well settled, and very fertile in corn and wheat. 

The crops that do best in Minnesota are wheat, rye, barley, oats, potatoes, and corn — 
the latter not always a certain crop. The average yield of wheat this year is supposed to 
be twenty-five bushels to the acre, the largest average of any state of the Union. 

There is no mineral coal in Minnesota, but the country is otherwise well supplied with 
fuel and means for manufacturing. For a prairie state, it is by far the best wooded and 



480 



MINNESOTA. 



timbered of them all. All the region between the Upper Mississippi and the Great Lake is 
a wilderness of wood, except a narrow belt of prairie along the river. All the great val- 
leys above described have an abundance of wood for fuel, fencing, and building purposes. 

I think it is the best watered country in the world. A settler can hardly select him a 
farm in any part of the state that will not be near a spring, a creek, or lake. Cascades and 




St. Paul 

waterfalls, too, are to be found all over the state, and are valued for their beauty and util- 
ity. Water-power, as it is called, is inexhaustible in Minnesota, and is rapidly being ap- 
propriated to various branches of manufacturing. Flour and lumber have already become 
important staples, and command high and cash prices, from the Falls of St. Anthony to 
New Orleans. Other manufacturing will soon spring up, and make Minnesota, in this re- 
spect, the New England of the north-west. 

The more intense periods of cold in the winter of Minnesota, are shorn 
of their severity, by the absence of winds and the peculiar dryness of the 
atmosphere, which imparts an elasticity and buoyancy to the spirits. It has 
been ascertained by theometrical observations, continued for many years at 
Fort Snelling, that its spring temperature is identical with that of Massa- 
chusetts; its summer with that of northern Ohio; its autumn with that of 
northern Vermont, and its winter is like that of Montreal. The population 
of Minnesota, in 1850, was 6,075, and in 1860, 176,535: and farms under 
cultivation, 19,075. 



St. Paul, the capital of Minnesota, derives its name from the Catholic 
church which had been organized there six years previous to the laying out 
of the town. St. Paul stands on the left or east bank of the Mississippi; 
but at this particular point the course of the river is from south-west to 
north-east: the town is 8 miles below the Falls of St. Anthony, and 5 below 
Fort Snelling and the mouth of the Minnesota: distance, by the Mississippi, 
above New Orleans, 1,900 miles; above the mouth of the Ohio, 860; above 
St. Louis, 688; above Galena, 280; above La Crosse, 114; and about 400 



MINNESOTA. .g., 

from Chicago by the usual route of travel. The main part of St. Paul stands 
upon a plain of land about 80 feet above the river, and 800 above the Gulf 
of Mexico, on one of the most beautiful and commanding of sites. " Com- 
mercially, it is the key to all the vast region north of it, and, by the Minne- 
sota River, to the immense valley drained through that important tributary 
to the Mississippi. The approach to it from below is grand and imposiiiir. 
The traveler, after leaving Dubuque nearly 300 miles below, sees nothing to 
remind him of a city until he rounds the bend in the river below St. Paul, 
when her tall spires, substantial business houses, and neat dwellings burst 
upon his view." St. Paul is near the geographical center of the continent, 
and is the prominent business point of one of the most beautiful, fertile, 
and healthy of countries.. Population 1860, 10,401. 

The first settlers at St. Paul were the Swiss, originally from Pembina, Lord Selkirk's 
colony, on the Red River ol' the North. In the spring of 182.'), the colonists there were driven 
from their homes by a terrible freshet in the river, consequent upon the melting of the 
snows. "After the flood, they could no longer remain in the land of their adversity, and 
they became the pioneers in emignition and agriculture in tiie state of Minnesota. At one 
time a party of 243 departed for the United States, who found homes at different points on 
the banks of the Mississippi. Before the eastern wave of emigration had ascended be- 
yond Prairie du Chien, the Swiss had opened farms on and near St. Paul, and should be 
recognized as the first actual settlers in the country." They first located on the land on 
the east side of the Mississippi, between St. Paul and Fort Snelling, and commenced im- 
provements. In March, 1838, the commander at the fort selected this land as a part of 
a military reservation. It was, therefore, withheld from sale. The settlers, who were 
principally the Swiss, were ordered to be removed by the war department. On the 6th and 
7th of May, 1840, the troops from the fort, with undue haste, removed these unfortunate 
people, and destroyed their cabins: they then removed to the site of St. Paul: amonf 
them were Messrs. Massey, Perry, Garvis and Pierrie. °^ 

" The year [I8:<8j that the Dakotahs ceded tlieland east of the Mississippi," says Neill 
in his History of Minnesota, "a Canadian Frenchman, by the name of Parant, the ideal 
of an Indian whisky seller, erected a shanty at what is now the principal steamboat land- 
ing in St. Paul. Ignorant and overbearing, he loved money more than his soul. Desti- 
tute of one eye, and the other resembling that of a pig, he was a good representative of 
Caliban. 

In the year 1842, some one writing a letter in his groggery, for the want of a Hiore 
euphonious name, designated the place as ' Pig's Eye,' referring to the peculiar appearance 
of the whisky seller. The reply to the letter was directed in good faith to ' Pig's Eve,' 
and was received in due time. 

In 1842, the late Henry Jackson, of Mahkato, settled at the same spot, and erected the 
first store on the hight just above the lower lauding; and shortly after, Roberts and Simp- 
son followed, and opened small Indian trading shops. In the year 1 846, the site of St. 
Paul was chiefly occupied by a few shanties, owned by ' certain lewd fellows of the baser 
sort," who sold rum to the soldier and Indian. It was despised by all decent white men, 
and known to the Dakotahs by an expression in their tongue, which means, the place 
where they sell minne-wakan." * 

St. Paul" was laid off as a town into lots in July, 1847, by Ira B, Brunson, of Prairie du 
Chien, in the employment of residents. "The names of those who were then sole pro- 
prietors, barring Uncle Sam's prior lien, were Vetal Guerin, Alex. R. M'Leod, Henry 
Jackson, Hartshorn & Randall, Louis Roberts, Benj Gervais, David Farribault, A. L.Lar 
penteur, J. W. Simpson, and J Demarrais." For a year or two the place showed no signs 
of a promising future, until the Hon. Henry M. Rice bought in, and by his energy and 
reputation for forecast, " infused new life into the place." When the territorial bill for 
the organization of Minnesota was passed, St. Paul, through the exertions of Hon. Hemy 
H. Sibley, was named as the temporary capital. The act was signed on the 3d of March, 
184'». Says Neill: 

"More than a month after the adjournment of congress, just at eve, on the 9th of April, 
amid terrific peals of thunder and torrents of rain, the weekly steam packet, the first to 
force its way through the icy barrier of Lake Pepin, rounded the rocky point, whistling 
loud and long, as if the bearer of glad tidings. Before she was safely moored to the land- 
ing, the shouts of the excited villagers announced that there was a Territory of Minnesota, 



* Supernatural Water. 

31 



482 



MINNESOTA. 



and that St. Paul w.as the seat of government. Every successive steamboat arrival poured 
out on the landing men big with hope, and anxious to do something to mold the future of 
the new state. 

Nine days after the news of the existence of the Territory of Minnesota was received, 
there arrived James M. Goodhue with press, types, and printing apparatus. A graduate 
of Amherst College, and a lawyer by profession, he wielded a sharp pen, and wrote edito- 
rials, which, more than anything else, perhaps, induced emigration. Though a man of 
.■iiiuie glaring faults, one of the counties properly bears his name. On the 28th of April, ho 
is!-iied the first number of the ' Pioneer.' 

On the 27th of May, Alexander Ramsey, the governor, and family arrived at St. Paul, 
but, owing to the crowded state of the public houses, immediately proceeded in the steamer 
to the establishment of the fur company known as Mendota, at the junction of the Minne- 
sota and Mississippi, and became the guest of the Hon. H. H. Sibley. 

For several weeks there resided, at the confluence of these rivers, four individuals who, 
more than any other men, have been identified with the public interests of Minnesota, and 
given the state its present character. Their names are attached to the thriving counties of 
Ramsey, Rice, Sibley, and Steele. 

' As unto tlie bow, the cord is, 
So unto tilt' man is tlie wnnian, 
Tliongli slie bends him, she olieys liim. 
Though she draws him, yet slie follows, 
Useless each without tlie other." " 




Fort Snclliiig, orioinally called Fort St. Anthony, is a noted point in th( 

history of Minnesota. It 
stands on a lofty bluff, 5 miles 
above St. Paul, on the west 
bank of the Mississippi, at the 
junction of the Minnesota, and 
on the north bank of the lat- 
ter. It is composed of large 
barracks and numerous edifices, 
surrounded by thick walls. 
Previous to the organization 
of Minnesota, in 1849, it was 
the only important point north 
Fort Snei.ling. of Prairie du Chien, and was 

for years the rendezvous of missionaries, of scientific explorers, and of mer- 
cantile adventurers, on their way to the Dakotahs. The scenery at this 
point, up the valley of the Minnesota, is surpassingly beautiful. The I'ort 
was named from Col. Snelling. He was a brave otficer of the war of 1812, 
and particularly distina;uished himself at Tippecanoe and Brownstown. He 
died in 1828. 

In Feb., 1819, the war department ordered the 5tli regiment of infantry to concentrate 
at Detroit, for the 7urpose of transportation to the Mississippi, to garrison Prairie du Cliien 
and Rock Island, and to establish a post as the headquarters of the corps at the moutii 
of the Minnesota. 

Col. Ticavenworth ascended the Mississippi with his soldiers in keel boats, and erected 
temporary barracks above the present village of Mendota, on the south side of tlie river, 
where they wintered. Col. Snelling subsequently assumed command of the garrison. On 
the 10th of September of the next year (1820), the corner stone of Fort Snelling was 
laid. 

The wife of Colonel Snelling, " a few days after her arrival at the post, gave birth to 
the first infant of white parents in Minnesota, which, after a brief existence ot thiite»-n 
months, departed to a better land. The dilapidated monument which marks the rennins 
of the ' little one,' is still visible in the graveyard of the fort. Beside Mrs. Snellini;, tlie 
wife of the commissary, and of Captain Gooding, were iu the garrison, the first American 
ladies that ever wintered in Minnesota." 

The Minne-ha-ha Falls, the existence of which the genius of Longfellow 



MINNESOTA. 



483 




has perpetuated in living lines, is within a few minutes drive from Fort Siicl- 
ling, or St. Anthony, being between these two points. 

" Waterfalls, in the Dakotah tongue, are called ha-ha. The 'A, has a stronj;: gut- 

_ tural sound, and the word is ;ip- 

. .^y T"- yt^^^=^ plied because of the curliiuj or 

' ^ ~- ==^:-^ laughing of the waters. The 

verb I-ha-ha primarily means t<i 
curl; secondarily to lavtfk, he- 
cause of the curling motion of 
the mouth in laughter. 'I'he 
noise of Ha-ha is called by tlie 
Dakotahs I-ha-ha, because of ita 
resemblance to laughter. A 
small rivulet, the outlet of Lake 
Hiirriet and Calhoun, gently 
gliding over the bluff into an ani- 
phitheater, forms this graceful 
waterfall. It has but little of 
'the cataract's thunder.' Niaga- 
ra symbolizes the sublime; St 
Anthony the picturesque; Ha-ha 
the beautiful. The fall is about 
si.Kty feet, presenting a parabolic 
curve, which drops, without the 
le;ist deviation, until it has reach- 
ed its lower level, when the 
stream g(tes on its way rejoicing, 
curling along in laughing, child- 
ish glee at the graceful feat it has 
perf(»rmod in bounding over the 
precipice." 

St. Anthony is beautifully 
situated, on a gently rising prairie, on the left or east bank of the Mis.sis- 
sippi, at the Falls of St. Anthony, 8 mile^j by land above St. Paul, 2 miles 
further north, and 12 by the windings of the river, and also 7 miles by the 
latter above Fort Snelling. " The first dwelling was erected in this city in 
the autumn of 1847, and Mrs. Ard Godfrey claims the honor of having given 
birth to the first of the fair daughters of St. Anthony." Here is located the 
University of the State. "Minnesota seems determined to be in advance of 
other states in education, for two sections in every township have been appro- 
priated for the support of common schools, no other state having previously 
obtained more than one section in each of its townships for such a purpose." 
The celebrated Falls of St. Anthony were named, in 1680, by their dis- 
coverer, Louis Hennepin, in honor of his patron saint. 

"They are only twenty feet in hight; but the scenery does not derive its inter- 
est from their grandeur, but from the perfect grouping of rock and wood and water 
on a magnificent scale. The Mississippi is upward of six hundred yards \\i(f.' 
above the falls. These are quite perpendicular, and the water drops in heantiihl 
single sheets on either side of a huge mass of white sandstone, of a pyramidal 
form, which splits the stream. The rapids below extend for several hundred yards, 
and are very broad, divided into various channels by precipitous islands of sand 
stone, gigantic blocks of which are strewn in grotesque confusion at the l»ast; o. 
lofty walls of stratification of dazzling whiteness. These fantastically-sliape I 
islands are thickly wooded, and birch and maple cling with desperate tenacity in 
nooks and crannies in the perpendicular clitTs. Tlie banks of the river are of a 
character similar to the islands in its stream. The snowy-white houses of St .\.i- 
thony are almost hidden by the thick foliage of the left bank." 



MlNNE-I!A-HA FALLS. 

'Here the Falls of Mimie-ha-ha 
Flash ami ^li-.im among the oak trees, 
Laug^h Hiid leaj) into the valley." 



434 MINNESOTA. 

Situated at the head of navigation on the Mississippi, with an unlimited 
water power, St. Anthony has a fine prospect of becoming an important man- 
ufacturing and commercial city. It has abundance of building stone, is in a 
rich agricultural region, and with abundance of lumber in its vicinity. 

Immediately opposite St. Anthony is the thriving town of Minneapolis. 
An elegant suspension bridge connects the two places. "As a work of 
beauty and art it can hardly be surpassed, while it has the appearance of 
great solidity; its massive cables being firmly anchored on either side in the 
solid rock. The work was undertaken in the spring of 1854, and finished 
the next year, at an expense of over $50,000, being the first suspension 
bridge ever built in a territory, and the first to span the Father of Waters." 
The two places, St. Anthony and Minneapolis, have unitedly about 7,000 
inhabitants. 

Travelers visiting this region are apt to be eloquent in their descriptions. Part 
of this ia no doubt to be attributed to the pure, dry, bracing atmosphere, which not 
only imparts a wondrous distinctness to the whole landscape, lending unwonted 
charms to the skies above, and to the earth beneath, but so braces up the system 
with the sensation of high health, that the stranger looks upon all things around 
him with most pleasing emotions. The effect of this elastic, life-giving atmosphere 
has, indeed, been described by some, as at times producing in them a buoyancy 
of feeling, that they could compare to nothing but the exhilaration occasioned by a 
slight indulgence in ardent spirits I Here the weak man feels a strong man, and 
the strong man a giant! The enthusiastic Bond, in his work on Minnesota, says 
that, owing to the strengthening nature of the climate, the labor of one man will 
produce more, and yield a larger surplus above his necessities, than in any other 
western state or territory. " We have," says he, " none of the languor, and debil- 
ity, and agues, that turn men into feeble women in the harvest field, as they have 
south of us. Labor here stands Jirmhj on its legs, the year round, and drives things 
through /" 

Among the travelers in this region, who have spoken in its praise, is the 
celebrated savant Maury, superintendent of the National Observatory, at 
Washington. Says he: 

At the small hours of the night, at dewy eve and early morn, I have looked out 
with wonder, love, and admiration upon the steel-blue sky of Minnesota, set with 
diamonds, and sparkling with brilliants of purest ray. The stillness of your small 
hours is sublime. I feel constrained, as I gaze and admire, to hold my breath, lest 
the eloquent silence of the night should be broken by the reverberations of the 
sound, from the seemingly solid but airy vault above. 

Herschell has said, that in Europe, the astronomer might consider himself highly 
favored, if by patiently watching tne skies for one year, he shall, during that period 
find, all told, one hundred hours suitable for satisfactory observations. A teles- 
cope, mounted here, in this atmosphere, under the skies of Minnesota, would have 
its powers increased many times over what they would be under canopies of a 
heaven less brilliant and lovely. 

Col, F. A. Lumsden, of the New Orleans Picayune, writing from St. An- 
thony, two weeks before his death and that of his family by shipwreck, on 
the ill-fated steamer Lady Elgin, on Lake Michigan, thus gives vent to his 
admiration: 

I have missed much by not having visited this section of country before, and one can 
have no correct idea of this region by anything they may hear or read about it. The 
p(_.e,ie,.Y — the country — the lakes and the rivers — the crops and the climate are the finest 
in the world. 

Such scenery as the Upper Mississippi presents I have never beheld: its beauties, its 
romantic grandeur can never be justly described. On either shoi'e of this vast river, for 
miles ou miles, stand the everlasting hills, their slopes covered with the emerald carpeting 
01 spring. 



MINNESOTA. ^oc 

As a place of summer resort, abounding in all the requisites of pleasure and health, St. 
Anthony excels all the watering places of the fashionable and expensive east. As for 
the Falls of St. Anthony, they are ruined by Yankee enterprise, and all their beauty has 
departed. Mills, foundries, dams and lumber rafts have spoilt all of nature's romamic 
loveliness by their innovations, and you would be astonished to see the hundreds of houses 
recently erected here, some of which are beautiful and costly specimens of architecture, 
that would prove ornaments to any city. The Winston House, at St. Anthony, is one of 
the largest and most elegant hotels of the north-west, built of stone at a cost of $110,000, 
and furnished in princely style. It is now filled with southern people. 

This is my fourth day here, and I already begin to experience the fine effects of the in- 
vigorating climate and stimulating atmosphere. I have been hunting and fishing, and 
found the sport excellent. There are plenty of deer in the neighborhood, but I have seen 
none of them yet. The chief shooting is the prairie chicken, and they are in abundance 
io the plains and stubble fields. For fishing one can hardly go amiss. Within a range of 
from six to twenty miles from the town, are several magnificent lakes. In all of these, 
the greatest quantity of fish is to be found, such as perch, of various kinds, pickerel, bass, 
trout, etc., while in numerous small streams, hundreds of trout — the regular speckled trout 
— are taken daily. A gay and joyous party of us yesterday visited Lake Minnetonka, 
where we got up a very handsome picnic, and had a good time. A party of six gentle- 
men, all from the south, are to start to-morrow for the buffalo grounds of the Red River 
of the North, on a grand hunting expedition. 

The Minnesota River and Fort Snelling, as well as the pretty little Falls cif Minne-ha- 
ha, lie betn'een St. Paul and this place. From the bights of Fort Snelling a most en- 
chanting view of the rich valley of the Minnesota is had; and the traveler looks out upon 
the vast plain, stretching away beneath his vision, with emotions of surprise — almost of 
bewilderment — at the stupendous scene. What wealth, what riches have the United St/itcs 
not acquired in the possession of this great domain of the north? 

Winona, is on the Mississippi River, 150 miles below Saint Paul, 
and has 4,000 inhabitants. It was named from the Indian maiden 
Winona, who, according to the legend, threw herself from a cliff into Lake 
Pepin, and found a grave in its waters, rather than wed an uncongenial 
brave. Red Win^ and Hastings are smaller towns, on the Mississippi, the 
first the seat of Hamlin University, a methodist institution, and on that 
beautiful expansion of the Mississippi, Lake Pepin: Hastings is 25 miles be- 
low St. Paul. 

Mendota is on a beautiful island, at the junction of the Minnesota with 
the Mississippi. It possesses great advantages in position, and was for a 
long time a noted trading post of the American Fur Company, Immedi- 
ately in the rear of Mendota rises the lofty Pilot Knob, which is much 
visited. 

Beside the above there are numerous other rising towns in Minnesota, of 
which we have not descriptions at hand, as Wabashaw, Shakopee, Le Sueur, 
Nicollet, Stillwater, Lake City, etc. Whatever descriptions may be given 
of tho rising towns in the west are of doubtful value, excepting as a matter 
of history, for often is the rapidity of their increase so great, that the sta- 
tistics of one season are of no reliability as a basis of knowledge a few seasons 
later. 



• o/y MINNESOTA. 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, MISCELLANIES, ETC. 

Nicholas Perrot was one of those master minds whose enterprises mark the his- 
tory of their times. He was by birth a Canadian, bred to the excitements of a 
frontier life. Educated by service to the .Jesuits, he became familiar with the cus- 
toms and lan_<j;ua,;!;es of the savajjes of the lakes of the far west. Years before La 
Salle launched the GriflSn on Lake Erie, he was sent by government on an errand 
to the tribes of the north-west, and penetrated even as far south as Chicago. He 
was the first man known to have built a trading post on the Upper Mississippi, 
which he did on the shores of Lake Pepin. According to the Dakotah tradition, 
he gave seed and corn to their people, through the influence of which the Dakotaha 
began to be led away from the rice grounds of the Milie Lac region. 

Louis Hennepin was born in Ath, Netherlands. He was bred a priest of the 
Recollect branch of the Franciscans. From his youth he had a passion for travel 
and adventure, and sought out the society of strangers, " who spent their time in 
nothing else but either to tell or hear some new thing." Jn 1676, he welcomed 
with joy the order from his superior to embark for Canada. He accompanied La 
Salle in his celebrated expedition to explore the far west. In Feb., 16S0, he waa 
dispatched by La Salle, with two voyageurs in a canoe, on a voyage of discovery 
up the unknown regions f)f the Upper Mississippi. It was on this journey that 
he discovered and named the Falls of St. Anthony. In 1683, he published, at 
Paris, a tolerably correct account of his travels in Minnesota. In 1698, he issued 
an enlarged edition, dedicated to King William, in which he falsely claimed to 
have descended the Mississippi to its mouth. His descriptions were stolen from 
the works of other travelers. Wishing to return to Canada, the minister of Louis 
XIV wrote, "As his majesty is not satisfied with the conduct of the friar, it is hia 
pleasure that if he return thither, that they arrest and send him to the intendant 
at Kochefort." " In the year 1701, he was still in Europe, attached to a convent 
in Italy. He appears to have died in obscurity, unwept and unhonored." 

Jean N. Nicollet was born in 1790, in Cluses, Savoy. So poor were his parents 
that he was obliged, at the early age of nine years, to gain a subsistence by play- 
ing upon the flute and violin. When ten years old, he was apprenticed to a watch- 
maker, and turned his leisure hours to the study of mathematics. He eventually 
moved to Paris and entered the normal school, later became a college professor, 
and gained distinction as an astronomer, receiving the decoration of the Legion 
of Honor. In 1832, he emigrated to the United States, poor and honest. In the 
summer of 1836, he came to Minnesota, and explored the sources of the Upper 
Mississippi, with scientific exactness. Soon after he received a commission from 
the United States to explore the sources of the Minnesota, and at this time was 
assisted by John C. Fremont. "The map which he constructed, and the astro- 
nomical observations which he made, were invaluable to the country." Hon. H. 
H. Sibley, in his notice of Nicollet, says: 

" His health was so seriously affected after his return to Washington in 1839, that from 
that time forward he was incapacitated from devoting himself to the accomplishment of 
his work as exclusively as he had previously done. Still he labored, but it was with de- 
pressed spirits and blighted hopes. He had long aspired to a membership in the Academy 
of Sciences of Paris. His long continued devotion and valuable contributions to the cause 
of science, and his correct deportment as a gentleman, alike entitled him to such a distinc- 
tion. But his enemies were numerous and influential, and when his name was presentea 
in accordance with a previous nomination, to fill a vacancy, he was black-balled and re- 
jected. This last blow was mortal. True, he strove against the incurable melancholy 
which had fastened itself upon him, but his struggles waxed more and more faint, until 
denth put a period to his sufferings on the 18th of September, 1844. 

Even when he was aware that his dissolution was near at band, his thoughts reverted 
))aek to the days when he roamed along the valley of the Minnesota River. It was my 
fortune to meet him for the last time, in the year 1842, in Washington City. A short time 
before his death, I received a kind but mournful letter from him, in which he adverted to 
the fact that his days were numbered, but at the same time he expressed a hope that he 
would have strength sufficient to enable him to make his way to our country, that he might 
yield up his breath and be interred on the banks of his beloved stream. 

It would have been gratifying to his friends to know that the soil of the region which 
had employed so much of his time and scientific research, had received his mortal remains 



MINNESOTA. 



487 



into his bo?om, but they were denied this melancholy satisfaction. He sleeps bcnenth the 
sod far away, in the vicinity of the capital of the nation, but his name will continue to be 
cherished in Minnesota as one of its early explorers, and one of its best friends. The as- 
tronomer, the geologist, and the christian gentleman, Jean N. Nicollet, will long be re- 
membered in connection with the history of the north-west. 

' Time shall quench full many 
A people's records, and a hero's acts. 
Sweep empire after empire into nothing ; 
But even then shall spare this deed of tliine. 
And hold it up, a problem few dare imitate. 
And none despise.' " 



LaJce Itasca is one of the multitude of those clear, beautiful sheets of water 
which do so abound in Minnesota, that the aboriginal inhabitants were called, by 

the early French voyageiirs, 
the ^'People of the Lakes." 
It is estimated by Schoolcraft, 
that within its borders are ten 
thousand of these, and it is 
thought, it is measurably to 
them that the husbandman of 
Minnesota is so blessed with 
abundance of summer rains. 
The waters, pure, sweet, and 
cold, abound with fish of de- 
licious flavor. The Indians 
often reared their habitations 
on the margins of the most 
beautiful a n d pictures(iue. 
T h e greater numljer a r © 
isolated and destitute of out- 
lets ; usually of an oval form, 
and from one to two and three 
luiles in diameter, ''with clear 
white sandy shores, gentle, 
grassy slopes, or rimmed with 
walls of rock, their pebbly 
beaches, sparkling with cor- 
nelians and agates, while the 
oak grove or denser wood 
which skirts its margin, completes the graceful outline." 

Among all these sheets of water that by day and l)y night reflect the glories of 
this northern sky, the lake named Itasca, from an Indian maiden, is especially 
honored. For here, from the lap of encircling hills, in latitude 47 deg. 13 min. 
35 sec, 1,57.5 feet above the ocean, and 2,527 miles from it, by its own meander- 
ings, the Mississippi, the Father of Waters, finds his birth-place. 

Lake Itasca was first brought to the notice of the civilized world as the source 
of the Mississippi, by Mr. Henry R. Schoolcraft, Indian agent at Sault Ste. Marie. 
In the summer of 1832, he was given charge of an expedition to visit the Itidians 
toward the source of the Mississippi. Attached to the expedition was a military 
escort, under Lieut. James Allen, Dr. Houghton, geologist of Michigan, and Kev. 
W. T. Boutwell, who w is sent out by the American Board, preliminary to estab- 
lishing missions among the Indians. They crossed over from the west end of Lake 
Superior, and at two o'clock on the afternoon of the 13th of July, reached the 
Elk Lake, named Itasca by Mr. Schoolcraft. " With the exception of traders, no 
white men had ever traced the Mississippi so far. The lake is about eight miles 
in length, and was called Elk by the Ojibways, because of its regularities, resem- 
bling the horns of that animal. Lieut. Allen, the commander of the military de- 
tachment, who made the first map of this lake, thus speaks: 

'From these hills, which were seldom more than two or three hundred feet high 




Lake Itasca. 
The Source of the Mississippi. 



488 



MINNESOTA 



•we came suddenly down to the lake, and passed nearly through it to an island near 
its west end, where we remained one or two hours. We were sure that we had 
reached the true source of the great river, and a feeling of great satisfaction was 
manifested by all the party. Mr. Schoolcraft hoisted a flag on a high stafi" on the 
island, and left it flying. The lake is about seven miles long, and from one to 
three broad, but is of an irregular shape, conforming to the bases of pine hills, 
which, for a great part of its circumference, rise "abruptly from its shore. It is 
deep, cold, and very clear, and seemed to be well stocked with fish. Its shores 
show some bowlders of primitive rock, but no rock in place. The island, the only 
one on the lake, is one hundred and fifty yards long, fifty yards broad in the high- 
est part, elevated twenty or thirty feet, overgrown with elm, pine, spruce, and wild 
cherry. There can be no doubt that this is the true source and fountain of the 
longest and largest branch of the Mississippi.' " 



THE IKDIANS OF MINNESOTA. 

"Minnesota, from ate earliest discovery, has been the residence of two powerful 
tribes, the Chippewaa or Ojibways, and the Sioux — pronounced Sooz — or Dah- 
kotahs.* The word Chippewa is a corruption of the term Ojibway, and that of 
Dahkotah signifies the allied tribes. The Winnebago from Iowa, and the Menon- 
omies from Wisconsin, have recently been removed to Minnesota. They are both 
small tribes compared to the above. 

The Dahkotahs claim a country equal in extent to some of the most powerful 
empires of Europe, including the greater part of the country between the Upper 
Mississippi and the Missouri. The country from Rum River to the River De Cor- 
beau has been alike claimed by them and the Ojibways, and has been the source 
of many bloody encounters within the last two hundred years. The Dahkotahs 
have destroyed immense numbers of their race, and are one of the most warlike 
tribes of North America. They are divided into six bands, comprising in all, 
28,000 souls. Besides these, a revolted band of the Sioux, 8,000 strong, called 
Osinipoilles, reside just east of the Rocky Mountains, upon Saskatchawan River 
of British America. 

The Dahkotahs subsist upon bufialo meat and the wild fruits of their forests. 
The former is called pemmican, and is prepared in winter for traveling use in the 
following manner: The lean parts of the buffalo are cut into thin slices, dried over 
a slow fire in the sun, or by exposing it to fro.st — pounded fine, and then with a 
portion of berries, mixed with an equal quantity of fat from the hump and brisket, 
or with marrow in a boiling state, and sowed up tightly in sacks of green hide, or 
packed closely in baskets of wicker-work. This ' pemmican ' will keep for several 
years. 

They also use much of the wild rice, which grows in great abundance in the 
lakes and head streams in the Upper Mississippi country. The rivers and lakes 
of the Dahkotah and Ojibway country are said to produce annually several mil- 
lions of bushels of it. It is said to be equally as nutritious and palatable as the 
Carolina rice. It grows in water from four to seven feet deep, which has a muddy 
bottom. The plant rises from four to eight feet above the surface of the water, 
about the size of the red cane of Tennessee, full of joints and of the color and 
texture of bulrushes. The stalks above the water, and the branches which bear 
the grain, resemble oats. To these strange grain fields, wild ducks and geese resort 
for food in the summer; and to prevent it being devoured by them, the Indians tie 

*" The Dahkotahs in the earliest documents, and even until the present day, are called 
Sioux, Scioux, or Soos. The name originated with the early ' voyageurs.' For centuries 
the Ojibways of Lake Superior waged war ag.ainst the Dahkotahs; and, whenever they 
spoke of them, called them Nadoway«ioH«, which signifies enemies. The French traders, 
to avoid exciting the attention of the Indians, while conversing in their presence, were 
accustomed to designate them by names which would not be recognized. The Dahkotahs 
were nicknamed Sioux, a word composed of the two last syllables of the Ojibway word for 
foes.'' — Ncill'a Minnesota. 



MINNESOTA. 



489 



It, when in the milky state, just below the head, into large bunches. This arrantre- 
ment prevents these birds from pressing the heads down when within their reach 
When ripe, the Indians pass among it with canoes lined with blanisets, into which 
they bend the stalks and whip off the grain with sticks ; and so abundant is it 




DOG DANCE OF THE DAHKOTAHS 



-zhc 



tt 



'c? o~o 



III III IM III III 



' '" .1. „i 1,1 „i ..' 



fe^i^ i fJ I' l r ^ 



^ 



^ 



III III 



& 



a 

III III II 



thf^ 



OJIBWAY SCALP DANCE. 




I . Ill Ml 

k rrr P Pi - f^ 



p — p- 



iz: 



g 



lz= 



p 



is: 



J J I ^ • J^ 



V — U 



xr-q 



M ' J 6 o o -^ 



The notes marked with accents are performed vnth a tremulous voice, 
sounded Eigh-yi-yi, Jr. 



that an expert squaw will soon fill a canoe. After being gathered it is dried and 
put into skins or baskets for use. They boil or parch it, and eat it in the winter 
season with their pemmican. Beside the peramican and wild rice, the country 
abounds in sugar-maple, from which the Indians make immense quantities of suijar. 
Their country abounds with fine groves, interspersed with open plains clothed with 
rich wild grasses— their lakes and rivers of pure water are well stored with fish, 
and their soil with the whortleberry, blackberry, wild plum, and crab apple ; so 
that this talented and victorious race possess a very desirable and beautiful terri- 
tory. 



490 MINNESOTA. 

The Ojibways inhabit the head-waters of the Mississippi, Ottertail and Leach, 
De Corbeau and Red Rivers, and Winnipeg Lake. They are a powerful tribe, al- 
most equaling the Dahkotahs in numbers: they speak a copious language, and are 
of low stature and coarse features. The women have an awkward side-at-a-time 
gait; which proceeds from their being 'accustomed, nine months of the year, to 
wear snow-shoes, and drag sledges of a weight from two hundred to four hundred 
pounds. No people are more attentive to comfort in dress than the Ojibways. _ It 
is composed of deer and fawn-skins, dressed with the hair on for winter, and with- 
out the hair for summer wear. 

They are superstitious in the extreme. Almost every action of their lives is in- 
fluenced by some whimsical notion. They believe in the existence of a good and 
an evil spirit, that rule, in their several departments, over the fortunes of men; 
and in a state of future rewards and punishments." 



EFFECT OF THE CLIMATE OP MINNESOTA ON LUNG DISEASES. 
[From the Letters of the Rev. Dr. Horace Bushnell.] 

I went to Minnesota early in July, and remained there until the latter part of 
the May following. I had spent a winter in Cuba without benefit. I had spent 
also nearly a year in California, making a gain in the dry season, and a pai'tial 
loss in the wet season, returning, however, sufficiently improved to resume my la- 
bors. Breaking down again from this only partial recovery, I made the experi- 
ment now of Minnesota ; and submitting myself, on returning, to a very rigid ex- 
amination, by a physician who did not know at all what verdict had been passed 
by other physicians before, he said, in accordance with their opinion, " You have 
had a difficulty in the right lung, but it is healed." I had suspected from my 
symptoms that it might be so, and the fact appears to be confirmed by the further 
fact that I have been slowly, though irregularly gaining all the summer. 

This improvement, or partial recovery, I attribute to the climate of Minnesota. 
But not to this alone — other things have concurred. First, 1 had a nnturally firm, 
enduring constitution, which had only given way under excessive burdens of labor, 
and had no vestige of hereditary disease upon it. Secondly, 1 had all my burdens 
thrown off, and a state of complete, uncaring rest. Thirdly, I was in such vigor 
as to be out in the open ^air, on horseback and otherwise, a good part of the time. 
It does not follow, by any means, that one who is dying under hereditary con- 
sumption, or one who is too far gone to have any power of endurance, or spring 
of recuperative energy left, will be recovered in the same manner. 

A great many such go there to die, and some to be partially recovered and then 
die : for I knew of two young men, so far recovered as to think themselves well, or 
nearly so, who by overviolent exertion brought on a recurrence of bleeding, anU 
died, one of them almost instantly, and the other in about twenty-four hours ; both 
in the same week. The general opinion seemed to be that the result was attributa- 
ble, in part, to the overtonic property of the atmosphere. And I have known of 
very remarkable cases of recovery there which had seemed to be hopeless. One 
of a gentleman who was carried ashore on a litter, and became a robust, hearty 
man. Another who told me that he had even coughed up bits of his lung, of the 
size of a walnut, and was then, seven or eight months after, a perfectly sound- 
looking, well-set man, with no cough at all. 1 fell in with somebody every few 
days who had come there and been restored ; and with multitudes of others whose 
disease had been arrested, so as to allow the prosecution of business, and whose 
lease of life, as they had no doubt, was much lengthened by their migration to 
that region of the country. Of course it will be understood that a great many are 
sadly disappointed in going thither, and that as the number of consumptives 
making the trial increases, the funerals of the consumptive strangers are becoming 
sadly frequent. 

The peculiar benefit of this climate appears to be from its dryness. There is as 
much, or even a little more of rain there than elsewhere, in the summer months, 
but it comes more generally in the night, and the days that follow brighten out in 
a fresh, tonic brilliancy, as dry almost as before. The winter climate is intensely 



MINNESOTA. ^q-, 

cold, and yet so dry, and clear, and still, for the most part, as to create no very 
great suffering. One who is properly dressed finds the climate much more enjoy- 
al)le than the amphibious, half-fluid, half-solid, sloppy, grave-like chill of the east. 
The snows are light ; a kind of snow-dew that makes an inch, or sometimes three, 
in a night. Real snow-storms are rare ; there were none the last winter. A little 
more snow to make better sleighing would be an improvement. As to rain in the 
winter, it is almost unknown. There was no drop of rain the last winter, from the 
latter part of October to the middle, or about the middle of March, except a slight 
drizzle on thanksgiving day. And there was not snow melting enough for more 
than about eight or ten days to wet a deerskin moccasin (which many gentlemen 
wear all the winter). The following statement will show the comparative rain-fall, 
whether in the shape of rain or snow, for three different points, that may be taken 
to represent the whole country ; being on the two coasts, and St. Paul in the mid- 
dle of the continent: San Francisco, spring, 8 inches; summer, 0; autumn, 3; 
winter, 10; mean, 21. St. Paul, spring, 6 inches; summer, 12; autumn, 6; win- 
ter, 2; mean, 26. Hartford, spring, 10 inches; summer, 11; autumn, 10; winter, 
10; mean, 41. 

The San Francisco climate stands first, here, in dryness, it will be observed ; but 
it requires to be noted, in the comparison, that while there is no rain-fall there for 
a whole six months, there is yet a heavy sea fog rolling in every day, which makes 
the St. Paul climate really the driest of the two. The beautiful inversion, too, of 
the California water season, at St. Paul, will be noticed ; the water falling here in 
the summer, when it is wanted, and ceasing in the winter, when it is not. 




■^■^ffW^WB 



THE TIMES 



OF 



THE REBELLIOlSr 

IN 

MINNE SOT A. 



This new state of the far north was early in sending her regiments 
to the field. Her Ist regiment was in that opening battle of unfortu- 
nate issue, the battle of Manassas, in July, 1861. Her 2d regiment 
in the succeeding January, was at the battle of Mill Springs, Ky., 
where the union troops made the first bayonet charge of the war. 

Small in population, yet Minnesota contributed 20,000 soldiers to 
the union army. But the rebellion had been in operation a little more 
than a year, when her own soil became the theater of most horrible 
tragedies, the suppi'ession of which, for a time, absorbed all her ener- 
gies. The times of the rebellion, therefore, was, in Minnesota, also, 
the times of the bloody scenes of savage barbarity known as 

THE SIOUX WAR. 

The most awful visitation of savage warfare that ever occurred to 
any community since the first settlement of this continent befel Min- 
nisota, in August, 1862, under the leadership of Little Crow, the Sioux 
chief. Sunday, the 7th, the massacre began by the murder of six per- 
sons, at Acton, Messier county. The next (Monday) morning, occur- 
red the horrible butchery at the lower Sioux agency. Some fugitives, 
at about 9 o'clock, a. m., carried the tidings to Fort Eidgley, twelve 
miles distant. Forty-six men, more than half of its little garrison, 
under Captain Marsh, started across the country to the scene of blood. 
At the lower-agency ferry they fell into an ambush ; when the cap- 
tain and a large part of his men, after a desperate battle, were slain. 
On "Wednesday, the savages laid seige to the fort, which continued for 
several days. 

In it were several pieces of artillery, and which, being well-served, 
the enemy were at last obliged to retreat. The German town of New 
TJlm, eighteen miles southwest of the fort, was attacked, and one 
hundred and ninety-two houses burnt. The defense was most heroic. 
The defenders were reinforced by armed bands from Mankato, La 
Seur and other points. These constructed i-ude bai-ricades around a 
few of the buildings in the center of the village, and eventually suc- 

(493) 



494 



TIMES OF THE REBELLION. 



ceeded in di'iving the enemy from the place : but all outside had been 
laid in ashes. New Ulm, a few days before, was a beautiful town of 
nearly 2,000 inhabitants. Its main street ran parallel with the river 
for one and a half miles; the dwellings, the homes of comfort and 
happiness. In a few short hours, it was all one mass of ruins, only a 
small cluster of buildings remaining of what had been a smiling, 
peaceful village. Fort Abercrombie and other points were attacked 
by the enemy. Off from the villages, among the farmers, the brutal 
savages had unobstructed scope for their cruelty. The country visited 
by them was studded with the homesteads of that most amiable of 
jjeople, German emigrants, who were the greatest sufferers. 

No language can express the fiendish outrages perpetrated during this satur- 
nalia of savage cruelty. "Not less than two thousand men, women and children, 
were indiscriminately murdered and tortured to death, and barbarities of the 
most hellish magnitude committed. Massacre itself had been mercy, if it could 
have purchased exemption from the revolting circumstances with which it was 
accompanied; the torture of unborn infants torn from their bleeding mothers, 
and cast upon their breasts ; rape and violence of even young girls till death 
closed the horrid scene of suffering and shame. The theater of depredations ex- 
tended from Otter-tail Lake and Fort Abercrombie, on the Red river, to the Iowa 
boundery, over a front of 200 miles, and from the western boundery of the state, 
eastwardly, to its heart, at Fores*^^ City ; an area of 20,000 square miles. Eight- 
een counties were depopulated ; 30,000 people driven from their homes, and mill- 
ions, in value, destroyed.." 

"The parts visited by the Indiana was one common scene of ruin and devasta- 
tion; but very few houses left standing, and those sacked of everything worth the 
trouble to steal or effort to destroy — every bed and mattrass, every blanket, spread 
and sheet, every article of wardrobe taken, every trunk broken open and sfioiled, 
every article of provision carried off, every horse driven away, nearly every house 
burned with everything in it, and hundreds of families murdered or driven into a 
captivity worse than death. 

Hardly a harvest finished, the grain uncut, the reaper standing where the horsea 
were taken off in fright, or by the Indians ; unbound, the rake lying on the gravel ; 
unshocked, unstacked, every harvest-field trodden under foot, and every corn-field 
ravaged by herds of cattle howling for food, where no hand was left to give. 

"The outraged inhabitants who escaped, wandered over the prairies, enduring 
hardships, trials and sufferings next only to death itself One little boy, Burton 
Eastlick, less than ten years of age, alternately carried and led by the hand, a 
younger brother of five, taking every precaution to avoid being seen for eighty miles 
to Fort Ridgely, and safely arrived there with him. A woman with her three 
children escaped from her home with barely their lives. The youngest, an infant, 
she carried in her arms ; the other two girls walked and ran painfully along by 
her side, through the tangled brush and briar vines. They lived on wild plums 
and berries, and when these were gone by the frost, on grape-tendrils and roots. 
They coverted like a brood of partridges, trembling, starving, nearly dead. The 
infant died. The mother laid its body under a plum-bush; scraped together a 
heap of dried leaves and covered it; placed a few sticks over them to prevent the 
rude winds from blowing them away ; then, looking hastily around again, fled 
with her remaining ones. It was seven weeks ere they were found and rescued. 
Some of less nerve completely lost their minds by the first fright, and wandered 
about demented through the thickets until found." 

A military force was hastily set on foot by the state authorities and 
placed under command of General Sibley, who checked the massacre, 
rescued the white prisoners — all of whom were women and children — 
and, having beaten the Indians in two battles, at Birch Coolie and 
Wood Lake, captured 2,000 of them, the rest being scattere'l as fugi- 



IN MINNESOTA. ^gr 

tives in all directions. These Indian captives were subsequently tried 
and, a large number of them being found guilty, were sentenced to 
be hanged. The final execution of the law, however, was only car- 
ried out on thirty-eight of the assassins. The damage done to that 
portion of the state which was the scene of the massacre, will not be 
recovered for years to come. For more than a month a large part of 
the population of Minnesota were fugitives from their devastated 
homes, and dependent on the charities of their distant neighbors, and 
of the generous people of other states for the necessaries of life. ' 

Writers of the time give these shocking details of the massacre at 
the Aower Agency and vicinity. 

The signal had been given, and almost simultaneously a thousand savage war- 
whoops rent the air. IF massacre alone had been their aim, not one from the 
agency would scarce have escaped; but the horses in the barns, the plunder in 
the stores, and the hopes of finding whisky, largely diverted the savages from their 
murderous work. 

Not many of the whites had yet left their houses, or even their beds. Some of 
the savages, having led out the horses, fired the barns. Others rushed for the 
stores and warehouse, shooting before them whomsoever they met. by the road- 
side, before doors, or behind the counters. The shelves were soon emptied, with 
the assistance of the squaws, who had followed for the purposes of plunder, and 
the spoil carried away to be quarreled over among themselves. Barrels were 
rolled into the street, boxes tumbled out, and the buildings enveloped in flames. 
Then they burst into the mission chapel, boarding-house, and other dwellings', 
tomahawk in hand. Some were hewn to pieces ere they had scarce left their beds ; 
others received their death-wounds leaping from windows or endeavoring to 
escape. ^ 

But who can tell the story of that hour? of the massacre of helpless women 
and children, imploring mercy from those whom their own hands had fed, but 
whose blood-dripping hatchets the next crashed pitiously through their flesh' and 
bone — of the abominations too hellish to rehearse — of the cruelties, the tortures, 
the shrieks of agony, the death-groans, of that single how ? The few that 
escaped by any means heard enough, saw enough, felt enough to engage their ut- 
most powers. Those that staid behind never told their story. From house to 
house the torch soon followed the hatchet; the flames enveloped alike the dead, 
dying and wounded. Tired of butchery in detail the savages fired a dwellingi 
and in it burned alive a mother and her five children ; a few of their charred 
bones were afterward found among the ashes. Some escaped through back doors, 
over fields, down the side of the blafi' to the river. Those fortunate enough got 
over by the ferry or otherwise hastened with utmost speed to the fort. Others hid 
among the bushes, in hollow logs or holes, behind stumps, or in the water. Mad- 
dened with unre.sisted success— for not a shot, not a blow had yet been aimed at 
them — with fiendish yells the Indians followed or sought new victims among yet 
unsuspecting settlers. The ferry was taken possession of, the ferry-mans house, 
the neighboring stacks, the mills, the piles of lumber, were set on fire. The 
ferry-man himself, tomahawked before his own door, was disemboweled, his head, 
hands and feet chopped off and inserted in the cavity. They overtook a boy try- 
ing to escape. Tearing off every thread of clothing, they pricked and pierced 
him with their blunt headed javelins, laughing at and mimicking his agony till 
death came to his relief. Narcis Gerrain, as they entered, leaped from the mill- 
window for the river: ere he had reached it of three shots thev fired at him two 
pierced his breast. He swam across, almost drowned. P'our days he went with- 
out food, and after dragging himself, more dead than alive, through woods and 
swamps, for sixty-five miles, was found by a party of refugees and carried to Hen- 
derson. Passing a stiok through both ankles of a woman, they dragged her over 
the prairie, till, from that alone, torn and mangled, she died. 

Those who escaped spread the alarm. As they heard it the people fled precip- 



-n^ TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

496 

itately, scarce knowing whither they went. After tliern the Indians f()lU)wed 
throu>:hout the entire line of settlements, over a frontier of hundreds of miles, 
committing such barharities as could scarce be exceeded if all hell were turned 
loose. Not far from the agency a few families of settlers had congregated. The 
Indians overtook them. The first volley killed the few men among them. The 
defenseless, helpless women and children, huddled together in the wagons, bend 
ing down their heads, and drawing over them still closer their shawls. "Cut- 
Nose," while two others held the horses, leaped into a wagon that contained 
eleven, mostly children, and deliberately in cold blood tomahawked them all — 
cleft open the head of each, while the others, stupefied with horror, powerless 
with fright, as they heard the heavy, dull blows crash and tear through flesh and 
bones, awaited their turn. Taking an infant from its mother's arms, before her 
eyes, with a bolt from one of the wagons, they riveted it through its body to the 
fence, and left it there to die, writhing in agony. After holding for a while the 
mother before this agonizing spectacle, they chopped off her arms and legs and 
left her to bleed to death. Thus they butchered twenty-five within a quarter of 
an acre. Kicking the bodies out of the wagons they filled them with plunder 
from the burning houses, and sending them back pushed on for other adventures. 

They overtook other parties, killed all the men and children, and led away the 
young women and girls captive for fates worse than death. One family of a son 
and daughter, and their parents, received the alarm. Before they had time to 
escape they heard the war-whoop, and saw dusky forms approach the door. The 
father fired a shot at them through the window. Before he had time to load 
again the Indians broke in; the family rushed out by the back way, but before 
they had gone many yards the father, mother and son were killed. The daughter, 
seeing herself alone, fell likewise, and holding her breath feigned herself dead. 
The savarjes came up and commenced hacking and mutilating the bodies. Seiz- 
ing the girl by her feet they began to drag her off. As she instantly made an ef- 
fort to adjust herself, they took her and sent her back with the others they had 
captured. Only those that miicht serve their base passions were saved, the rest 
were shot down and butchered or tortured to death by inches, . 

One incident, if possible, more horrible than any other, was perpe- 
trated on a member of the Schwandt family. All had been murdered 
but a son of Mr. Schwandt, aged thirteen years. He was beaten by 
the Indians until dead, as was supposed ; but he lived to relate the en- 
tire incidents of the tragedy. This boy saw his married sister, Mrs. 
Waltz, who was enciente, cut open, the child taken alive from the 
mother, and nailed to a tree in the yard. It struggled some time af- 
ter the nails were driven through it ! 

Mrs. Justina Kreiger, in her narrative, relates some shocking inci- 
dents. She was, with a party of others, men, women and children, 
fleeing with their teams, and for safety, to Fort Eidgely, when they 
were overtaken on the road by a band of Sioux, and most of them 
butchered. After relating how she saw her husband shot, she contin- 
ues : 

I now determined to jump out of the wagon and die beside my husband; but 
as I was standing up to jump, I was shot; seventeen buckshot entering my body. 
I then fell back into the wagon box. I had eight children in the wagon bed, and 
one i^ a shawl ; all my own children, or my step children. All that I then knew 
was the fact that I was seized by an Indian and very roughly dragged from the 
wagon, and that the wagon was drawn over my body and ankles. I remained on 
the field of massacre, and in the place where I fell until eleven or twelve o'clock 
at night, unconscious of passing events. At this time of night, I arose from the 
field of the dead, with a feeble ability to move at all. 

I soon heard the tread of savage men, speakinii the Sioux language. They came 
near and proved to be two savages only. These two went over the field examin- 
ing the dead bodies, to rob them of what remained upon them. They soon came 



IN MINNESOTA. 4917. 

to me, kicked me, then felt my pulse, first on the right hand, then on the left, and 
to be sure, felt for the pulsation of the heart. I remained silent, holding my 
breath. They probably supposed me dead. They conversed in Sioux for a mo- 
ment. I shut my eyes, and awaited what else was to befall me with a shudder. 
The next moment, a sharp pointed knife was felt at my throat, then passing down- 
ward to the lower portion of the abdomen, cutting not only the clothing entirely 
from the body, but actually penetrating the flesh, making but a slight wound on 
the chest, but at the pit of the stomach entering the body and laying it open to 
the intestines themselves. My arms were then taken separately out of the cloth- 
ing. I was seized rudely by the hair and hurled headlong to the ground, entirely 
naked. How long I was unconscious 1 can not imagine, yet I think it was not a 
great while; when I came to I beheld one of the most horrible sights I had ever 
seen in the person of myself 1 saw also these two savages about two rods off; a 
light from the north, probably the aurora, enabled me to see objects at some dis- 
tance. At the same time I discovered my own condition, I saw one of these in- 
human savages seize Wilhelmina Kitzman, my neice, yet alive, hold her up by 
the foot, her head downward, her clothes falling over her head; while holding her 
there by one hand, in the other he grasped a knife, with which he hastily cut the 
flesh around one of the legs, close to the body, and then by twisting and wrench- 
ing broke the ligaments and bone, until the limb was entirely severed from the 
body. The child screamed frantically, O God ! O God ! when the limb was off. 
The child thus mutilated was thrown down on the ground, stripped of her cloth- 
ing and left to die. The other children of Paul Kitzman were then taken along 
with the Indians, crying most piteously. I now laid down, and for some hours 
knew nothing more. 

An interesting description is given of the Indian prisoners, by a 
gentleman who saw them at South Bend. He writes : 

They are confined in strong log prisons, and closely guarded, not so much to 
prevent their escape as to secure them from the vengeance of the outraged settlers. 
They are the most hideous wretches that I have ever seen ; I have been in the 
prisons of Singapore, where the Malay pirates are confined — the Dyacks, who are 
the most ferocious and bloody-thirsty of their kind — but they are mild and hu- 
mane in their appearance, compared to these Sioux warriors. Quite an incident 
occured while I was there : A boy who had escaped, after seeing the murder of 
his mother and sisters, was brought in to look at the prisoners and, if possible, to 
indentify them. One of the friendly Indians, who had distinguished himself by 
his bravery and humanity, accompanied the party to act as interpreter. When 
we entered the log house that served for a prison, the captives were mostly crouched 
on the floor, but one of them arose and confronted us with a defiant scowl. An- 
other, supporting himself on his arm, surveyed the party with a look like a tiger 
about to spring. The boy advanced boldly, and pointed him out without hesi- 
tancy. Subsequent investigation showed that this wretch had murdered eleven 
persons. The boy's eyes flashed as he told the sickening tale of his mother's mur- 
der, and the spectators could scarcely refrain from killing the wretch on the spot 
He never relaxed his sullen glare, and seemed perfectly indifferent when told of 
his identification by the interpreter. 

The closing scene in this fearful tragedy, the execution of the thirty- 
eight condemned, at Mankato, Friday, December 26th, is thus de 
scribed. Several of them smoked their pipes dui'ing the reading of the 
death warrant ; and but little emotion was manifested. 

On Thursday evening the ordinance of baptism was solemnized by the Catholic 
priests present, and received by a considerable number of the condemned. Soma 
of them entered into the ceremony with an apparently earnest feeling,^ and an in- 
telligent sense of its solemn character. All seemed resigned to their fate, and 
depressed in spirits. Most of those not participating in the ceremony sat motion- 
less, and more like statutes than living men. 

On Friday morning, we accompanied the Rev. Father Ravoux to the prison of 
32 



498 



TIMES OF THE REBELLION 



the condemned. He spoke to them of their condition and fate, and In such terms 
as the devoted priest only can speak. He tried to infuse them with courage — 
bade them to hold out bravely and be strong, and to show no sign of fear. While 
Father llavoux was speaking to them, old Tazoo broke out in a death-wail, in 
which one after another joined, until the prison-room was filled with a wild, un- 
earthly plaint, which was neither of despair nor grief, but rather a paroxysm of 
savage passion, most impressive to witness and startling to hear, even by those 
who understood the language of the music only. During the lulls of their death 
Bong they would resume their pipes, and, with the exception of an occasional mut- 
ter, or the rattling of their chains, they sat motionless and impassive,^ until one 
among the elder would break out in the wild wail, when all would join again 
in the solemn preparation for death. 

Following this, the Rev. Dr. Williamson addressed them in their native tongue; 
after which, they broke out again in their song of death. This last was thrilling 
beyond expression. The trembling voices, the forms shaking with passionate emo- 
tion, the half-uttered words through the teeth, all made up a scene which no one 
saw can ever forget. The influence of the wild music of their death-song upon 
them was almost magical. Their whole manner changed after they had closed 
their singing, and an air of cheerful unconcern marked all of them. It seemed 
as if, during their passionate wailing, they had passed in spirit through the valley 
of the shadow of death, and already had their eyes fixed on the pleasant hunting- 
grounds beyond. As their friends came about them, they bade them cheerful 
farewells, and, in some cases, there would be peals of laughter, as they were 
wished pleasant journeys to the spirit-land. They bestowed their pipes upon their 
favorites, and, so far as they had, gave keepsake trinkets to all. ' 

They had evidently taken great pains to make themselves presentable for their 
last appearance on the stage of life. Most of them had little pocket mirrors, and, 
before they were bound, employed themselves in putting on the finishing touches 
of paint, and arranging their hair according to the Indian mode. All had reli- 
gious emblems, mostly crosses, of fine gilt or steel, and these were displayed with all 
the prominence of an exquisite or a religieuse. Many were painted in war style, 
with bands and beads and feathers, and were decked as gayly as for a festival. 
They expressed a desire to shake hands with the reporters, who were to write 
about how they looked and acted, and with the artist who was to picture their 
appearance. This privilege was allowed them. The hands of some were of the 
natural warmth, while those of others were cold as ice. Nearly all, on shaking 
hands, would point their fingers to the sky, and say, as plainly as they could, " Me 
going up ! " White Day told us it was Little Crow who got them into the scrape, 
and now they had to die for it. One said there was a Great Spirit above who 
would take him home, and that he should die happy. Thus the time passed dur- 
ing the tying of hands, and striking ofi" the manicles. 

At a little after nine o'clock, a. m., the Rev. Father Ravoux entered the prison 
again, to perform the closing religious exercises. The guard fell back as he came 
in, the Indians ranging themselves around the room. The Father addressed the 
condemned at some length, and appeared much affected. He then kneeled on the 
floor in their midst, and prayed with them, all following and uniting with him in 
an audible voice. They appeared like a different race of beings while going 
through these religious exercises. Their voices were low and humble, and every 
exhibition of Indian bravado was banished. 

While Father Ravoux was speaking to the Indians, and repeating, for the hun- 
dredth time, his urgent request that they must think to the last of the Great Spirit, 
before whom they were about to appear, Provost Marshal Redfield entered and 
whispered a word in the ear of the good priest, who immediately said a word or 
two in French to Milord, a half-breed, who repeated it in Dakota to the Indians, 
who were all lying down around the prison. In a moment every Indian stood 
erect, and, as the Provost Marshal opened the door, they fell in behind him with 
the greatest alacrity. Indeed, a notice of release, pardon, or reprieve could not 
have induced them to leave the cell with more apparent willingness than this call 
to death. At Ihe foot of the steps there was no delay. Captain Redfield mounted 



IN MINNESOTA. 



499 



the drop, at the head, and the Indians crowded after him, as if it were a race to 
see which would get up first. They actually crowded on each other's heels, and, 
as they got to the top, each took his position, without any assistance from those 
who were detailed for that purpose. They still kept up a mournful wail, and oc- 
casionally there would be a piercing scream. The ropes were soon arranged 
around their necks, not the least resistance being offered. The white caps, which 
had been placed on the top of their heads, were now drawn down over their faces, 
shutting out forever the light of day from their eyes. Then ensued a scene that 
can hardly be described, and which can never be forgotten. All joined in shout- 
ing and singing, as it appeared to those who were ignorant of the language. The 
tones seemed somewhat discordant, and yet there was harmony in it. Save the 
moment of cutting the rope, it was the most thrilling moment of the awful scene. 
And it was not their voices alone. Their bodies swayed to and fro, and their 
every limb seemed to be keeping time. The drop trembled and shook as if all 
were dancing. The most touching scene on the drop was their attempts to grasp 
each other's hands, fettered as they were. They were very close to each other, 
and many succeeded. Three or four in a row were hand in hand, and all hands 
swaying up and down with the rise and fall of their voices. One old man reached 
out each side, but could not grasp a hand. His struggles were piteous, and affected 
many beholders. 

We were informed by those who understand the language, that their singing 
and shouting was only "to sustain each other — that there was nothing defiant in 
their last moments, and that no "death-song," strictly speaking, was chanted on the 
gallows. Each one shouted his own name, and called on the name of his friend, 
saying, in substance, "I'm here!" "I'm here!" Captain Burt hastily scanned 
all the arrangements for the execution, and motioned to Major Brown, the signal 
officer, that all was ready. There was one tap of the drum, almost drowned by 
the voices of the Indians — another, and the stays of the drop were knocked away, 
the rope cut, and, with a crash, down came the drop. The cutting of the rope 
was assigned to William J. Duly, of Lake Shetck, who had three children killed, 
and his wife and two children captured. 

There was no struggling by any of the Indians for the space of half a minute. 
The only movements were the natural vibrations occasioned by the fall. After 
the lapse of a minute several drew up their legs once or twice, and there was 
some movement of the arms. One Indian, at the expiration of ten minutes, 
breathed, but the rope was better adjusted, and life was soon extinct. It is un- 
necessary to speak of the awful sight of thirty-eight human beings suspended in 
the air. Imagination will readily supply what we refrain from describing. 

After the bodies had hung for about half an hour, the physicians of the several 
regiments present examined the bodies and reported that life was extinct. Soon 
after, several United States mule-teams appeared, when the bodies were taken 
down and dumped into the wagons without much ceremony, and were carried 
down to the sand-bar in front of the city, and were all buried in the same hole. 
The half-breeds were buried in one corner of the hole, so that they can be disin- 
terred by their friends. 

Kvery thing was conducted in the most orderly and quiet manner. As the drop 
fell, the citizens could not repress a shout of exultation, in which the soldiers 
jointed. A boy-soldier, who stood beside us, had his mother and brothers and 
sisters killed : his face was pale and quivering, but he gave a shout of righteous 
exultation when the drop fell. 

The people, who had gathered in great crowds, and who had maintained a de- 
gree of order that had not been anticipated, quietly dispersed as the wagons bore 
the bodies of the murderers off to burial. Few, we take it, who witnessed the 
awful scene, will voluntarily look upon its like again. 



IOWA. 




Iowa derived its name from the Iowa Indians, who were located on the 
Iowa River.- They at last became incorported with other tribes, principally 

among the Sauks, or Sacs and Foxes. 
These tribes had the reputation of 
being the best hunters of any on the 
borders of the Mississippi or Missouri, 
At the time the first white traders 
went among them, their practice was 
to leave their villages as soon as their 
corn and beans were ripe and secured, 
to go on to their wintering grounds, it 
being previously determined in coun- 
cil on what particular ground each 
party should hunt. The old men, 
women, and children embarked in 
canoes ; the young men went by land 
with their horses ; and on their arri- 
val, they commenced their winter's 
hunt, which lasted about three 
months. In the month of April, 
they returned to their villages to cul- 
tivate their lands. Iowa was origin- 
ally a part of the French province of Louisiana. The first white settlement 
was made at Dubuque. As early as 1800, there were mines of lead worked 
at this place by the natives, assisted by Julien Dubuque, an Indian trader, 
who had adopted their habits, married into their tribe, and became a great chief 
amono- them. In 1830, a war among the Indians themselves was carried on with 
savage barbarity. Some 10 or 12 Sac and Fox chiefs, with their party, were 
going to Prairie du Chien from Dubuque, to attend a treaty conference with 
the tl. S. commissioners, when they were attacked at Cassville Island by a 
large war party of the SiouXj and literally cut to pieces, only two of all their 
number escaping. The tribe, now in great confusion and alarm, left Du- 
buque, mostly never to return, leaving the mines and this part of the coun- 
try vacant, and open to settlement, as when occupied by them, they would 
allow no one to intrude upon their lands. In June of this year, Mr. L. H. 
Langwortby, accompanied by his elder brother, crossed the Mississippi in a 



Arms of Iowa. 

Motto — Our liberties we prize, and our riglits we 
will maintaiD. 



502 IOWA. 

canoe, swimming their horses by its side, and landed for the first time on the 
west bank of the stream. Soon after this, a number of miners crossed over 
the river, possessed themselves of these vacant lands, and commenced suc- 
cessful mining operations. " This was the first flow or the first tide of civ- 
ilization in Iowa." The miners, however, were soon driven off by Capt. 
Zachary Taylor, then commanding at Prairie du Chien, and a military force 
stationed at Dubuque till 1832, when the "Black Hawk War" commenced. 
After the Indians were defeated the miners returned. 

Until as late as the year 1832, the whole territory north of the state 
of Missouri was in undisputed possession of the Indians. After the 
Indians were defeated at the battle of the Bad Ax, in Wisconsin, Aug., 
1832, partly to indemnify the government for the expenses of the war, the 
Sacs and Foxes ceded to the United States a strip of country west of the 
Mississippi, extending nearly 300 miles N. of Missouri, and 50 miles wide, 
commonly called the ^^ Black Haick Piirchase." Further purchases were 
made in 1836 and 1837; and in 1842, by a treaty concluded by Gov. Cham- 
bers, a tract of about fifteen million acres was purchased of the Sacs and 
Foxes, for one million of dollars. This tract, comprising some of the finest 
counties of the state, is known as the " New Purchase.'" 

The Pottowatomies, who inhabited the south-western corner of the state, 
and the Winnebagoes, who occupied the " Neutral Ground," a strip of coun- 
try on the northern borders, have been recently peaceably removed, and the 
Indian title has thus become extinct within the limits of Iowa. The terri- 
tory now comprised within the limits of the state was a part of the Missouri 
Territory from 1804 to 1821, but after that was placed successively under the 
jurisdiction of Michigan and Wisconsin Territories. The following conclud- 
ing details of its history are from Monette : 

" The first white settlement in the Black Hawk Purchase was made near 
the close of the year 1832, at Fort Madison, by a colony introduced by 
Zachariah Hawkins, Benjamin Jennings, and others. 

In the summer of 1835, the town-plat of 'Fort Madison' was laid ofi" by 
Gen. John H. Knapp and Col. Nathaniel Knapp, the first lots in which were 
exposed to sale early in the year 1836. The second settlement was made 
in 1833, at Burlington, seventy-nine miles below Rock Island. About the 
same time the city of Dubuque, four hundred and twenty-five miles above 
St. Louis, received its first Anglo-American population. Before the close of 
the year 1833, settlements of less note were commenced at many other points 
near the western shore of the Mississippi, within two hundred miles of the 
northern limits of the state of Missouri. It was in the autumn of 1834, 
that Aaron Street, a member of the ' Society of Friends,' and son of the 
Aaron Street who emigrated from Salem, in New Jersey, founded the first 
Salem in Ohio, and subsequently the first Salem in Indiana, on a tour of ex- 
ploration to the Iowa country, in search of 'a new home,' selected the 'beau- 
tiful prairie eminence ' south of Skunk River as the site of another Salem in 
the 'Far West.' In his rambles thirty miles west of Burlington, over the 
uninhabited regions, in all their native loveliness, he was impressed with the 
great advantages presented by the 'beautiful and fertile prairie country, 
which abounded in groves of tall forest trees, and was watered by crystal 
streams flowing among the variagated drapery of the blooming prairies.' 
Transported with the prospect, the venerable patriarch exclaimed, ' Now have 
mine eyes beheld a country teeming with every good thing, and hither will 
I come, with my children and my children's children, and my flocks and 



IOWA. 



503 



herds ; and our dwelling-place shall be called ' Salem,' after the peaceful city 
of our fathers.' 

Next year witnessed the commencement of the town of Salem, on the 
frontier region of the Black Hawk Purchase, the first Quaker settlement in 
Iowa. Five years afterward this colony in the vicinity of Salem numbered 
nearly one thousand souls, comprising many patriarchs bleached by the 
snows of seventy winters, with their descendants to the third and fourth gen- 
erations. Such was the first advance of the Anglo-American population 
west of the Upper Mississippi, within the 'District of Iowa,' which, before 
the close of the year 1834, contained nearly five thousand white inhabitants. 
Meantime, for the convenience of temporary government, the settlements 
west of the Mississippi, extending more than one hundred miles north of the 
Des Moines River, had been by congress erected into the 'District of Iowa,' 
and attached to the District of Wisconsin, subject to the jurisdiction of the 
Michignn Territory. 

The District of Iowa remained, with the District of Wisconsin, attached 
to the jurisdiction of Michigan Territory, until the latter had assumed an 
independent state government in 1836, when the District of Wisconsin 
was erected into a separate government, known as the Wisconsin Territory, 
exercising jurisdiction over the District of Iowa, then comprised in two 
large counties, designated as the counties of Des Moines and Dubuque. The 
aggregate population of these counties in 1836 was 10,531 persons. It was 
not long before the District of Iowa became noted throughout the west for 
its extraordinary beauty and fertility, and the great advantages which it af- 
forded to agricultural enterprize. 

Already the pioneer emigrants had overrun the first Black Hawk Purchase, 
and were advancing upon the Indian country west of the boundary line. 
Settlements continued to extend, emigration augmented the population, and 
land-offices were established at Dubuque and Burlington for the sale of such 
lands as were surveyed. 

Meantime, the District of Iowa, before the close of the year 1838, had 
been subdivided into sixteen counties, with an aggregate population of 22,860 
souls, distributed sparsely over the whole territory to which the Indian title 
had been extinguished. The same year, on the 4th of July, agreeably to 
the provisions of an act of congress, approved June 12, 1838, the District 
of Iowa was erected into an independent territorial government, known as 
the 'Territory of Iowa.' The first 'territorial governor and superintendent 
of Indian afi"airs ' was Robert Lucas, formerly governor of Ohio, with James- 
Clark secretary of the territory. Charles Slason was chief justice of the 
superior court, and judge of the first judicial district; Joseph Williams was 
judge in the second district; and Thomas S. Wilson in the third. The first 
delegate elected by the people to represent them in congress was Augustus 
C. Dodge. 

The Iowa Territory, as first organized, comprised 'all that region of coun- 
try north of Missouri, which lies west of the Mississippi River, and of a 
line drawn due north from the source of the Mississippi, to the northern 
limit of the United States.' 

The first general assembly of the Iowa Territory made provision for the 
permanent seat of government. On the first of May, 1839, the beautiful 
spot wbich is now occupied by the ' City of Iowa' was selected. 

During the year 1839, emigration from New England, and from New York 
by way of the lake route from Bufi"alo to the ports on the western shore of 



504 ^^^^- 

Lake Michigan, and from Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, began to set stronply 
into the Iowa Territory, and numerous colonies advanced to settle the beau- 
tiful and fertile lands on both sides of the Des Moines River and its numer- 
ous tributaries, as well as those upon the small tributaries of the Mississippi 
for two hundred miles above. 

Population increased in a remarkable manner; aided by the unbounded 
facilities of steam navigation, both on the great lakes and upon the large 
tributaries of the Mississippi, the emigration to the Iowa and Wisconsin Ter- 
ritories was unprecedented in the history of western colonization. The cen- 
sus of 1840 exhibited the entire population of Iowa Territory at 43,017 per- 
sons, an4 that of the Wisconsin Territory at 30,945 persons. 

Such had been the increase of emigration previous to 1843, that the legis- 
lature of Iowa made formal application for authority to adopt a state consti- 
tution. At the following session of congress, an act was passed to ' enable 
the people of the Iowa Territory to form a state government.' A conven- 
tion assembled in September, and on the 7th of October, 1844, adopted a 
constitution for the proposed 'state of Iowa;' it being the fourth state organ- 
ized within the limits of the province of Louisiana. 

By the year 1844, the population of Iowa had increased to 81,921 persons; 
yet the people were subjected to disappointment in the contemplated change of 
government. The constitution adopted by the convention evinced the pro- 
gress of republican feeling, and the strong democratic tendency so prominent 
in all the new states. The constitution for Iowa extended the right of suf- 
frao'e to every free white male citizen of the United States who had resided 
six months in the state, and one month in the county, previous to his appli- 
cation for the right of voting. The judiciary were all to be elected by the 
people for a term of four years, and all other officers, both civil and milita- 
ry, were to be elected by the people at stated periods. Chartered monopolies 
were not tolerated, and no act of incorporation was permitted to remain in 
force more than twenty years, unless it were designed for public improve- 
ments or literary purposes ; and the personal as well as the real estate of the 
members of all corporations was liable for the debts of the same. The leg- 
islature was prohibited from creating any debt in the name of the state ex- 
ceeding one hundred thousand dollars, unless it were for defense in case of 
war invasion, or insurrection ; and in such case, the bill creating the debt 
should, at the same time, provide the ways and means for its redemption. 
Such were some of the prominent features of the first constitution adopted 
for the state of Iowa. Yet the state was not finally organized under this 
constitution, and the people of Iowa remained under the territorial form of 
government until the close of the year 1846. 

The constitution of Iowa having been approved by congress, an act was 
passed March 3, 1845, for the admission of the 'state of Iowa' into the Fed- 
eral Union simultaneously with the 'state of Florida,' upon the condition that 
the people of Iowa, at a subsequent general election, assent to the restricted 
limits imposed by congress, in order to conform with the general area of 
other western states ; but the people of Iowa refused to ratify the restricted 
limits prescribed for the new state, a majority of nearly two thousand in the 
popular vote having rejected the terms of admission. Hence Iowa remained 
under the territorial government until the beginning of 1846, when the peo- 
ple, through their legislature, acquiesced in the prescribed limits, and con- 
gress authorized the formation of another constitution, preparatory to the 
admission of Iowa into the Union. 



IOWA. 505 

The people of Iowa, in 1846, assented to the restriction of limits, and the 
formation of a territorial government over the remaining waste territory lying 
north ^nd west of the limits prescribed by congress. Petitions, with numer- 
ous signatures, demanded the proposed restriction by the organization of a 
separate territory, to be designated and known as the 'Dacotah Territory,' 
comprising the Indian territory beyond the organized settlements of Iowa. 
Congress accordingly authorized a second convention for the adoption of 
another state constitution, and this convention assembled in May, 1846, and 
adopted another constitution, which was submitted to congress in June fol- 
lowing. In August, 1846, the state of Iowa was formally admitted into the 
Union, and the first state election was, by the proclamation of Gov. Clarke, 
to be held on the 26th day of October following. In the ensuing December, 
the first state legislature met at Iowa City." 

Iowa is bounded N. by Minnesota and Dacotah Territory, W. by Missouri 
Kiver, S. by the state of Missouri, and E. by Mississippi River. It is situ- 
ated between 40° 30' and 43° 30' N. Lat., and between 90° 20' and 96° 50' 
W. Long. Its greatest width, from E. to W., is 307 miles, and 186 from N, 
to S.; included within its limits is an area of 50,914 square miles. 

The face of Iowa is moderately uneven, without any mountains or very 
high hills. There is a tract of elevated table land, which extends through 
a considerable portion of the state, dividing the waters which fall into the Mis- 
sissippi from those falling into the Missouri. The margins of the rivers and 
creeks, extending back from one to ten miles, are usually covered with tim- 
ber, while beyond this the country is an open prairie without trees. The 
prairies generally have a rolling surface, not unlike the swelling of the ocean, 
and comprise more than two thirds of the territory of the state: the tim- 
bered lands only one tenth. The soil, both on the prairie and bottom lands, 
is generally excellent having a deep black mold intermingled with a sandy 
loam, sometimes of red clay and gravel. It is watered by streams of the 
clearest water, and its inland scenery is very beautiful. It is studded in parts 
with numerous little lakes of clear water, with gravelly shores and bottoms. 
In the north-eastern part of the state are very extensive lead mines, being 
continuations of those of Illinois and Wisconsin. Vast coal beds exist, extend- 
iag, it is stated, upward of two hundred miles, in the direction of the valley 
(f the Des Moines River alone, which centrally intersects the state. The 
eitire area of the coal fields in this state, is estimated to be not less than 
3i,000 square miles, nearly two thirds of the entire state. The beds of coal 
an estimated by geologists to be of the average thickness of 100 feet. Iron 
or<, zinc and copper are also found. Iowa is also rich in agricultural re- 
sotrces, its fertile soil producing all kinds of fruit and grains raised in north- 
erncliraates. "As a general rule, the average quantity of snow and rain in 
loWi is much less than in New York and New England. There are much 
fewG: clouds. The cold weather in winter is about the same as in similar 
latitides in the east; winter commences about the same time, but the spring 
generally opens much earlier. The intense cold weather is comparatively 
short; For a period of years the spring will average from two to four weeks 
earlieithan in central New York. This difference is due to several causes. 
In tie east the proximity of large bodies of water gives rise to an im- 
mense lumber of very dense clouds, that prevent the spring sun from hav- 
ing thegame effect as is experienced in the west. The altitude of the coun- 
try, an(ithe warm quick nature of the Iowa soil, are circumstances going far 
toward ^counting for this difference. The heat of summer is much greater 



506 



IOWA. 



than in thesame latitude in New York and New England, though a person 
may work in the open sun in Iowa when the thermometer is 100 degrees 
above zero more comfortably than he can when it is at 90 degrees in "New 
York. An atmosphere saturated with water is more sultry and disagreeable 
with the thermometer at 90, than a dry atmosphere with the thermometer at 
100." 

Iowa is blessed with abundance of water power, and the noblest of rivers ; 
the Mississippi is on the east, the Missouri on the west, while numerous streams 
penetrate it, the finest of which is the Des Moines, the great central artery 
of the state, which enters it from the north and flows south-east through it 
for 400 miles: it is a beautiful river, with a rocky bottom and liigh banks, 
which the state is making navigable, for small steamers, to Fort Des Moines^ 
200 miles from its mouth. 

By the census of 1856, the number of paupers was only 132 out of a pop 
ulation of more than half a million. Population, in 1836, 10,531: in 1840 
42,017; in 1850, 192,214; in 1856, 509,000; in 1860, 674,948. 




Eastern view of Dubuque, from Dunleith, 111 

The view shows the appearance of Dubuque, as seen from the terminus of the Illinois Central Bilroao 
on the eastern side of the Mississippi. On the left is the terminus of the Pacific and Dubuque Bilroad. 
On the right the Shot Tower. Back of the principal part of the city are the bluffs, rising to a ight of 
about 200 feet. 

Dubuque, the largest city, and the first settled place in the state, i^on the 
right or western bank of the Mississippi, 1,638 miles above New (Orleans, 
426 above St. Louis, and 306 below the Falls of St. Anthony. ?he city 
proper extends two miles on a table area, or terrace, immediately oack of 
which rise a succession of precipitous blufis, about 200 feet high. A small 
marshy island is in front of the city, which is being improved fo? business 
purposes. The beautiful plateau on which the city was originally laid out, 
being too limited for its growth, streets have been extended up am over the 
bluffs, on which many houses have been erected of a superior oner, among 
which are numerous elegant residences. The Dubuque Female College is 



IOWA. 



507 

designed to accommodate 500 scholars. The Alexander College, chartered 
in 1853, is located here, under the patronage of the Synod of Iowa. Sev- 
eral important railroads terminate at this place, which is the head-quarters 
and principal starting place for steamboats on the northern Mississippi. 
Nearly one third of the inhabitants speak the German languao-e Ponula- 
tion 1860, 13,021. 5 a ^I ^'-i 

Mr. J. L. Langworthy, a native of Vermont, is believed to have been the 
first of the Anglo-Saxon race who erected a dwelling, and smelted the first 
lead westward of the Mississippi. He first came here in 1827. The first 
act resembling civil legislation, within the limits of Iowa, was done in Du- 
buque. Mr. Langworthy, with four others, H. P. Lander, James McPhee- 
ters, and Samuel H. Scales, having obtained permission to dig for mineral, 
entered into an agreement, dated July 17, 1830, by which each man should 
hold 200 yards square of ground, by working on said ground one day in six, 
and that a person chosen by a majority of the miners present, should hold 
the agreement, "and grant letters of arbitration. ' It appears, from an in- 
dorsement on the paper, that Dr. Jarrote held the articles, and was the first 
person chosen by the people in the territory to be clothed with judicial 
powers. In Oct., 1833, Mr. Langworthy and his brothers, with a few neigh- 
bors, erected the first school-house built in Iowa. It stood but a few rods 
from the Female College. The first brick building erected in Dubuque was 
in the summer of 1837, by Le Roy Jackson, from Kentucky. This house 
is now standing on the corner of Iowa and Eleventh-streets, and is owned 
and occupied by William Rebman, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to 
Dubuque in 1836, when a lad of 14 years, and acted as hodman to the ma- 
sons who erected the building. When Mr. R. came to this place, there were 
some 30 or 40 dwellings, many of them log cabins. The first religious ser- 
vices were held in a log structure, used by various denominations. The first 
school was kept by Rev. Nicholas S. Bastion, a Methodist preacher; the 
school house stood on the public square, near the Centennial Methodist 
Church. It is said that the first lead discovered here was by Peosta, an In- 
dian chieftain or the wife of one, who presented it to Capt. Dubuque! 

The site of Dubuque was anciently known as the cornfields and place of 
mounds of the ''Little Fox Village." It was named, in 1834, after Julian 
Dubtiqtie, an Indian trader, who settled here in 1788, and is generally con- 
sidered as the first white settler in Iowa. He is said to have been of French 
and Spanish parentage. He married into the Indian tribe, adopted their 
habits and customs, and became a great chief among them. He was of small 
stature, addicted to the vices incident upon the commingling of Spanish and 
Indian races in America, and a great medicine man. "He would take live 
snakes of the most venomous kind into his arms and bosom, and was conse- 
quently regarded by the Indians with superstitious veneration. He died a 
victim to his vices, and was buried on a high blufi" that overlooks the river, 
near the Indian village at the mouth of Catfish Creek." When his grave 
was visited by L. H. Langworthy, Esq., in 1830, a stone house, surmounted 
by a cedar crops, with a leaden door, stood over the spot. The remains of 
two Indian chiefs were also deposited within. The cross had a French in- 
scription, of which the following is a translation : 

"Julien Dubuque, miner, of the mines of Spain, Died this 24th day of March, 1810, 
aged 45 years 6 mo." 

The Indians, being instructed by Dubuque, worked the mines of lead here 
as early as 1800. About the year 1830, an Indian war, between the Sioux 



608 IOWA. 

and the Sacs and Foxes, caused the latter to forsake their village here. 
Upon this the whites entered upon these lands, and several made their for- 
tunes in a single day, by striking upon a large lode. They were, however, 
soon ordered to recross the river by Zachary Taylor, commanding the United 
States forces at Prairie du Chien, as the territory had not yet been purchased 
of the Indians. After the Black Hawk purchase, the west side of the Mis- 
sissippi was opened for settlement. By 1834, several stores were erected ; 
the mines increased in richness, and emigration rapidly advanced. For a 
time " Lynch Law " was the only one recognized. The first execution for 
murder was that of a man who shot his partner. "Upon this event a court 
was organized, jury impanneled, trial had, criminal found guilty, and after a 
short time being allowed the prisoner to prepare for death, he was executed. 
The gallows was erected upon the south-west corner of White and Seventh- 
streets, upon a mound, which was only removed for the large block that now 
fills its place. The population, at that time, amounted to over 1,000. nearly 
the whole of which were witnesses to the final act of that dreadful tragedy." 

The first newspaper issued here was by John King, Esq., under the fol- 
lowing title : 

" Dubuque Visitor, Truth our Guide — the public good our aim. Diibuque 
Lead Mines, Wisconsin Territory, May 16, 1836." 

In 1838, some attention was paid to agricultural pursuits. The soil prov- 
ing good, the prosperity of the place greatly increased. The exportations of 
lead that year exceeded 6,000,000 lbs. In 1846, the lands adjoining Du- 
buque were brought into market, and the next year Dubuque was reincor- 
porated under its present charter. The population at that time was less than 
3,000. 

" Below the ' Little Fox village,' is the bluff where the Sioux made their last and 
final stand against the Sacs and Foxes. It stands close upon the shore of the Mis- 
sissippi, with its perpendicular walls about two hundred feet in hight, and sloping 
back toward a low prairie, by which it is surrounded and terminates with an ab- 
rupt descent to this prairie. Here and there, scattered around it, are castellated 
rocks, which make it one of nature's fortifications. The Sioux were encamped on 
the summit of this bluff. In the night the Sacs and Foxes commenced ascending, 
and when near their enemy, by a fierce encounter, they secured the outposts, and 
in a very short time had so reduced the number of the Sioux, that those remaining, 
rather than have their scalps hang at their enemies' girdles, threw themselves 
headlong from the precipice and were dashed to pieces. At the present time, a 
few of the bones of those devoted warriors may be found in this their last resting 
place; and of late years, when the Indians visit this spot, they cast pebbles and 
twigs from the summit upon the remains of those below." 

To the foregoing outline we annex these details from the Lectures of Lu- 
cius H. Langworthy, Esq., upon the History of Dubuque: 

In 1827, the speaker came to the mines, in company with a brother and two 
sisters, together with Mr. Meeker, on his return from Cincinnati, Maj. Hough, 
Capt. Donney and lady, and five or six others. 

We embarked at Quincy, Illinois, in a pirogue, and were thirty days on the voy- 
age. A pirogue is a kind of intermediate craft, between a canoe and a keel boat. 
The name is French, and signifies the kind of boats used by the early voyageurs 
to transport their furs and effects over the shoal waters and rapid streams of the west- 
ern wilderness. 1 mention the time occupied in our journey hither, in order to show 
some of the difficulties of settling this new country at that early period. Think 
of a boat's crew, with several ladies on board, all unaccustomed to the river, being 
compelled to work a boat up with poles and oars, against the swollen current of 
this mighty stream, in the hot weather of June, sleeping on sand bars, or anchored 



IOWA. 



509 



out in the river at night, to avoid the musquitoes, or lurking Indians, living upon 
salt pork and dry biscuit, coffee without cream or sugar, and withal making only 
about eight miles average per day. But this was then the land of promise, as Cal- 
ifornia has since been. In July of that year, the Winnebago war commenced. 
Much alarm was spread over the country, and the people erected forts and blook 
houses for defense, abandoning all other employments for the time. Col. Henry 
Dodge led a company of miners against the Indians, at their town on Rock River. 
The village, however, was found deserted, and they returned after taking one lad 
prisoner. 

We crossed over the Mississippi at this time, swimming our horses by the side 
of a canoe. It was the first flow, or the first tide of civilization on this western 
shore. There was not a white settler north of the Des Moines, and west of the 
Mississippi, to Astoria, on the Columbia River, with the exception of Indian traders. 
The Indians had all along guarded this mining district with scrupulous care. They 
would not allow the white people to visit the place, even to look at the old grass- 
grown diggings of Dubuque, which were known to exist here, much less would 
they permit mining to be done, or settlements to be made. 

The country had just been abandoned by the red men, their moccasin tracks 
were yet fresh in the prairie trails along which the retiring race had fled on their 
mysterious mission westward, and the decaying embers were yet cooling on their 
deserted hearths within their now lonely and silent wigwams. Where Dubuque 
now stands, cornfields stretched along the bluffs, up the ravines and the Coule val- 
ley, and a thousand acres of level land skirting the shore, was covered with tall 
grass, as a field of waving grain. But the stalks of the corn were of the last year's 
growth, the ears had been plucked, and they were withered and blighted., left 
standing alone mournful representatives of the vanished race. A large village was 
then standing at the mouth of Catfish Creek, silent, solitary, deserted — nothing re- 
mained to greet us, but the mystic shadows of the past. About seventy buildino-s, 
constructed with poles and the bark of trees, remained to tell of those who had'so 
recently inhabited them. Their council house, though rude, was ample in its di- 
mensions, and contained a great number of furnaces, in which kettles had been 
placed to prepare the feasts of peace or war. But their council fires had gone out. 
On the inner surface of the bark there were paintings done with considerable 
artistic skill, representing the buffalo, elk, bear, panther, and other animals of the 
chase; also their wild sports on the prairie, and even their feats in wars, where 
chief meets chief and warriors mix in bloody fray. Thus was retained a rude 
record of their national history. It was burned down in the summer of 1830, by 
some visitors in a spirit of vandalism, much to the regret of the new settlers. 

When the Indians mined, which was on special occasions, there were often fifty 
or a hundred boys and squaws at work on one vein. They would dig down a 
square hole, covering the entire width of the mine, leaving one side not perpendic- 
ular, but at an angle of about forty-five degrees, then with deer skin sacks attached to 
a bark rope they would haul out along the inclining side of the shaft the rock and 
ore. Their mode of smelting was by digging into a bank slightly, then put up flat 
rocks in a funnel shape, and place the ore within, mixed with wood; this all burnt 
together, and the lead would trickle down into a small excavation in the earth, of 
any shape they desired, and slowly cool and become fit for exportation. 

The lead manufactured here in early times, by Dubuque and the natives, found 
its way to St. Louis, Chicago, Mackinaw, and other trading ports, and some even 
into the Indian rifle in the war of 1812, in the woods of Indiana and Michigan. 
The mode of smelting adopted at first, by the white people, was by building a fur- 
nace somewhat like two large chimney places, set in a bank of earth, leaving an 
aperture in the lower side, for a circulation of air. In these, large logs of wood 
were placed like back-logs, back-sticks and fore-sticks all fitting together, then the 
mineral was placed on the logs, covered with finer wood, and the whole set on fire. 
Thus, in twenty-four hours, the lead would be extracted and run into cast-iron 
molds. About fifty per cent, of lead was obtained in this way, leaving scoriie and 
a waste of small pieces of ore to be run over in another furnace differently con- 
structed. In this last process, about fifteen per cent, was added to the first pro- 
duct. Now, by the improved mode, of blast furnaces, about eighty-five per cent, in 



510 



IOWA. 



obtained, showing that the ore is nearly pure, except only the combination of sul- 
phur with it, which is the inflammable material, and assists in the process of sepa- 
ration. 

As I have said, the speaker and an elder brother, in June of 1827, crossed the 
Mississippi in a canoe, swimming their horses by its side, landed for the first time 
on the western bank of the stream, and stood upon the soil of this unknown land. 
Soon after this, a number of miners crossed over the river, and possessed them- 
selves of these lands, thus left vacant; their mining operations proved eminently 
successful. 

About the fourth of July, Zachary Taylor, then commanding at Prairie du Chicn, 
called upon the miners, in a formal and public manner, forbade their settlement, 
and ordered them to recross the river. This land was not yet purchased of the 
Indians, and, of course, came under the control of the war department. Captain 
Taylor, as he was then called, told the miners that it was his duty as a government 
officer, to protect the lands ; that such were the treaty stipulations, and that they 
must be oflF in one week. They declined doing this, telling the captain that he 
must surrender this time. They urged that they had occupied a vacant country, 
had struck some valuable lodes, that the land would soon be purchased, and that 
they intended to maintain possession; to which Zachary Taylor replied, " We shall 
see to thai, my boys." 

Accordingly a detachment of United States troops was dispatched, with orders 
to make the miners at Dubuque walk Spanish. Anticipating their arrival, they had 
taken themselves off, for at that early day they believed that " rough " would be 
" ready " at the appointed time. The miners were anxiously peering from the high 
bluffs on the east side of the river as the steamer came in sight bringing the sol- 
diers, who were landed on the west shore. Three of the men, who had lingered 
too long, were taken prisoners. They were, however, soon released, or rather took 
themselves off. It is said that one of them, a large, fat man, by the name of Lem- 
ans, made his escape from the soldiers while at Galena, and taking the course of 
the high prairie ridge leading northerly, exhibited such astonishing speed, that the 
race has long been celebrated among the miners, as the greatest feat ever performed 
in the diggings. 

The military force was stationed permanently at Dubuque, and the Indians, ven- 
turing back to the place, sure of safety and protection against their inveterate ene- 
my, the Sioux, and other intruders, were encouraged to mine upon the lodes and 
prospects which the white people had discovered. From one mine alone the In- 
dians obtained more than a million pounds of ore, in which they were assisted by 
the traders and settlers along the river, with provisions, implements, and teams. 
While the discoverers, those who had opened these mines again, after they were 
abandoned by them and the Spanish miners more than twenty years, were com- 
pelled to look across the water and see the fruits of their industry and enterprise 
consumed by the Indians. We lost, in this manner, more than twenty thousand 
dollars worth of mineral, which was taken from one lode by them. 

In September, 1832, a treaty was held at Rock Island, by General Scott and 
others, on the part of the government, and the Black Hawk purchase was agreed 
to. It included all the country bordering on the west side of the Mississippi River, 
comprising the eastern portion of our state. About this time, those who felt an 
interest in the mines of Dubuque, returned to take possession of their former dis- 
coveries. 

Many fine lodes and prospects were discovered, and considerable lead manufac- 
tured up to about January 25, 1833. I could here name many others who settled 
during this fall : Thomas McCraney, Whitesides, Camps, Hurd, Riley, Thomas 
Kelly, etc. In fact there were more than two hundred allured here by the flatter- 
ing prospects of the country during this fall. But, in January, the troops were 
again sent down from Prairie du Chien, and removed the settlers the second time, 
merely because the treaty by which the land was acquired had not been ratified 
by the United States senate, a formal act that every one knew would take place at 
the earliest opportunity. This was a foolish policy on the part of the government, 
and operated peculiarly hard upon the new settlers, who were thus obliged to leave 
their cabins in the cold winter of 1832-3, and their business also until spring. 



IOWA 



511 



In June, 1833, Mr. John P. Sheldon, arrived with a commission from the depart- 
ment at Washington, as superintendent of the mines, the military force havinc 
b-jen previously withdrawn, and the treaty confirmed. He proceeded to grant 
written permits to miners, and licenses to smelters. These permits entitled the 
holder to the privilege of staking oflF two hundred yards square of land wherever 
he chose, if not occupied by others, and have peaceful possession, by delivering his 
mineral to a licensed smelter, Avhile the smelter was required to give a bond to the 
agent, conditioned to pay, for the use of the government, a fixed per centage of all 
the lead he manufactured. Mr. Sheldon continued to act in this capacity only 
about one year, for he could not be the instrument of enforcing this unjust and un- 
wise policy. He saw that these men, like all other pioneers, who, by their 
enterprise were opening up a new country, and fitting it for the homes of those 
who follow their footsteps, should be left, by a wise and judicious system, to the 
enjoyment of their hard earnings. The hidden wealth of the earth, its pine for- 
ests and surface productions, should alike be offered freely to all those who pene- 
trate the wilderness, and thus lay the foundation of future societies and states. 

It has been the policy of our government, at various times, to exact rent for all 
mineral, or pine lumber, taken from the public lands; which policy is wrong and 
should be forever abandoned; for the early settlers have privations and hardships 
enough, without encountering the opposition of their own government, especially 
)hese miners, many of whom had labored for years on the frontiers, cut off from 
*he enjoyments of home and all the endearments of domestic life. Tour speaker 
ivas, himself, one of these, being thrown in early life upon the crest of the wave 
..if western emigration, often beyond the furthest bounds of civilization, and not 
unfrequently amid the tragical scenes of border strife. Twenty-three years he la- 
bored, mostly in the mines, in diflerent capacities, and during about half that pe- 
riod he has toiled in the deep, narrow caves and crevices, in the cold, damp ground, 
working upon his knees, sometimes in the water, and living like many otherininers 
in " Bachelor's Hall," cooking his own food, and feeling secluded from society and 
far from the circle and associations of youthful friendship. Under such privations, 
he felt the demand of a heavy tax, by the government, to be oppressive indeed, and 
he would be wanting in consistency and spirit, if he had not, on all proper occa- 
sions, protested against a system that seems much more regal than republican, and 
which degrades the western pioneer to the condition of a tenant at will of the gen- 
eral government. 

In 1833-4, the town of Dubuque continued to improve. It now first received its 
name by a public meeting held for that purpose, and began to assume the appear- 
ance of a prosperous business place. 

At this time there were but very few men in the whole country who did not in- 
dulge in drinking and gambling. "Poker" and "brag" were games of common 
Fastime, while the betting often run up to hundreds of dollars in a single sitting, 
t pervaded all classes; the merchants and other passengers, to and from St. Louis, 
while on the steamboats occupied their time chiefly in this way, and it was consid- 
ered no disgrace to gamble. Balls and parties were also common, and it was not 
an unfrequent occurrence for one to treat his partner in the dance at the bar, if he 
lid not, he generally performed that delicate and flattering attention to himself 
^'he Sabbath was regarded as a holiday, and vice and immorality were prevalent in 
every form. Yet amidst all this there were occasional gleams of moral sunshine 
breaking through the clouds of dissipation, and a brighter future lay before us. 
Upon the establishing of courts here, first under the jurisdiction of Michigan, 
then under that of Wisconsin Territory, matters assumed a more peaceful and quiet 
aspect. 

But there were even then occasions of turbulence and bloodshed, in quarrels 
about lands and claims. Mr. Woodbury Massey lost his life in one of these diffi- 
culties. There were no courts of competent jurisdiction to try cases of crime, or 
rights to property. A long time intervened between the withdrawal of the gov- 
ernment protection and the establishment of civil laws by local authoritv. 

No survey of the public lands had yet been made, and in the transition from the 
old to the new state of things, misunderstandings naturally arose. Under the gov- 
ernment rules and regulations for the control of the mines, it was necessary to 



512 IOWA. 

work and have mining tools almost continually on the land claimed, in order to se- 
cure possession; under the new order of things there were no uniform customs pre- 
vailing, regarding possession of property; each man formed his own stan(h\rd and 
was governed by his own opinions. It was not surprising, then, that difficulties 
should arise. He who has passed through all the scenes and trials incident to the 
settlement of a new country, will not readily seek another distant frontier as a 
home. 

Woodbury Massey was the eldest of several brothers and a sister, all left orphans 
in early life. Himself and family were members and the chief founders of the 
first Methodist Church erected in this city; a man of fine education, polite and 
amiable in his disposition, one of our first merchants, and possessing a large share 
of popular favor. He was enterprising in business, and upright in all his dealings. 
Had he lived, he would no doubt have proved a main pillar and support in our 
young community. But in an evil hour he became the purchaser of a lot or lode, 
called the Irish lot, near where Mr. McKenzie now lives. 

It appeared that a Mr. Smith, father and son, had some claim on this lot or lode. 
They were the exact opposite to Mr. Massey, in character and disposition. A suit 
before a magistrate grew out of this claim, and the jury decided the property to 
belong to Mr. Massey. It being a case of forcible entry and detainer, the sheriff, 
as was his duty, went with the latter to put him again in possession of the pre- 
mises. 

When they arrived upon the ground, the two Smiths, being secreted among the 
diggings, rose up suddenly, and firing their guns in quick succession, Mr. Massey 
was shot througn the heart. His family, living near by, saw him fall, thus early 
cut down in the prime of his life and usefulness", a victim to the unsettled state oi 
the times, and the ungoverned passions of turbulent men. The perpetrators of 
this deed were arrested and held in confinement until the session of the circuit 
court, at Mineral Point, Judge Irving presiding. Upon the trial, the counsel for 
the defense objected to the jurisdiction of the court, which was sustained by the 
judge, and accordingly the prisoners were discharged and let loose upon society. 
They, however, left this part of the country for a time. 

One of the younger brothers of Mr. Massey, highly exasperated by this transac- 
tion, that no trial could be obtained for such offenders, had determined, it seems, 
that should the elder Smith ever come in his way, he would take the punishment 
for the murder of his brother into his own hands. One day, while sitting in his 
shop at Galena, he chanced to see Smith walking the public streets of the place, 
when, instantly snatching a pistol and hastening in the direction, he fired upon 
him with fatal aim. Thus Smith paid the forfeit of his life by intruding again 
among the friends of the murdered man, and in the community which had wit- 
nessed the scenes of his violence. 

For this act of the younger brother, there seems to have been the broadest char- 
ity manifested. He was never tried, or even arrested, and still lives in the coun- 
try, a quiet man, and greatly respected by all who know him. 

The death of the father, of course, soon brought the younger Smith to the mines. 
It was understood privately that he determined to shoot one or the other of the 
surviving brothers at the very first opportunity. He was known to be an excellent 
shot with a pistol, of imperious disposition and rash temper. These rumors finally 
reached the ears of the fair haired, blue eyed sister, who was thus made to believe 
that he would carry his threats into execution. She was just verging into woman- 
hood, with fresh susceptibilities, and all of her deep affections awakened by the 
surrounding difficulties of the family. One day, without consulting others, she de- 
termined, by a wild and daring adventure, to cut off all chances of danger in that 
direction. Disguising herself for the occasion, and taking a lad along to point out 
the person she sought, having never seen him herself, she went into the street. 
Passing a store by the way side, the boy saw Smith and designated him from the 
other gentlemen in the room by his clothing. On seeing him thus surrounded by 
other men, one would suppose that her nerves would lose their wonted firmness. 
He was well armed and resolute in character, this she knew; yet stepping in 
amidst them all, in a voice tremulous with emotion and ominous in its tones, she 
exclaimed, "If you are Smith, defend yourself" In an instant, as he arose, she 



IOWA. 



513 



pointed a pistol at his breast and fired; he fell, and she retired as suddenly as she 
appeared. It was all done so quickly, and seemed so awful that the specta- 
tors stood, bewildered at the tragical scene, until it was too late to prevent the dis- 
aster. 

It so happened that Mr. Smith had, at the time, a larjie wallet filled with papers 
in his breast pocket. The ball striking about its center did not of course pene- 
trate all of the folded leaves, and thus providentially his lifo was spared. 

Smith, soon recovering from the stunning eS'ects, rushed into the street to meet 
his assailant; but she had fled and found shelter at the house of Mr. Johnson, a 
substantial merchant of the town, and was subsequently sent away, by her friends 
here, to some relatives in Illinois, where she was afterward married to a Mr. Wil- 
liamson, formerly of this place. Her name, Louisa, has been given to one of the 
counties in our State. Smith lived several years, but the wounds probably has- 
tened his death. She is also dead, and it is to be hoped that God's mercy has fol- 
lowed them beyond earth's rude strifes, and that they dwell in peace in a purer 
and better world. 




Ruins of Camanche, Clinton county. 

After the Great Tornado of Juae 3. ISIO. Eagraved from a view taken by photograph. 

The west has, at various periods of its history, been subject to severe tor- 
nadoes, which have carried ruin and devastation in their course. The most 
terrible ever known, was that which swept over eastern Iowa and western Illi- 
nois, on the evening of Sunday, June 3, 1860. It commenced about five 
miles beyond Cedar Rapids, in Linn county, Iowa, and stopped near Elgin. 
Illinois, thus traversing a distance of nearly 200 miles. It varied in width 
from half a mile to two miles. It was of the nature of a whirlwind, or as? some 
eye witnesses aver of two whirlwinds, moving in the same direction and iie.ir 
each other, which in shape resembled a funnel. The larger villages bctwoon 
Cedar Rapids and the Mississippi, were out of the course of this fearful de- 
stroyer; but much property was damaged, and more than fifty lives lost be- 
fore reaching the river. The town of Camanche, on the Mississippi, in Clin- 
ton county, about 70 miles below Dubuque, was utterly destroyed, and New 
Albany, opposite it on the Illinois side, nearly ruined. It was stated iu the 
33 



514 



IOWA. 



priuts of the time, that, by this terrible calamity, 2,500 persons had been 
rendered houseless and homeless, and about 400 killed and wounded. The 
account of this event is thus given in the Fulton Courier: 

The storm reached Camanche at 7.30 P.M., with a hollow, rumbling noise her- 
alding its approach, which sounded like a heavy train of cars passing over a bridge. 
Moving with the velocity of lightning, it struck the devoted town, and the fearful 
work of havoc commenced. The scene that followed, as given by eye witnesses, 
can neither be imagined nor described. Amidst the roar of the tempest, the rust- 
ling of the wind, the reverberating peals of thunder, the vivid flashes of lightning, 
the pelting of the rain, the crash of falling buildings, the agonizing shrieks of ter- 
ror stricken women and children, the bewildered attempts to escape, and the 
moans of the dying, but little opportunity was left to observe the general appear- 
ance of the blow. 

Parents caught their children in their arms and rushed frantic for any place that 
eeemed to promise safety. Many found refuge in cellars, which to others proved 
graves. So sudden was the shock that many in the upper parts of buildings were 
left no time to flee to other parts. 

To go outside was as hazardous as to remain within. The turbulent air was filled 
with fragments of lumber, furniture, and trees, flying in every direction, with the 
force of cannon balls. 

Amidst such intense excitement, attended with such fatal consequences, moments 
seem years. But from statements, that beyond doubt are correct, the storm did not 
rage less than two and a half, nor more than five minutes. It would seem impos- 
sible, on looking at the devastation, to suppose it the work of so short a time. 
Darkness immediately closed over the scene, and left a pall over the town only 
equaled by the darker gloom that draped the hearts of the survivors of the 
disaster. 

At Albany, heavy warehouses were lifted entire, and removed some consideralile 
distance, strong brick and stone buildings entirely demolished, while the lighter 
frame dwelling houses were, in most cases, entirely swept away. We could not 
estimate the whole number of buildings injured, but could learn of not over three 
houses in the whole town that Avere not more or less damaged — most of them de- 
stroyed. The ground was strewed with fragments of boards. The hotel kept by 
Captain Barnes was not moved from its foundation, but part of the roof and inside 
partitions were carried away. The brick (Presbyterian) church was loveled to 
the ground, and the Congregational much injured. The brick and stone houses 
seemed to afford but little more pi-otcction than the frame, and when they fell gave, 
of course, less chance of escape. But one place of business (Mr. Pease s) was left 
in a condition to use. The buildings, household furniture, provisions, and every 
thing in fact, in most instances, were swept beyond the reach of recovery. The 
ferry-boat was lifted from the water and laid upon the shore. Cattle, horses, and 
hogs, were killed or driven away by the irresistible element. The loss of life, how- 
ever, was far less than could have been expected. But five persons were killed, and 
perhaps fifty or sixty injured. 

Camanche was almost completely destroyed. A very few buildings were, as if 
by miracle, left standing, but even these were more or less injured. The ground 
was covered with splinters, boards, furniture, etc., completely shivered to pieces. 
Nothing perfect or whole was to be seen, but everything looked as though it 
had been riven by lightning. The larger trees were blown down : while on the 
smaller ones that would yield to the wind, were to be seen tattered pieces of cloth- 
ing, carpets, pillows, and even mattresses, nearly torn to shreds. The river below 
was covered with marks of the storm, and much property was lost by being swept 
into the water. The general appearance of the ground was much like the traces 
left by a torrent where flood-wood is left lying in its path. Where buildings once 
stood is now a mass of unsightly ruins. It is with difficulty that the lines of the 
former streets can be traced. Frame houses were swept away or turned into every 
conceivable variety of positions. Dead animals were left floating in the river or 
lying among the ruins. The feathers on the poultry were even stripped from their 
bodies. Everything was so completely scattered and destroyed that it was useless 



IOWA. 



515 



to attempt to recover anythinjc, and the citizens could only sit down in despair. 
Until 12 M. of Monday, the work of exhumintj the bodies from the fallen ruins wasi 
still progressing. In one room that we visited, the bodies of children and females 
were lying (ten or twelve in number), clothed in their white winding sheets. It 
was a sight that we pray may never again be ours to witness. The little children, 
in particular, had but few face injuries, and lay as if sleeping. 

In all, thirty-eight persons were reported missing at Camanche, and thirty-two 
bodies have been found. About eighty were reported as wounded, some of whom 
have since died. Information has been received which furnishes us with reliable 
accounts of 139 deaths caused by the tornado along the line of the Iowa and Ne- 
braska road, including Camanche. On the Illinois side of the river the loss of 
life has not been quite so great, but we think we are safe in putting the total num- 
ber of killed at 175. The wounded are by far more numerous, while the loss of 
property can not be definitely estimated. We hfear of 150 cattle in one yard in 
Iowa that were all destroyed. Farm houses, fences, crops, railroad cars, and all 

Eroperty that fell in the path of the tornado, were left in total ruin. There were 
undreds of thousands of dollars worth of property destroyed, much of which will 
never be reported. 

The tornado commenced in Linn county, Iowa, and stopped, as near as we can 
learn, in the vicinity of Elgin, Illinois. It, of course, would carry objects some- 
times in opposite directions, moving as it did with the motion of a whirlwind. AVe 
saw one house that had been lifted from its foundation, and carried two hundred 
feet in a course directly contrary to the regular course of the tornado. 

The escapes in all the places where the storm passed, were often truly miracu- 
lous. In Albany, Mr. Slaymaker had repaired to the church for the purpose of 
ringing the bell for worship, but seeing the appearance of a heavy rain approach- 
ing, concluded not to ring it. Had the congregation been called together it would 
have been certain death to all, as the walls of the church, being built of brick, fell 
on the inside. We saw a small house that liad been carried several rods with three 
persons in it, and set down without damage to the house or inmates. A little 
uaughter of Mr. iSwett was lying on a bed, and was blown with it twenty rods into 
a grove, from whence it came unharmed, calling for its mother. An infant son of 
Mrs. Joseph Riley was buried beneath her, and it is thought that her own weight 
upon it was the cause of its death. One family took refuge in a meal chest, which, 
fortunately, proved strong enough to protect them from a mass of rubbish thai 
covered them. Mrs. Oliver M'Mahan fell in a place where the Hoor of the first 
story had been previously partly broken, producing a sag or bend. The joists fell 
over her, l»ut were long enough to reach over the bend, and thus saved her life. 
Mr. Effner had at one time been safely secure in his cellar, but going up for some- 
thing to shield his oliild fmiu tlie cold, was killed instantly. We saw two children 
who were killed in the anii-; of their mothers. At Camanche, the first story of a 
hardware store, with its contents, was carried into the river and lost, while the up- 
per part of the building dropped down square upon the foundation as though 
placed there by mechanics. A child was blown from fifteen miles west of Camanche 
to that place and landed uninjured One man in Iowa was taken up 200 feet A 
family on a farm took refuge in a "potato hole," where they remained secure; but 
tlie house they left was completely demolished. Pieces of boards were picked up 
eight and ten miles from Albany, in both north and south directions. A wagon 
was lifted into the air, broken to pieces, and the tire of one of the wheels twisted 
out of all shape. Nine freight cars, standing on the track at Lisbon, were blown 
some distance from the place they were standing. The tornado raised immediately 
over the house of Mr. Minta, in Garden Plain, and descended to strike the ne.xt 
house beyond. We noticed that those living in frame houses met with less loss of 
life than the inmates of brick or stone houses. 

A passenger from the west informs us that a small boy was blown across Cedar 
River, and his mangled body left in the forks of a tree. In one family all that 
was left were three little girls, the father and mother and two children having been 
instantly killed. We saw where a fence board had been forced clear through the 
side of a house, endwise, and hundreds of shingles had forced themselves clear 
tlirough the clapboards of a house. 



516 



IOWA. 



Another eye witness aaya : A chimney, weighincr about two tnns, was broken off 
at its junction with the roof, lifted into the air, and hurled down into the front 
vard, burying itself in the ground a depth of three feet, without breaking or crack- 
ing a single brick. A light pine shingle was driven from the outside through the 
clapboards, lath and plaster, and projects two inches from the inside wall of a dwell- 
ing house. No other known force could have accomplished this. A common trowel, 
such as is used by masons, was driven through a pine knot in the side of a barn, 
projecting full two inches. In one spot was found a large pile of book covers, 
every leaf from which was gone, and twisted into a thousand shapes. Leaves were 
stripped of their tissue, leaving the fibers clean and bare as if a botanist had 
neatly picked it off. Tree trunks were twisted several times round until they were 
broken off. The Millard House, a three story brick structure, fronting north, was 
lifted up from its foundation and turned completely round, so that the front door 
faced the south. It then collapsed, and seemed to mil outwardly as if in a vacuum, 
and strange to relate, out of seventeen persons in the house, only two were killed. 
One house upon the bank was lifted from its foundation and whirled into the river, 
crushing as it fell and drowning three persons, the inmates. 

A piano was taken out of a house in the center of the town, and carried some 
distance to the river bank without breaking it. 

The effects upon some of the houses near Camanche, which were in the outer 
edge of the tornado, were very curious. Upon some roofs the shingles were 
stripped off in faciful shapes, a bare spot upon one roof exactly resembling a fig- 
ure 8. Some roofs were entirely unshingled, and in some cases every clapboard 
was torn off. The sides of some houses were literally perforated with boards, 
Mplintei'ed timbers and sharp stakes. In some parts of Camanche, where houses 
stood thickly clustered together, there is not a vestige of one left. Another tract 
of about forty acres is covered with splinters about two feet in length. The lower 
stories of some houses were blown out entirely, leaving the upper story upon the 
ground. The town is entirely ruined, and we do not see how it can ever be re- 
built. There are whole blocks of lots that are vacant entirely, with nothing but 
the cellar to indicate that a house ever stood there. 

The whole atmosphere around the place is sickening, and a stench is pervading 
the whole path of the storm that is almost impossible to endure. 



Davenport, a flourishing city, the county seat of Scott, is beautifully 
situated on the right bank of the Mississippi, at the foot of the upper rapids, 
opposite the town of Rock Island, with which it is connected by a most mag- 
nificent railroad bridge, the first ever built over the Mississippi. The great 
railroad running through the heart of the state, and designed to connect the 
Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, has its eastern terminus at Davenport. The 
city is 330 miles above St. Louis, and 100 below Galena. The rapids ex- 
tend 20 miles above this place, and the navigation of the river is somewhat 
obstructed by them during the time of low water. The city is built on 
o-round which rises gradually from the water, with a chain of rounded hills 
fn the back ground. Pop- 1860, 11,268. 

"The city derived its name from Col. George Davenport, who was born in 
En^-land, in 1783. He came to this country when a young man, entered 
the U. S. army as sergeant, and saw considerable service, on the frontier, in 
the war of 1812. After the war, he settled on Rock Island, opposite this 
town, and engaged in trading with the Indians. That vicinity was densely 
settled by them. The village of Black Hawk was there in the forks of 
Rock River and the Mississippi. He carried on the fur trade very exten- 
sively for many years, establishing trading posts at various points. On the 
4th of July, 1845, a band of robbers entered his beautiful residence in the 
middle of the day, in the absence of his family, and in robbing, accidentally 



IOWA. 



517 



shot him. He died the same night. All of the murderers were taken, three 
were hung and two escaped. Mr. Davenport was of a very free and gentn-- 
ous disposition, jovial and fond of company. Wherever he went a crowd 
assembled around him to listen to his anecdotes and stories. He never sued 




Southern view of Davenport, from the Rock Island Ferry. 

The Steamboat Lauding and Flouring Mill is seen in the central part. The Railroad Depot and A. Le- 
Claire's residence, on an elevation in the distance, on the right. The Iowa College building on the left. 

any one in his life, and could not bear to see any one in distress without try- 
ing to relieve them. The biographer of Col. Davenport gives these inci- 
dents: 

During the Black Hawk war Mr. Davenport received a commission from Gov. 
Reynolds, appointing him acting quartermaster general, with the rank of colonel. 
In the latter part of the summer of 1832, the cholera broke out among the troops 
on the island, and ranged fearfully for about ten days; one hundred died out of a 
population of four hundred ; every person was dreadfully alarmed. An incident 
occurred during this time which will show the state of feeling. Mr. Davenport, 
Mr. LeClaire, and a young officer were standing together in front of the store one 
morning. The officer had been giving them an account of the number of deaths 
and new cases, when an orderly came up to them with a message from Gen. Scott 
to Mr. LeClaire, requesting him to come down to the fort as soon as possible. Mr. 
LeClaire looked at Mr. Davenport to know what excuse to make. Mr. Davenport, 
after a moment, replied to the orderly to tell Gen. Scott that Mr. LeClaire could 
not come, as he was quite sick. The officer and orderly laughed heartily at Mr. 
Davenport and Mr. LeClaire being so much alarmed ; but next morning the lirst 
news they received from the fort, was, that these two men were dead. 

At the time the cholera broke out at Fort Armstrong, there were two Fox cliiefs 
confined in the guard-house for killing the Menomonies at Prairie du Chien, and 
had been given up by their nation as the leaders, on the demand of our govern- 
ment, and were awaiting their trial. Mr. Davenport interceded for them with the 
commanding officer, to let them out of their prison, and give them the range of 
the island, with a promise that they should be forthcoming when they were wanted 
The Indians were released, and they pledged their word not to leave the island 



518 IOWA. 

until permitted to do so by the proper authoritien. Durinc^ all the time the fearful 
epidemic raged on the island, and every person was fleeinij from it that could get 
away, these two chiefs remained on the island, hunting and fishing, and Avhen the 
sickness had subsided, they presented themselves at the fort to await their trial, 
thus showing how binding a pledge of this kind was with this tribe of Indians. 
Mr, Davenport, for many years, was in the habit of crediting the chiefs of the dif- 
ferent villages for from fifty to sixty thousand dollars worth of goods annually, 
having nothing but their word pledged for the payment of them, which they 
always faithfully performed. 

The following extracts relative to the early history of Davenport, are from 
Wilkie's History of the city : 

" In the year 1833, there were one or two claims made upon the lands now 
occupied by the lower part of the city. The claim upon which the city was 
first laid out was contended for by a Dr. Spencer and a Mr. McCloud. The 
matter was finally settled by Antoine LeClaire buying them both out: giv- 
ing them $150. . . . Having fenced in this portion, Mr. LeClaire cul- 
tivated it until it was sold to a company in 1835. In the fall of this year, a 
company was formed for the purchasing and laying out a town site. They 
met at the house of Col. Davenport, on Rock Island, to discuss the matter. 
The following persons were present: Maj. Wm. Gordon, Antoine LeClaire, 
Col. Geo. Davenport, Maj. Thos. Smith, Alex. McGregor, Levi S. Colton, and 
Pliilip Hambaugh. These gentlemen, with Capt. James May, then in Pitts- 
burg, composed the company which secured the site 

In the spring of the next year, the site was surveyed and laid out by Maj. 
Gordon, U. S. surveyor, and one of the stockholders. The cost of the en- 
tire site was $2,000 or $250 per share. In May the lots were offered at auc- 
tion. A steamboat came up from St. Louis, laden with passengers to attend 
the sale, which continued for two days. Some 50 or 60 lots only were sold, 
mostly to St. Louis speculators, at from $300 to $600 each. The remaining 
portion of the site was divided among the proprietors. The emigra- 
tion this year was small, only some half dozen families coming in. The first 
tavern was put up this year and opened by Edward Powers, on the corner 
of Front and Ripley-streets. It was built by Messrs. Davenport and Le- 
Claire, and was called '■'■Davenport Hotels A log shanty drinking saloon was 
also put up, which stood on Front-street, below the Western-avenue. It was 
long a favorite resort of the politician and thirsty. 

James Mackintosh opened the first store, and commenced business in a 
log house near the U. S. House, corner of Ripley and Third-streets. . . . 
Lumber at that time was brought from Cincinnati, and almost everything 
else from a distance. Flour at $16 per barrel; pork at 16 cents per pound, 
were brought from that city. Corn was imported from Wabash River, and 

brought $2 per bushel The ferry dates its existence from this 

year — it being a flat bottomed craft, technically called a "mud-boat." This, 
in 18-il, was superseded by a horse-boat, which in time gave way to,steam. . 

The first child born in Davenport, was in 1841, a son of L. S. Colton. . . 
The first law ofiiee was opened by A. McGregor. The first religious dis- 
course was delivered by Rev. Mr. Gavitt, a Methodist, at the house of D. C. 
Eldridge. Preaching also from an Episcopalian the same spring. Reli- 
gious services were held occasionally, in which a priest from Galena 
officiated. . . . The pioneer ball was held at Mr. LeClaire's, Jan. 8, 
1836. Some forty couples were present, consisting of frontier men, officers 
from the island, and others. The music was furnished by fiddles, from which 



IOWA. 519 

no contemptible strains were occasionally drawn by Mr. LeClairc himself. . . 
The party danced till sunrise, then broke up — the gentlemen being, as a 
general thing, as genial as all the " punches " they could possibly contain, 
would make them. 

In the summer of 1836, Mr. A. LeClaire was appointed postmaster. Mails came 
once a week from the east, and once in two weeks from Dubuque. The postmas- 
ter used to carry the mail across the river in his pocket, and the per centajie for 
the first three months was seventy-Jive cents. In September, a treaty was held at 
East Davenport, between Gov. J)odge, U. S. commissioner, and the Sacs and Foxes. 
The object of the treaty was to secure possession of the land bordering on the 
Iowa River, and known as "Keokuk's Reserve." About one thousand chiefs and 
warriors were present, and were encamped during the time just above Renwick's 

mill This was the last treaty ever held in this vicinity. There were 

seven houses at the close of this year. There was a frame dwelling partly finished 
and owned by a Mr. Shields. It has been since known as the "Dillon House" 
(of which a gentleman, since governor of the state, was once hostler). The year 
(1836) closed with a population of less than one hundred. Stephenson (now Rock 
Island) which had been laid out in 1834, had at this time a population of nearly 
five hundred 

The first duel "on record" in Iowa, was fought, in the spring of 1837, between 
two Winnebago Indians. These young men, in a carousal at Stephenson, com- 
menced quarreling, and finally resorted to the code of honor. One had a shot gun, 
the other a rifle. On the Willow Island, below the city, at the required distance 
they fired at each other. The one with the shot gun fell, and was buried not far 
from the graveyard below the city. The survivor fled to his home in the Rock 
River country. The friends and relations of the slain clamored for the blood of 
the slayer, and the sister of the latter went for the survivor. She found him — en- 
treated him to come back to Rock Island and be killed, to appease the wrathful 
manes of the deceased. He came — in a canoe paddled by his own sister — singing 
his death song. A shallow grave was dug, and kneeling upon its brink, his body 
tumbled into it, and his death song was hushed, as the greedy knives of the exe- 
cutioners drank the blood of his brave heart. 

Dr. A. E. Donaldson, from Pennsylvania, came in July, 1837, and was, it is stated, 
the first regular physician. The religious services, for this year, and for a year or 
two afterward, were held in a house belonging to D. C. Eldridge. Clergymen of 
various denominations officiated. In 1838, during the summer, the first brick house 
was erected by D. C. Eldridge, standing on the S.E. corner of Main and Third- 
streets. Nearly at the same time, the brick building now used by the Sisters, in 
Catholic block, was completed as a church. A long controversy between Rocking- 
ham and Davenport, respecting the location of the county seat, was terminated in 
favor of the latter, in 1840, by the citizens of Davenport agreeing to construct the. 
court house and jail, free of expense to the county. 

The celebrated " Missotiri War" is ascribed to about this date. It arose from a 
dispute in regard to boundary — two lines having been run. The northern one cut 
oS" a strip of Iowa some six or eight miles in width, and from this portion Mis- 
souri endeavored to collect taxes. The inhabitants refused to pay them, and the 
Missouri authorities endeavored, by sending a sherifl", to enforce payment. A fight 
ensued, and an lowan was killed, and several taken prisoners. The news spread 
along the river counties, and created intense excitement. War was supposed to be 
impending, or to have actually begun. 

Col. Dodge, an individual somewhat noted as the one who, in connection with 
Theller, had been imprisoned by the Canadian authorities for a participation in 
the "Patriot War," had lately arrived here, after breaking jail in Canada. His 
arrival was opportune — a call for volunteers to march against Missouri was circu- 
lated, and was responded to by some three hundred men, who made Davenport 
their rendezvous on the proposed day of marching. A motley crowd was it! Arms 
were of every kind imaginable, from pitchforks to blunderbusses, and Queen Anne 
muskets. One of the colonels wore a common rusty grass scythe for a sword, 
while Capt. Higginson, of company A, had been fortunate enough to find an old 



520 IOWA. 

sword that an Indian had pawned for whisky, which he elegantly belted around 
him with a heavy log chain. 

The parade ground was in front of the ground now occupied by the Scott House. 
Refreshments were plenty, and '" steam " was being rapidly developed for a start, 
when word came that peace was restored — Missouri having resigned her claim 
to the disputed ground. The army was immediately disbanded, in a style 
that would do honor to the palmiest revels of Bacchus. Speeches were made, 
toasts drunk, and a host of maneuvers, not in the military code, were performed, 
to the great amusement of all. Some, in the excess of patriotism and whisky, 
started on alone to Missouri, but lay down in the road before traveling far, and 
elept away their valor. 

St. Anthony's ChurelL, the first erected, was dedicated May 23, 1839, by Rt. Rov. 
Bishop Loras, of Dubuque. The Catholic Advocate thus states, "Mr. Antoine Le- 
Claire, a wealthy Frenchman, and a zealous and exemplary Christian, in partner- 
ship with Mr. Davenport, has granted to the Catholic congregation, in the very cen- 
ter of the town, a whole square, including ten lots, erecting, partly at his own ex- 
pense, a fine brick church with a school room attached." The Rev. 

Mr. Pelamourgues, who first assumed charge of the church, still retains it. 

The First Presbyterian Church was established in the spring of 1838, pastor, 
James D. Mason ; the Davenport Congregational Church was organized July 30, 
183'.), by Rev. Albert Hale; their present church building was erected in 1844. 
The first regular services of the Protestant Episcopal Church were commenced 
here Oct. 14, 1841, by Rev. Z H. Goldsmith. The corner stone of the present 
edifice of Trinity Church was laid, by Bishop Kemper, May 5, 1852. The Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church was established June 1, 1842; the First Baptist Church was 
established in 1839, N. S. Bastion, pastor; the German Congregation was estab- 
lished July 19, 1857, A. Frowein, pastor; "Church of Christ," or Disciples Church 
oetablished July 28, 1839. 

The first newspaper was the " Iowa Sun and Davenport and Rock Island News," 
issued in Aug., 1838, by Alfred Sanders. It was continued till 1841, when it was 
succeeded by the "Davenport Weekly Gazette." The "Weekly Banner" was 
started in 1848, by A. Montgomery; in 1855, it was bought by Messrs. Hildreth, 
Richardson & West, and was changed to the " Iowa State Democrat." The " Even- 
ing News," daily and weekly, was started by Harrington & Wilkie, Sept., 1856. 
Tiie "Der Demokrat" (German) was established, by T. Guelich, in 1851. 



Bellevue, the capital of Jackson county, is on the Mississippi, 12 miles 
below Galena. It is one of the oldest towns in the state, having been first 
settled in 1836, by J. I). Bell. The location being a beautiful one, had long 
been a favorite spot with the Indians. The population in 1860 was about 
1,500. 

The following interesting narrative of some incidents which took place 
here in the early settlement of the place is given to us by Wm. A. 
Warren Esq. He was the sheriff in command of the posse of citizens, 
some of whom it will be seen lost their lives in their efforts to restore law 
and order. 

In the year 1836, was organized a band of horse-thieves, counterfeiters, and high- 
way robbers, having their "head-quarters near Elk Heart, Michigan, and extending 
their ramifications in all directions from that point, many hundred miles. The 
Rock River valley, Illinois, and the settled portions of what is now Iowa, were the 
chief points of their operations, although the band extended through Kentucky, 
Missouri, and even to the Cherokee Nation. 

Their organization was complete. They had their pass words, and other means 
of recognition. No great master spirit controlled the whole organization, as is 
usually the case in criminal associations of that nature. The leaders were those 
whose education rendered them superior to the instincts of the half savage settlers 
with whom they were associated. 

Their method of doing business, and escaping detection, was as follows: B.'s 



IOWA 



521 



band, in Towa, would "spot" certain horses and other "plunder," and .arrange to 
make a foray on some particular nisht. A., in Missouri, having obtained the 
knowledge of this, would start his band on a marauding expedition the same night. 
But those who were to do the plundering would make a feint to go north or south 
on a trading expedition, a day or two before the time fixed upon, and returning at 
night, would be carefully concealed until the proper time, when they would sally 
forth on the expedition in earnest. The two bands then meeting half way, would 
exchange the stolen property, and returning, dispose of the plunder, perhaps to 
the very persons whom they had robbed a few nights before. 




Storming of the Bellevue Hotel, hy the Citizens. 

The engraving illustrates a sceno in the early history ot Bellevne. The hotel of the town was occnpied 
by a band of outlaws, who had been the terror of the whole country for hundreds of miles distant. As 
they defied the authorities, the citizens were compelled to resort to arms. The stronghold was carried by 
etorm, in which several were slain on each side. 

Those of the band who were merely accomplices, were careful to be visiting 
some honest neighbor on the night of the robbery, and thus avert suspicion from 
themselves. By this means, it will be seen, that detection was almost impossible, 
and suspicion unlikely to rest upon the real perpetrators. 

The then frontier village of Bellevue, was a central point on this route, and also 
the head quarters of one of the most numerous and powerful of the bands. Its 
leader, William Brown, was a man remarkable in many respects. He came to 
Bellevue in the spring of 1836, and soon after brought out his family and opened 
a public house, which was destined to become famous in the village history. 
Brown, physically, was a powerful man, and in education superior to those around 
him. He possessed a pleasant, kindly address, and was scrupulously honest in his 
every day's dealings with his neighbors. It is said that none who reposed confi- 
dence in him in a business transaction ever regretted it He was ably seconded 
by his wife, a woman of about 24 years of age, and of more than ordinary natural 
capacity. They had but one child, a little girl of some four years of age. Ever 
ready to assist the destitute, the foremost in public improvements, this family soon 
became idolized by the rude population of that early day, so that nothing but pos- 
itive proof finally fastened suspicions of dishonesty upon them. Having, by his 



wiles, seduced a larger part of the young men into his band, and being daily rein- 
forced from other quarters, Bi'own became more bold in his operations, then threw 
off the mask, and openly boasted of his power and the inability of the authorities 
to crush him out. it was no idle boast. Fully two thirds of the able bodied men 
in the settlement were leagued with him. He never participated in passing coun- 
terfeit money, stealing horses, etc., but simply planned. 

Any man who incurred the enmity of the "gang," was very certain to wake 
some morning and find his crops destroyed, his horses stolen, and the marks of his 
cattle having been slaughtered in his own yard ; in all probability the hind quar- 
ters of his favorite ox would be offered for sale at his own door a few hours there- 
after. If one of his gang was arrested, Brown stood ready to defend him, with an 
argument not now always attainable by the legal profession — he could, at a mo- 
ment's notice, prove an alibi. Thus matters went on, until it became apparent to 
the honest portion of the community that the crisis had arrived. 

As an instance of the boldness which they evinced, now the band had become 
so powerful, we give an incident of the stealing of a plow from a steamboat. In 
the spring of 1839, a steamboat landed at Bellevue to wood ; the boat was crowded 
with passengers, and the hurricane deck covered with plows. It being a pleasant 
day, the citizens old and young, according to custom, had sallied forth to the river 
Bide, as the landing of a steamboat was then by no means a daily occurrence. The 
writer of this, standing near Brown, heard him remark to a man, named Hapgood, 
and in the presence of numerous citizens, "that, as he (H.) had long wanted to 
join Brown s party, if he would steal one of those plows, and thus prove his qual- 
ifications, he should be admitted to full fellowship." Hapgood agreed to make the 
trial, and thereupon, to our surprise, as we had supposed the conversation to be 
merely in jest, he went upon the hurricane deck, and in the presence of the cap- 
tain, passengers, and citizens on shore, shouldered a plow and marched off the 
boat and up the levee. When on the boat, Hapgood conversed with the captain 
for a few minutes, and the captain pointed out to him which plow to take. In a 
few moments the boat was gone, and Hapgood boasted of the theft. It was sup- 
posed that he had bought the plow and paid the captain for it, but the next day, 
when the boat returned, there was great and anxious inquiry, by the captain, "^ for 
the man that took that plow," but he had disappeared, and remained out of sight 
until the boat was gone. About the same time another bold robbery occurred 
near Bellevue, the incidents of which so well illustrate the character of these 
ruffians, that we can not forbear recounting them. 

One Collins, a farmer, living about eight miles from town, came in one day and 
sold Brown a yoke of cattle for $80. Being a poor judge of money, and knowing 
Brown's character well, he refused to take anything in payment but specie. On 
his return home that evening, he placed his money in his chest. About midnight 
his house was broken open by two men, upon which he sprang from his bed, but 
was immediately knocked down. His wife coming to his rescue Avas also knocked 
down, and both were threatened with instant death if any more disturbance was 
made. The robbers then possessed themselves of Collins' money and watch and 
departed. In the morning he made complaint before a justice of the peace, ac- 
cusing two men in the employment of Brown with the crime. They were arrested 
and examined. On the trial," Collins and his wife swore positively to the men, and 
also identified a watch found with them as the one taken. In their possession was 
found $80 in gold, the exact amount stolen. A farmer living near Collins, testified 
that about 11 o'clock, on the night of the robbery, the accused stopped at his 
house and inquired the way to Collins'. Here the prosecution closed their evidence, 
and the defense called three witnesses to the stand, among whom was .Fox, nfter- 
ward noted as the murderer of Col. Davenport, all of whom swore positively that, 
on the night of the robbery, they and the accused played cards from dark till day- 
light, in Brown's house, eight miles from the scene of the robbery ! In the face 
of the overwhelming testimony adduced by the state, the defendants were dis- 
charged 1 

Another laughable instance, displaying the shrewdness and villainy of these fel- 
lows, occurred early in the spring of 1838. Godfrey (one of the robbers of Col- 
lins) came into town with a tine span of matched horses, with halter ropes around 



IOWA. ^ 523 

their necks. From the known character of their possessor, the sheriff thought best 
to take the horses into his custody. Brown's gan<;; remonstrated against t1ie pro- 
ceedings, but to no effect. Subsequently a writ of replevin was procured, and the 
horses demanded — the sheriff refused to give them up. A general row ensued. 
The citizens, being the stronger party at that time, sustained the sheriff, and he 
maintained the dignity of his office. Handbills, describing the horses accurately, 
Avere then sent around the county. A few days afterward, a stranger appeared in 
town, anxiously inquiring for the sheriff, and upon meeting him, he" announced his 
business to be the recovery of a fine span of horses, which had been stolen from 
him a short time before, and then so accurately described those detained by the 
sheriff, that the latter informed him that he then had them in his stable. Upon 
examining them, the man was gratified to find that they were his; turning to the 
crowd, he offered $25 to any one who would produce Godfrey, remarking that, if he 
met him, he would wreak his vengeance upon him in a summary manner, without 
the intervention of a jury. Godfrey was not, however, to be found, and the horses 
were delivered to the stranger. 

Imagine the consternation of the sheriff, when, two days later, the true owner 
of the horses appeared in search of them! The other was an accomplice of God- 
frey, and they had taken that method of securing their booty. Similar incidents 
could be detailed to fill pages, for they were of continual occurrence. 

On the 20th of March, 1840, the citizens of Bellevue, not implicated in the 
plans of the horse-thieves and counterfeiters, held a meeting to consider the 
wrongs of the community. But one opinion was advanced, that the depredators 
must leave the place or summary vengeance would be inflicted upon them all. It 
was resolved that a warrant should be procured for the arrest of^the whole gang, 
from Justice Watkins — father of our present sheriff— and, upon a certain day, the 
sheriff, accompanied by all the honest citizens as a posse, should proceed to serve 
the same. The warrant was issued upon the affidavit of Anson Harrington, Esq., 
one of our most respectable citizens, charging about half the inhabitants of the 
town — Brown's men — with the commission of crimes. 

A posse of 80 men was selected by the sheriff from among the best citizens of 
the county, who met in Bellevue on the first day of April, 1840, at 10 o'clock, A.M. 
Hrown, in the mean time, had got wind of the proceedings, and had rallied a party 
of 23 men, whose names were on the warrant, and proceeded to fortify the Bellevue 
Hotel, and prepare for a vigorous defense. On the-sheriff's arriving in Bellevue 
witli his party, he found a red flag streaming from the hotel, and^'a portion of 
Brown's men marching to and fro in front of their fort, armed with rifles, present- 
ing a formidable appearance. 

A meeting of the citizens was then convened to consult upon the best method 
of securing the ends of justice, of which Major Thos. 8. Parks was chairmaa It 
was resolved that the sheriff should go to Brown's fort, with two men, and demand 
their surrender, reading his warrant, and assuring them that they should be pro- 
tected in their persons and property. It was also resolved, if they did not surren- 
der, to storm the house, and that Col. Thos. Cos, then a representative in the Iowa 
legislature, should assist the sheriff in the command of the party selected for this 
purpose. 

The sheriff then went to the hotel, accompanied by Messrs. Watkins and Ma- 
goon. When near the house, they were suddenly surrounded by Brown and a 
party of his men, all fully armed. They captured the sheriff, and ordered Watkins 
and Magoon to return and inform the citizens, that at the first attempt to storm 
the house, they would shoot the sheriff. Being conducted into the house, the sheriff 
read his warrant and informed them of the proceedings of the meeting. Just then 
it was discovered that Col. Cox, with a party of citizens, was rapidly advancing 
on the hotel. Upon the sheriff's promise to stop them and then return, ho was re- 
leased by Brown. He met the party, and accosting Cox, requested him to delay 
the attack one hour, and if he (the sheriff) did not return by that time, for them 
to come on and take the house. 

Cox was determined the Sheriff should not return, saying that he should not 
keep his word with such a band of ruffians. Better counsels, however, prevailed, 
and the sheriff went back. On his return he found that Brown's men had been 



524 ^'^^A- 

drinking freely to keep up their courage. After some parleying, Brown deter- 
mined not to surrender, commanding the sheriff to return to his men and tell them 
to come on, and if they succeeded in carrying the hotel, it should only be over their ~ 
dead bodies. 

Tlie sheriff returned and disclosed the result of his interview. Mrs. Brown, in 
the mean time, and a fellow called Buckskin, paraded the streets with a red flag. 
The citizens were then addressed by Cox and Watkins, and it was finally deter- 
mined that a body of forty men should be selected to make the attack, upon which 
the posse started and charged upon the house at a full run. As our men entered 
the porch, the garrison commenced tiring, but we being so near they generally over- 
shot their mark. At the first fire one of our best men, Mr. Palmer, was killed, and 
another, Mr. Vaughn, badly wounded. Brown opened the door and put out his 
gun to shoot, when he was immediately shot down by one of our men. The battle 
then became desperate and hand to hand. After considerable hard fighting, the 
" balance " of the gang commenced their retreat through the back door of the 
house. They were surrounded and all captured but three. The result of the 
fight was, on the part of the counterfeiters the loss of five killed and two badly 
wounded ; on the part of the citizens, four killed and eleven wounded. 

The excitement after the fight was intense. Many of the citizens were in favor 
of putting all the prisoners to death. Other counsels, however, prevailed, and a 
citizens' court was organized to try them. 

During the fight, Capt. Harris anchored his boat in the middle of the river, and 
remained there 'until the result was known, when the passengers ascended to the 
upper deck and gave three hearty cheers. Doctors Finley, of Dubuque, and Cross- 
man, of Galena, were sent for, and were soon in attendance on the wounded of 
both parties. 

Much joy was manifested by the citizens at the breaking up of one of the most 
desperate" gangs of housebreakers, murderers and counterfeiters, that ever infested 
the western country. The next morning a vote of the citizens was taken as to the 
disposal of the prisoners. 

As the district court was not to meet for three months, and there being no jail 
in the county, and in fact none in the territory that was safe, and surrounded as 
we were on all sides, by offshoots of the same band, who could muster 200 men In 
a day's time to rescue them, it was deemed the merest folly to attempt to detain 
them as prisoners, and it was resolved to execute summary justice upon them. 
The question was then put, whether to hang or whip them. A cup of red and 
white beans was first passed around, to be used as ballots, the red for hanging, and 
the white for whipping. 

A breathless silence was maintained during the vote. In a few moments the 
result was announced. It stood forty-two white and thirty-eight red beans. The 
resolution to whip them was then unanimously adopted. Fox, afterward the mur- 
derer of Davenport, and several others made full confessions of many crimes, in 
which they had been engaged. The whole crowd of prisoners was then_ taken 
out and received from twenty-five to seventy five lashes apiece, upon their bare 
backs, according to their deserts. They were then put into boats and set adrift in 
the river, without oars, and under the assurance that a return would insure a 
epeedy death. 

Animated by the example of Bellevue, the citizens of Rock River, 111., Linn, 
Johnson, and other counties, in Iowa, arose en masse, and expelled the gangs of 
robbers from their midst, with much bloodshed. 

'i'hus ended the struggle for supremacy between vice and virtue in Bellevue, 
which, from this day forth, has been as noted, in the Mississippi valley, for the 
morality of its citizens, as it was once rendered infamous by their crimes. 



Burlington, a flourishing commercial city, the seat of justice for Des 
Moines county, is on the western side of the Mississippi, 45 miles above 
Keokuk, 248 above St. Louis, and 1,429 above New Orleans. The city was 
organized under a charter from the Territory of Wisconsin, in 1838. It is 



IOWA. 525 

regularly laid out and beautifully situated. Part of the city is built on the 
high grounds or bluffs, rising in some places about 200 feet above the 
river, affording a beautiful and commanding view of the surrounding coun- 
try: with the river, and its woody islands, stretching far away to the 




South-eastern view of Burlington. 

The view shows the appearance of the city, as seen from near the South Bluff: the eastern terminus of 
the Burlington and Missouri Railroad, the Court House, and other public buildings, on tlie elevated ground 
in the distance, appear in the central part ; the North Bluff and Steamboat Landing on the right 

north and south. It has a variety of mechanical and manufacturing estab- 
lishments. The pork packing business is carried on extensively. It is the 
seat of the Burlington University, and contains 12 churches, in 1860, 6,706. 
inhabitants. 

The country for sixty miles around Burlington, sometimes called the "gar- 
den of Iowa," is very fertile. Near the city are immense quantities of gray 
limestone rock, suitable for building purposes. 

The first white person who located himself in Burlington, appears to have 
been Samuel S. White, a native of Ohio, who built a cabin here, in 1832, 
close to the river at the foot of the upper, blufi". The United States, accord- 
ing to the treaty with the Indians, not being then entitled to the lands west 
of the Mississippi, the dragoons from Fort Armstrong came down, burnt 
White out, and drove him over to the Illinois side of the river. He re- 
mained on Honey Creek till the 1st of the next June, when, the Indian title 
being extinguished, he returned and rebuilt his cabin near its former site. 

Mr. White was soon afterward joined by Amzi Doolittle, and in 1834, they 
laid out the first part of the town on the public lands. The survey of White 
atid Doolittle was made by Benjamin Tucker and Dr. Wm. R. Ross. Their 
bounds extended down to Hawkeye Creek. White and Doolittle afterw:ird 
sold out all their lands and removed. The first addition to this tract wiis 
made by Judge David Rorer, a native of Virginia, in April, 1836, who h.id 
emigrated the month previous. In July of this year, he built the first brick 
building ever erected in Iowa. Judge R. laid the first brick with his own 
hands. This building stood on what is now lot 438, the next corner north 



526 



IOWA. 



of Marion Hall. This dwelling was taken down by Col. Warren, in 1854 or 
'55. The first location made outside the town, was by a settler named To- 
thero, whose cabin was about three miles from the river ; this was previous 
to June, 1833. He was consequently driven off by the dragjons, and his 
cabin destroyed. 

The town was named by John Gray, a native of Burlington^ Vermont, and 

brother-in-law to White, the first set- 
tler. The Flint Hills were called by 
the Indians Shokokon^ a word in their 
language signifying "flint hills ; " these 
bluffs are generally about 150 feet 
above the river. Burlington became 
the county seat of Des Moines in 
1834, under the jurisdiction of Michi- 
gan. In 1836 it was made the seat of 
government of Wisconsin Territory, 
and in the fall of 1837, the legislature 
of that territory first met at Burling- 
ton. When Iowa Territory was formed 
in 1838, Burlington became the seat 
of government. The building in which 
the legislative assembly first met stood 
on the river bank, just north of Colum- 
bia-street. It was burnt down ?oon 
afterward. At the first court hcid in 
Burlington, three divorces were granted, one conviction for assault and bat- 
tery, and one fine for contempt of court. The record does not show the 
grounds of contempt, but from other sources we learn i,t was a rencounter in 
open court, in which the tables of the judges, being clry goods boxes and 
barrels with planks laid across, were overturned. The hero of the occasion 
was afterward taken prisoner in the Santa Fe expedition from Texas. 

Dr. Ross and Maj. Jeremiah Smith, who came to Burlington in 1833, were 
the first merchants. The first church (the Methodist Old Zion) was erected 
the same year, and is believed to have been the first house of worship erected 
in Iowa. In this venerable structure, which is still standing, the legislative 
body have met and courts have been held. The "Iowa Territorial Gazette," 
the first newspaper, was issued in the summer of 1837, by James Clarke, 
from Pennsylvania, who was subsequently governor of the territory. The 
second paper was the "Iowa Patriot," afterward the "Hawkeye," by James 
G. Edwards, of Boston. The loioa Historical and Geological Society was or- 
ganized in 1843, and is the oldest literary society in the state. 




Judge Roeer's House. 
The first brick building erected in Iowa. 



The following inscriptions are from monuments in the Aspen Grove Cem- 
etery, at the N.W. border of the city: 

Here He the mortal remains of Jas. Clarke, founder of the first Newspaper in Burling- 
ton Member of the first Constitutional Convention, Secretary and Governor of the Territo- 
ry of Iowa. Born July 5, 1812; died July 28, 1850 

My Husband and our Father, Abner Leonard, minister of the Gospel, born Dec. 13, 1787, 
in Washington Co., Pa.; died Oct. 30, 1856. 

Now with my Savior, Brother, Friend, 
A blest Eternity I'll spend, 
Triumphant in his gru.ce. 



IOWA. 



527 



In memory of Rkv Horace HnTCHiNSON, late Pastor of the Congregational Church of 
1839, and at Andover Theological Seminary in 1843. He died March 7, 1846. ^""«6«' 

Sacred to the memory of Rev. Samuel Payne, Missionary, native of New Ter«Pv w),« 
departed this life Jan 8, 1845, aged 38 years, 6 mo. and n'^'ays- Blessed are thT'd^ad 
which die in the Lord from henceforth: yea saith the spirit, that they may rest from their 
labors j and their works do follow them. Rev. xiv, 13. j j ^csi^ irom meir 



In memory of Rev. Thomas Schultz, German Missionary of the Methodist Church • Viavt, 
July 11, 1821 ; died March 18, 1848. -^i^Christus ist mein Le\en undlterbentt meln Gewin" 



boJn j':r2Tl8S8^'d^d^jr24, mS."'"^"' ^""^° ''''''''''''' "^ *^^ ^•^- ^^^^^ ' 

Wo'ich bin da soil mein, diener auch sein. 

Where I am, there shall be my servant. Jan. 12, 1826. 




East view of Keokuk. 

The view shows the appearance of Keokuk, as seen from the highta above the Ferry landing, on the 
Illinois side of the Mississippi. The Keokuk, Fort Des Moines and Minnesota Raih-..ad is on the extreme 
lett , the Keokuk, Mount Pleasant and Muscatine Railroad on the right. 

Keokuk, and semi-capital of Lee county, is a short distance above 
the confluence of the Des Moines with the Mississippi, on the west side of 
the Mississippi, 200 miles above St. Louis, 1,400 above New Orleans, and 
about 150 from Des Moines, the capital. It is at the S.E. corner of the 
state, at the foot of the "Lower Rapids," and being the only city of Iowa 
having uninterrupted communication with all the great tributaries of the 
"Father of Waters," it ha^ not inaptly been called the "Gate City'' of Iowa. 
The site of Keokuk is remarkably fine. It covers the top and slopes of a 
large bluff, partially around which the Mississippi bends with a graceful 
curve, commanding a fine prospect to the south and north. The city stands 



528 i^^^'A- 

upon an inexTiaustible quarry of limestone rock, forniinjz: ample material fi.r 
buildings. A portion of the great water power at this point is used in 
various manufactories, flouring mills, founderies, etc. The Mississippi, up- 
ward from this place, flows over a rocky bed of limestone, called the Rapiih, 
12 miles in extent, falling, in that distance, 24^ feet, making it difficult for 
the larger class of steamboats to pass. The city contains several splendid 
public buildings, the medical department of the State University, hospital, 
some eight or nine churches, and about 13,000 inhabitants. 

The plat of the village of Keokuk was laid out in the spring of 1837, and 
in the ensuing June a public sale of town lots was held, and attended by a 
very large crowd. One boat was chartered in St. Louis, and numbers came 
up on other boats. Only two or three lots, the south-west corner of Main- 
street and the levee, and one or two others lying contiguous, were sold. The 
corner lot went for $1,500, and a New York company still hold the deed of 
trust on it to secure the payment. 

In 184:0, the main portion of Keokuk was a dense forest, and where Main- 
street now is, were thick timber and underbrush. It was so swampy and 
rough between Third and Fourth-streets, as to be rather dangerous riding 
on horseback after a heavy rain. About a dozen cabins comprised all the 
improvements. In the spring of 1847, a census of the place gave a popula- 
tion of 620. Owing to the unsettled state of the titles, but little progress 
was made till 1849. From that time until the autumn of 1857 it had a 
rapid growth. 

Keokuk derived its name from Keokuk (fhe Wafrhfid Fux), a chieftain 
of the Sac tribe, distinguished for his friendship to the Americans during 
the Black Hawk war. He often lost his popularity with his tribe by his 
efforts to keep them at peace with the United States, and nothing but his 
powerful eloquence and tact sustained him. He was once deposed by his 
tribe, and a young chief elected in his place. He, however, soon attained 
his former position. Keokuk was born about the year 1780. He was not 
a hereditary chief, but raised himself to that dignity by the force of talent 
and enterprise. He was a man of extraordinary eloquence; fertile in re- 
sources on the field of battle; possessed of desperate bravery; and never at 
a loss in any emergency. He had six wives, was fond of display, and on his 
visits of state to other tribes, moved, it is supposed, in more savage mag- 
nificence than any other chief on the continent. He was a noble looking 
man, about five feet ten inches in hight, portly, and over 200 pounds in 
weight. He had an eagle eye, a dignified bearing, and a manly, intelligent 
expression of countenance, and always painted and dressed in the Indian 
costume. He supplanted Black Hawk as chieftain of the Sacs and Foxes. 
He died in Missouri a few years since, and was succeeded in the chieftain- 
ship by his son. 

The Des Moines River, which terminates at Keokuk, is one of the noblest 
of streams. Keokuk is the principal port of its valley, in which half the 
population and agricultural wealth of the state are concentrated. On the 
banks of the Des Moines stood the village of the celebrated chief Black 
Hawk, who there breathed his last, Oct. 3, 1840. He was buried near the 
banks of the river, in a sitting posture, as is customary with his tribe. His 
hands grasped his cane, and his body was surrounded by stakes, which united 
at the top. 

Iowa is noted for the extent and magnificence of her prairies. These are 
of great advantage to the rapid and easy settlement of a country. When, 



IOWA 



529 



however, too extensive, without a sufficiency of timber, a prairie country has 
some serious drawbacks. Fortunately, in Iowa, the immense beds of coal 
partly supply the deficiency in fuel, and tlie prairio country there is remark- 
ably healthy. It is generally rolling, often even hilly, the streams mostly 




4 




Prairie Scenery. 

fresh running water, with sandy or gravelly beds, which condition prevent3 
the origin of miasma, the great scourge of flat, prairie districts, where slug- 
gish streams, winding their snaky shaped course' through rich alluvial soils, 
generate disease and death from their stagnant waters, green and odious with 
the slime of a decaying vegetation. The prairie farms of Iowa, large, smooth 
and unbroken by stump or other obstruction, afford an excellent field for tlie 
introduction of mowing machines and other improved implements of agri- 
culture. 

The wonderful fertility of the prairies is accounted for by the fact that we have 
a soil "which for thousands of years has been bearing annual crops of grass, the 
a«heB or decayed sterna of which have been all that time adding to the originaJ fer- 

34 



530 IOWA. 

tility of the soil. So long back as we have any knowledge of the country, it had 
been the custom of the Indians to set fire to the prairie grass in autumn, after frost 
set in, the Are spreading with wonderful rapidity, covering vast districts of coun- 
try, and filling the atmosphere for weeks with smoke. In the course of ages a soil 
somewhat resembling an ash-heap must have been thus gradually created, and it 
is no wonder that it should be declared to be inexhaustible in fertility. In Europe 
such tracts of fertile country as the plain of Lombardy are known to have yielded 
crops [or more than 2,000 years without intermission, and yet no one says that the 
soil is exhausted. Here we have a tract naturally as rich, and with the addition 
of its own crops rotting.upon its surface, and adding to its stores of fertility all 
that time. It need occasion no surprise therefore, to be told of twenty or thirty 
crops of Indian corn being taken in succession from the same land, without ma- 
nure, every crop, good or better, according to the nature of the season." 

A distinguished English chemist analyzed some of the prairie soils of the west. 
'• His analysis, which was of the most scrutinizing character, bears out completely 
the high character for fertility which practice and experience had already proved 
these soils to possess. The most noticeable feature in the analysis is the very large 
quantity of nitrogen which each of the soils contains, nearly twice as much as the 
most fertile soils of Britain. In each case, taking the soil at an average depth of 
ten inches, an acre of these prairies will contain upward of three tuns of nitrogen, 
and as a heavy crop of wheat with its straw contains about fifty-two pounds of ni- 
trogen, there is thus a natural store of ammonia in this soil sufficient for more 
than a hundred wheat crops. In Dr. Voelcker's words, 'It is this large amount of 
nitrogen, and the beautiful state of division, that impart a peculiar character to 
these soils, and distinguish them so favorably. They are soils upon which I 
imagine flax could be grown in perfection, supposing the climate to be otherwise 
favorable. I have never before analyzed soils which contained so much nitrogen, 
nor do I find any record of soils richer in nitrogen than these.' " 

"The novelty of the prairie country is striking, and never fails to cause an ex- 
clamation of surprise from those who have lived amid the forests of Ohio and 
Kentucky, or along the wooded shores of the Atlantic, or in sight of the rocky bar- 
riers of the Allegheny ridge. The extent of the prospect is exhilarating. The 
outline of the landscape is undulating and graceful. The verdure and the flowers 
are beautiful; and the absence of shade, and consequent appearance of a profu- 
sion of light, produces a gayety which animates every beholder. 

These plains, although preserving a general level in respect to the whole coun- 
try, are yet, in themselves, not flat, but exhibit a gracefully waving surface, swell- 
ing and sinking with easy, graceful sh)pes, and full, rounded outlines, ei|ually avoid- 
ing the unmeaning horizontal surface, and the interruption of abrupt or angular 
elevations. 

The attraction of the prairie consists in its extent, its carpet of verdure and 
flowers, its undulating surface, its groves, and the fringe of timber by which it is 
surrounded. Of all these, the latter is the most expressive feature. It is that 
which gives character to the landscape, which imparts the shape, and marks the 
boundary of the plain. If the prairie be small, its greatest beauty consists in the 
vicinity of the surrounding margin of woodland, which resembles the shore of a 
lake indented with deep vistas, like bays and inlets, and throwing out long points, 
like capes and headlands. 

In the spring of the year, when the young grass has just covered the ground 
with a carpet of delicate green, and especially if the sun is rising from behind a 
distant swell of the plain and glittering upon the dewdrops, no scene can be more 
lovely to the eye. The groves, or clusters of timber, are particularly attractive at 
this season of' the year. The rich undergrowth is in full bloom. The rosewood, 
dogwood, crab-apple, wild plum, the cherry, and the wild rose are all abundant, and 
in many portions of the state the grape-vine abounds. The variety of wild fruit 
and flowering shrubs is so great, and such the profusion of the blossoms with which 
they are bowed down, that the eye is regaled almost to satiety. 

The gayety of the prairie, its embellishments, and the absence of the gloom and 
savage wildness of the forest, all contribute to dispel the feeling of loneliness which 
usually creeps over the mind of the solitary traveler in the wilderness. Though 



IOWA. 53^ 

he ma}' not see a house or a human being, and is conscious that he is far from tlie 
habitations of men, the traveler upon the prairie can scarcely divest himself of the 
idea that he is traveling through scenes embellished by the hand of art. The 
flowers, so fragile, so delicate, and so ornamental, seem to have been tastefully dis- 
posed to adorn the scene. 

In the summer, the prairie is covered with long, coarse grass, which soon assumes 
a golden hue, and waves in the wind like a fully ripe harvest. The prairie-grass 
never attains its highest growth in the richest soil ; out in low, wet, or marshy land, 
where the substratum of clay lies near the surface, the center or main stem of the 
grass — that which bears the seed — shoots up to the hight of eight and ten feet, 
throwing out long, coarse leaves or blades. But on the rich, undulating prairies, 
the grass is finer, with less of stalk and a greater profusion of leaves. The roots 
spread and intei'weave, forming a compact, even sod, and the blades expand into a 
close, thick grass, which is seldom more than eighteen inches high, until late in 
the season, when the seed-bearing stem shoots up. The first coat is mingled with 
tsmall flowers — the violet, the bloom of the wild strawberry, and various others, of 
the most minute and delicate texture. As the grass increases in hight, these 
Bmaller flowers disappear, and others, taller and more gaudy, display their brilliant 
colors upon the green surface ; and still later, a larger and coarser succession arises 
with the rising tide of verdure. It is impossible to conceive a more infinite diversity, 
or a richer profusion of hues, ' from grave to gay,' than graces the beautiful carpet 
of green throughout the entire season of summer." 

"The autumnal months, in Iowa, are almost invariably clear, warm, and dry. 
The immense mass of vegetation with which this fertile prairie soil loads itself 
liuring the summer is suddenly withered, and the whole earth is covered with com- 
bustible materials. This is especially true of those portions where grass grows 
from two to ten feet high, and is exposed to sun and wind, becoming thoroughly 
dried. A single spark of fire, falling upon the prairie at such a time, instantly 
kindles a blaze that spreads on every side, and continues its destructive course as 
long as it finds fuel. These fires sweep along with great power and rapidity, and 
frequently extend across a wide prairie and advance in a long line. No sight can 
be more sublime than a stream of fire, beheld at niglit, several miles in breadth, 
advancing across the plains, leaving behind it a backirround of dense black smoke, 
throwing before it a vivid glare, whicli lights up the whole landscape for miles 
with the brilliancy of noonday. The progress of the tire is so slow, and the heat 
80 intense, that every combustible in its course is consumed. The roots of the 
prairie-grass, and several species of flowers, however, by some peculiar adaptation 
of nature, are spared." 

The winters on the prairie are often terrible. Exposed to the full sweep of the 
icy winds that come rushing down from the Rocky Mountains, without a single 
obstruction, the unlucky traveler that is caught, unprotected by sufficient clothing, 
is in imminent danger of perishing before the icy blast. December and January 
of the winter of 1856-7, were unprecedentedly stormy and cold in western Iowa. 
A writer for one of the public prints, who passed that winter on the western fron- 
tier of this state, gives this vivid picture of the suSerings of the frontier settlers, 
his communication being dated at "Jefferson's Grove, fifty miles from a postofiice." 

" Once the mercury has been 30 deg. below zero, twice 24 deg., several times 16 
deg., and more than seven eighths of the time at some point below zero. Onlvtwo 
days in the whole two months has it been above the freezing point. 

We have had four fierce snow storms, in which one could not see an object four 
rods distant, and I doubt if such storms can be excelled in fury in any of the hy- 
perborean regions. Everybody was compelled to keep within doors; cattle wore 
driven before the driving snow until they found refuge in the groves ; and most of 
the houses, within doors, were thoroughly sifted with snow. But I will relate a 
few instances of frontier hardships. 

Forty miles above here, at the very margin of the settlement, a family was caught 
by the first snow storm, almost without firewood and food. In the morning the 
husband made a fire, and leaving to seek for assistance from his nearest neighbors, 
distant six miles, directed his family to make one more fire^ and then retire to bi'd, 
and there remain until he returned ; they did so. After excessive hardships, ho 



532 



IOWA. 



returned on the second day, with some friends, and conveyed his wife and little 
children, on hand-sleds through the deep snow, to their kind neighbors. 

Last summer five families ventured across a fifty mile prairie, uninhabited, of 
course, and commenced making farms on a small stream, very sparcely timbered, 
called Boyer River. The early froso nipped their late corn, and left them with- 
out food. Seven of the men of this little detached settlement, started in the 
Fall for Fort Des Moines, distant one hundred and fifty miles, to procure provis- 
ions and other necessaries. When on their return, fifty miles from Fort Des 
Moines, on the North Koon River, they were overtaken by the severe snow-storm 
that commenced on the first day of December and raged for forty-eight hours. 
They then halted, constructed sleds, and started for their families, one hundred 
miles distant, across a trackless prairie. They sufl'ered terribly, and one of them 
perished with the cold." 




State Capitol, Des Moines. 

Des Moines, which becatne in 1855 the capital of Iowa, is at the head of 
steamboat navigation on Des Moines River, in the geographical center of the 
state, about 170 miles west of Davenport, and 140 eastward of Council Bluffs. 
The line of the Mississippi and Missouri Eailroad passes through the city, 
as also will several others in contemplation. The city is situated at the con- 
fluence of Raccoon River with the Des Moines, the two streams uniting near 
the corporation limits. The scenery at this point is beautiful: a smooth val- 
ley, rising on all sides, by successive benches, back to the gently sloping 
hills, which finally attain a hight of about 200 feet. 

This spot was the council ground of the Indians. It was afterward the 
site of Fort Des Moines, selected by the officers of the U. S. army, on which 
barracks and defenses were erected. Most of the town is laid out with wide 
streets. On the elevations are beautiful building sites, commanding views 
of all the central town, of both rivers, and of the faces of most of the other 
hills, with their residences. On the summit of one of the hills is the pres- 
ent state house, and the square set apart for the permanent capitol. Some 
6 or 7 churches are already erected, and 3 newspapers are printed. Popu- 
lation about 5,000. 



IOWA. 533 

Muscatine, the county seat of Muscatine county, is situated 100 miles 
above Keokuk, and 32 below Davenport. Commencing at the Upper Rapids, 
the Mississippi runs in a westerly direction until it strikes a series of rocky 
bluiFs, by which its course is turned due south. At this bend, and on the 
summit of the bluffs, is situated the city of Muscatine, which is regularly 




Western view of Muscatine. 

laid out, with fine, wide streets, having several elegant buildings. It is a 
shipping point for a very great amount of produce raised in the adjoining 
counties. When the various railroads are completed which are to run in 
various directions from this point, Muscatine will have added to her natural 
advantages fine facilities for communication with every part of the country. 
Muscatine was first settled by the whites in 1836, previous to which time 
it was an Indian trading post, known by the name of Manatheka. After- 
ward it was called Bloomington. Population in 1860, 5,324. 

Council Bluffs City., the county seat of Pottawatomie county, is near the 
geographical center of the United States, on the east side of the Missouri 
River, about 140 miles westward of Des Moines, the capital of the state, 
nearly opposite Omaha City, the capital of Nebraska, about 300 miles above 
Leavenworth City, and 685 above St. Louis. It is built on a beautiful ex- 
tended plain. It has a number of fine stores, and many elegant private 
buildings. This is a flourishing place, and here a portion of the emigrants 
for the far west ptocure their oatfits. It was for a long time an important 
point in overland travel to California, being the last civilized settlement be- 
fore entering the Indiau country. Four important railroads from the east 
are projected directly to this place, some of which are fast progressing to 
completion. The first one finished will be the Mississippi and Missouri, 
which, commencing at Davenport, already extends to beyond Iowa City. 
Population about 5,000. 

A gentleman, who was at Council Bluffs in 1860, gives these valuable 
items upon the history of the town, and the condition and resources of the 
country: 

The growth of Council Bluffs has been rapid within the last six years, and it 
still retains, as it is likely to retain, the position of the most important city of 
western Iowa. This point was formerly known as Kaiiesville, and was for about 



534 



IOWA. 



three years — from 1846 to 1849 — the residence of the Mormon hosts o\ Rrij^ham 
Young, in his celebrated march to the great Salt Lake valley. After the Mormons 
were driven from Nauvoo, they determined to build up a kingdom to themselves in 
the far west. They departed, but upon reaching the borders of the great plains 
they found they had not the number of cattle and horses, nor the provisions that 
were indispensable for so long and so distant a journey; so they selected a roman- 
tic and wooded valley, adjoining the great bottoms of the Missouri, for their tem- 
porary home. Timber was plenty, and with it they soon constructed log houses 
for fifteen thousand people. They inclosed several hundred acres of the rich and 
easily cultivated Missouri bottoms, and planted them with corn. Their cattle, fed 
on these tine pastures, increased in numbers rapidly. They raised large amounts 
of corn — for these fanatics are hard working, industrious men and women. In 
three years they found themselves so prosperous that they resumed their journey, 
and in due time found themselves at their destination in the ^'Holy Valley" at the 
Great Salt Lake. 

As the Mormons left, other settlers came in. The name was changed to Council 
Bluffs. This cognomen had been given by Lewis and Clarke, a long time before, 
to a point on the Missouri, several miles above the present town. It had become 
a historical name, and it was wise in the new-comers to appropriate it to their use. 
So much for the early history of this place. ' The Mormon town was built in a very 
pleasant valley, that opens upon the great Missouri bottom from the north-east. It 
is four miles from the base of the hills, which are several hundred feet high, and 
very abrupt, to the river. The log houses left by the Mormons were used by the 
earlv settlers, and many of them are yet standing. 

But it soon became manifest that the business part of the future city must be on 
the iireat plain or bottom, and out of the bluffs. And so the result has shown. 
The best part of the city is on the plain, though the finest places for residences are 
en the delightful slopes and hillsides of the valleys, which now constitute the upper 
town. 

The view from the high bluffs back of the city is very commanding and beauti- 
ful. From the top of one of these hills one can see six rising cities in the far dis- 
t;,noe — Omaha, Saratoga, Florence, Bellevue, St. Marys, and Pacific City. At the 
foot of these bluffs the Missouri bottom extends four miles to the west, to Omaha, 
and to the south and north as far as the eye can reach. The bottoms are from four 
to ten miles in width, and are mostly dry and most fei'tile lands. Strips of timber 
ab(mnd. The bluffs facing the bottom are generally naked, and very abrupt. The 
eastern man will again and again wonder how the earth can be made to remain in 
such fantastic and" sharply pointed shapes for centuries, as he finds them here. 
Back of the first range of bluffs, the country is covered with timber for some miles, 
when the rolling and open prairie becomes the leading feature for hundreds of 
miles, and indeed across the state of Iowa to the Mississippi River. 

Council Bluffs claims a population of 5,000, but the usual deduction must be 
made. It has passed through the usual process of rapid and extended inflation, 
and consequent collapse and almost suspension of vitality. The paper part of the 
city embraces territory enough for a quarter of a million of people. The exten- 
sive and rich bottoms, instead of being cultivated as farms, are all staked off into 
city lots ; and in years past, large numbers of them were sold to speculators. So 
crazy did these people become, that one man bought a quarter section of this bot- 
tom "land, two miles from the present town, and gave his notes for sixty thousand 
dollars for the same. He collapsed, of course, as the crash of 1857 brought his 
air castle to the ground; and he can not now sell his land for twenty dollars per 
acre. Here is another large four story monument of folly in the shape of a brick 
hotel, some half a mile out from the present business part of the city. A man by 
the name of Andrews had sold out shares in Florence for large sums. He had 
realized about thirty thousand dollars in hard cash. He became giddy, bought a 
tract adjoining Council Bluffs, laid it off into city lots; and, to show his faith and 
to sell his lots^he erected this large and costly hotel. But it was never completed. 
The crash also caught him unprepared, and he went under, with thousands of 
others. His hotel is roofed, but not finished; and it looks the wreck it is, of th? 
^ast inflation which culminated and exploded three years ago. 



IOWA. 



535 



Still there are many evidences of substantial prosperity in Council Bluffs. Sev- 
eral brick blocks of stores would do credit to older towns, and they are well filled 
with stocks of goods, and held by substantial, intelligent business men. The bus- 
iness portion is mainly on the plain, and is extending from the base of the Idnfls 
toward the river. The present steamboat landing is about four miles from the 
town, and directly south of it. Council Bluffs has the Kanesville land office, 
where a large portion of the lands of western Iowa has been sold. 



Iowa City, the first capital of the state of Iowa, is on the left bunk of 
Iowa River, in Johnson county, 55 miles from Davenport, by the Mississippi 

and Missouri Railroad, 
in the midst of one of 
the most beautiful and 
thriving of agricultural 
regions. Population 
in 1860, 5,214. 

Annexed we present 
a sketch from a corres- 
pondent, giving a his- 
tory of the city and of 
the University situated 
in it, wliich gives pro- 
niit^e of great u>erul-. 
ness to the future of 
Iowa: 

In 1838, Congress pass- 
ed an act to divide the 
'I'erritory of Wisi-onsin, 
and form the Territory 
of Iowa out of that part 
which lay to the west of 
the iMississippi Kiver. 
The governor of the new 
territory under the or- 
ganic act, fixed the seat 
of government at Bur- 
lington. On the 21st of 
January following, the 
territorial legislature ap- 
pointed commissinners to 
locate the seat of government and superintend the erection of public buildings. 
These commissioners selected the site now occupied by Iowa City, on the east bank 
of the Iowa River, about 50 miles west of the Mississippi River. Congress had 
appropriated $20,000 for the erection of the capitol, and subsequently granted the 
section of land on which the capitol was to be erected. The corner stone of the 
building was laid on the 4th of July, 1839. The proceeds of the sale of lots on 
the section granted by congress, defrayed the main part of the expense of the 
erection. The first session of the legislature was held in Iowa City, in December, 
1841, in a temporary building the capitol not beingyet finished. The building was 
first occupied by the legislature in 1844. 

The location of the capital soon collected a considerable population in Iowa 
City. When the city was first laid out, there was but one log cabin on the ground. 
At the end of a single year, the number of inhabitants was seven hundred, and it 
continued steadily to increase. In 1852, the population was 3,500. The opening 
of the Mississippi and Mis-:ouri Railroad, from Davenport as far as Iowa City, in 
1854, and the rush of emigration into the stale, gave a new impetus to the city. 




State University, Iowa. City. 
The large building on the right was originally the first State Capitol. 



r,rC) IOWA. 

In 1S.t7 the population liad increased to 8,000, ami all kinds of business were ex- 
ceedingly active and profitable. But the monetarv crisis of 1S57 put a stop to its 
prosperity, and since that time has diminished rather than increased, and in 1860 
was only about 7,000. In 1856, the capital was removed I'rom Iowa City to Dos 
Moines," and permanently fixed there by the new constitution of the state, adopted 
in .lanuary. 1860. 

When the seat of government was removed to Des Moines, the state house in 
Iowa City was given by the legislature to the State University, together with the 
10 acres of land on which it stands. The State University has for its foundation 
~'2 sections of land, granted by congress for the endowment of a university. In 
i<S47, the state legislature passed a law organizing the University, and appointing 
trustees to manage its concerns, put the institution did not go into operiition till 
1S55. At that time a chancellor and several professors were appointed, and the 
University was opened in a building hired by the trustees for that purpose. The 
year following a part of the state house was occupied by the prepAratory depart- 
ment, and as lecture rooms for the professors. The building, however, was in a 
bad condition, and i-equired fitting up in order to suit the purposes of an institu- 
tion of learning. The city was lull of people, and accommodations for students 
could not be easily procured, and in 1>'57, the pecuniary embarrassments of the 
country preventing the collection of the interest on the funds, the trustees saw fit 
to close the University for a time — this took place in the summer of 1858. By the 
new constitution of the state, adopted in 1857, a board of education was created, 
■whose duty it was to take the entire charge of the educational institutions of the 
state. This board at their first meeting, in December, 1858, passed a law reorgan- 
izing the University, appointing a new board of trustees, with the understanding 
that the institution should be reopened as early as practicable. In October, 1859, 
they appointed the Rev Silas Totten, D.D., L.L. D., president of the University, and 
in June following, proceeded to fill the professorships of mathematics, languages, 
philosophy and chemistry, and natural history. On the lyth of October, the Uni- 
versity was reopened under the new organization. 

In the session of 1858, the legislature granted $13,000 to the University, for re- 
pairs on the state house, and for the erection of another building for the residence 
of students. A new roof was put upon the state house, and the other building be- 
gun and the exterior completed. 

A further grant of $10,000 was made in 1860, $5,000 to be expended on the old 
building and in the purchase of philosophical and chemical apparatus, and the 
remainder upon the new building. The repairs and alterations of the state house 
'have been completed, and it is now both an elegant and commodious building for 
the purposes of a university. It is built of cream colored limestone, and is 120 
feet long by 60 broad, and two stories high, with a basement. The walls are of 
massive cut stone, and the rooms are spacious and lofty. The original cost of the 
buildino" was $160,000. It contains the chapel, library, cabinet, five lecture rooms, 
a room occupied by the State Historical Society, and a spacious entrance hall, sur- 
mounted bv a dome. The other building is of pressed brick, 105 feet by 45, three 
stories high, and when finished will accommodate about 100 students. The build- 
ing's are situated on a ridge of land, the highest in the city, in the middle of a 
park of ten acres, which contains many fine old oak trees in a very flourishing con- 
dition. The site is beautiful, overlooking the valley of the Iowa River on the west 
aiid the city on the east, while from the top of the dome may be seen a vast ex- 
tent of rolling country, prairie and woodland, spread out on every side. 

The University has now all the requisites for a first class institution of learning. 
It has a choice librai-y of 1,500 volumes, quite an extensive mineralogical cabinet, 
and a very complete philosophical and chemical apparatus. Provision has been 
made for "the increase of the library and cabinet. 



Fort Dodge, the county seat of Webster county, is beautifully situated on 
a platform of prairie land, on the east side of Des Moines River, on the line 
of the Dubuque and Pacific Railroad. Building was commenced here in 



rowA. 537 

the fall of 1855. Several fine brick buildings and business-houses have been 
erected. Bituminous coal and iron ore, of a superior quality, are found in 
great abundance in the immediate vicinity. 

Sioux City, Woodbury county, a new settlement at the confluence of the 
Big Sioux River, about 230 miles above Council Bluffs, is well situated on 
a high bank, and is the last place of importance on the Missouri. 

Fort Madison, the county seat of Lee county, is a flourishing town. It 
contains the state-prison, and 4000 inhabitants. A fortification was built 
here in 1808, as a defense against the Indians, who obliged the garrison to 
abandon it. In the war of 1812, the fort was twice attacked by the Indians. 
In November, 1813, it was evacuated and the buildings burnt, as the con- 
tractor failed to furnish the garrison with provisions. 

Grinnell is in Powesheik county, 115 miles from Davenport, by the Mis- 
sissippi and Missouri Railroad, is a fine town, and noted as the seat of Iowa 
College. 

There are in the state many small, city-like towns, as : Keosavqua, in Van 
Buren co.; Lyons, in Clinton ; Cedar Bajn'ds, in Linn ; Oskaloosa, in Ma- 
haska ; Cedar Falls, in Black Hawk, and Mount Pleasant, in Henry. At 
the last named is the State Insane Asylum and the Wesleyan University 
and about 6000 inhabitants. 

MISCELLANIES. 



UNITED STATES LAND SYSTEM. 

All the lands belonging to the United States, within the new states and territories, 
are surveyed and sold under one general system, which, from its simplicity, has 
been of incalculable benefit in the settlement of the west. This admirable system of 
surveys of lands by toicn ships and ranges, was first adopted by Oliver Phelps, an ex- 
tensive landholder in Genesee county, N. Y., who opened aland office at Canandaigua, 
in 1789. His was the model which was adopted for surveying all the new lands in 
the United States. Col. Jared Mansfield, appointed surveyor jreneral of the United 
States for the North-western Territory, by Jefferson, in 1802, applied the system 
the government lands, and greatly improved it. In brief it is this: 

"Meridian lines are established and surveyed in a line due north from some 

given point — generally from some important 
water-course. These are intersected at right 
angles with a base line. On the meridians, 
the " townships "' are numbered north and 
south from the base lines; and, on the base 
lines, '■'■ranges" east or west of the meridian. 
Township lines are then run, at a distance of 
six miles, parallel to the meridian and base 
lines. Each township contains an area of 36 
square miles; each square mile is termed a 
section, and contains 640 acres. The sections 
are numbered from 1 to 36, beginning at the 
north-east corner of the township, as the an- 
nexed diagram illustrates. 

When surveyed, the lands are offered for 
sale at public auction, but can not be disposed of at a less price than one dollar 
and twenty-five cents per acre. That portion not sold at public auction is subject to 
private entry at any time, for the above price, payable in cash at the time of entry. 



6 

7 

18 


5 


4 


3 
10 

15 

22 


2 


1 


8 

17 


9 
16' 
21 


11 


12 


14 
23 
26 


13 
24 
25 
36 


19 
30 
31 


20 

29 


28 


27 


32 


33 


34 


35 



538 



IOWA. 



Pre-emption rights give the improver or possessor the privilege of purchasing al 
the minimum price." 

By a wise provision of the law of the United States, every 1 6th section in each 
township is appropriated for the support of public schools. This is one thirty 
sixth of all the public lands, and in a state of 36,000 square miles would give one 
thousand to this object. 

Previous to the adoption of this system of surveying the public-lands, great con- 
fusion existed for the want of a general, uniform plan, and in consequence titles 
often conflicted with each other, and, in many cases, several grants covered the 
same premises, leading very frequently to litigation most perplexing and almost 
interminable. Now, the precise boundaries of any piece of land can be given in 
a very few lines ; and, in a moment, found on the maps in the government land 
offices, or, if the land has been sold to individuals, in the recorder's office in the 
county in which it may be situated, and where it is entered for taxation. The 
land itself can be easily found by the permanent corner posts at each corner of 
the sections. 

The form of description of government lands is thus shown by this example : 
" North-East Quarter of Section No. 23 ; in Township No. 26 of Range No. 4, 
West of Meridian Line, in White Co., Ind., and containing 160 acres." It is usual 
to abridcje such descriptions, thus: "N.E. J S. 23, T. 26, R. 4 W., in White Co., 
Ind, & cont'g 160 A." 



The state institutions and principal educational institutions of Iowa are 
located as follows : the State University, Iowa City, a-nd its Medical De- 
partment at Keokuk ; State Agricultural College, on a farm in Story 
county; the Blind Asylum, in Vinton, Benton county; Deaf and Dumb 
Asylum, Iowa City ; Insane Asylum, Mount Pleasant ; the Penitentiary, 
Fort Madison ; State Historical Society, Iowa City ; Iowa Orphan Asylum, 
Farmington, Van Buren county. Among educational institutions are : the 
Iowa College, at Grinnell ; Bishop Lee Female Seminary, at Dubuque ; 
Cornell College, at Mount Vernon; Upper Iowa University at Fayette; 
Iowa Wesleyan University, at Mount Pleasant; and Indianola Male and 
Female Seminary, at Indianola. 




TJie 'iZth Iowa raising the Union Flaff on the new (u^finishf 
Capitol at Cohonbio, South Carolina. 



Stat4^ 



THE TIMES 

OF 



THE REBELLION 



IN 



IOWA. 



During the first three years of the war, Iowa contribnted to the 
army of the United States 52,240 men, all of whom, with the excep- 
tion of one regiment, were for three years service. In addition to 
this large force, the state had to summon the militia to protect her 
southern border against lawless men from Missouri, and her northern 
border against Indian outbreaks; and still another force to qiiell the 
movements of disloyal men in Keokuk county, in 1863. 

She has promptly responded to every call made upon her in advance, 
more than filling her quotas ; and no state has exhibited a purer, or 
more active patriotism. The spirit of her people was aroused at the 
first insult to the integrity of our nationality. A citizen writing ft'om 
near her western frontier, describes how the population of his section 
responded to the calls of country. It illustrates but the universal 
spirit of the times in loyal communities. 

Greene county lies on that narrow belt of timber, which, like an oasis, stretches 
far up the banks of the Coon river into the vast prairie of northwest Iowa. At 
the last presidential election the county polled but 266 votes. With only a weekly 
mail, far removed from the excitement incident to thickly populated communities, 
it might be supposed that the people would manifest but little interest in the war 
movements — but not so. So soon as the news of the repulse of our brave troops at 
Bull Run was confirmed, an efibrt was made to get volunteers from a small com- 
pany that happened to be on drill. Immediately thirty-three men walked out and 
subscribed their names for the war. Yesterday, the company, numbering seventy- 
two, good hardy sons of toil, having taken the oath, marched for Des Moines, 
their place of temporary rendezvous. Thus, with but a few days' notice, one 
fourth of our men went from our midst, resolved to fight, and, if needs be, to die, 
for their dear country. Perhaps never in so short a time, since Malise the hench- 
man — 

" That messenger of blood and brand " — 

assembled the clansinen of Roderick Dhu, was a braver and more determined lit- 
tle war party mustered. 

One brave fellow, with tears in his eyes, said he could not take the oath, be- 
cause his child was sick and not expected to live a day, but on being assured by 

(539) 



540 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

his neiizhbors that his family would be tenderly cared for, he rushed into the 
ranks, and soon marched away. 

Another said he had a poor, sickly wife and youni: babe, and how could he go? 
but go he did, his grey-haired father telling him that he would take care of his 
wife and bade so long as he lived. 

Two brave boys left their father, it may be on his deathbed, and with difficulty 
was the third son dissuaded from going, having once bidden them all good by. 
This morning I asked the father why it was his sons left him thus : " Oh ! sir," said 
he, "since they read the account how our wounded soldiers in the hospital, and 
on the battle field at Bull Run were murdered, nothing could restrain them ; 
and," continued the father, "I would as soon be dead as have our Government go 
down." I believe no more patriotic or truer men ever assembled on Lanrick 
Heath, or any other ground, than yesterday mustered on the bank of our unclas- 
sically named Coon river. 

On the subject of our national troubles the feeling of our people is sad, quiet 
and intense. One man said to me yesterday, I hope our brave boys at the war 
will not be discouraged by the defeat of our troops at Bull Run, for we will all 
be ready to go when our turns come. Another of our oldest citizens said : " I 
have labored hard, lived frugally, and endured frontier hardships for twenty years, 
and have obtained what will make each of my children a comfortable home, yet 1 
would freely give up my last dime's worth of property, rather that see our Govern- 
ment abandoned." And this is nearly the universal opinion of our people. 

Once enlisted, it was seldom any regrets were expressed ; thus il- 
lustrating that sacrifice for a good cause but increases love for it. A 
merchant in one of the interior towns of Iowa, the father of five sons, 
had four of them volunteers in the union army. The whole four left 
behind them families. A neighbor, of disloyal tendencies and med- 
dling propensities, dropped into his store one day and began to up- 
braid him for countenancing his sons thus to leave their wives and 
children to go down South to fight in " a nigger war." The eyes of the 
Dther flashed in indignation, as he replied : " They go to protect me and 
my property; and I'll protect their families. There is my fifth and 
last son," pointing to a stripling behind the counter, " he will be old 
enough to enlist in the spring; and if he wont, Fll hang him!^' 

Iowa supplied her proportion of oflRcers of merit : among them 
were General Corse, " the hero of Allatoona ; Generals Fitz Henry 
Warren, Tuttle, Dodge, Lauman, Hatch, Rice, Crocker, and Belknap. 
Another was General Curtis, the " hero of Pea Eidge." Still another 
was General Herron, who was one of the younest major generals in 
the service. These two last named were both identified with the army 
of the frontier. We subjoin notices of a few of these officers : 

Major General Francis J. Herron was born in Pennsylvania, and about the 
the year 1856 removed to Iowa, where he became engaged in business at Du- 
buque. During the year 1858, young Herron took great interest in the organiza- 
tion of the "Governor's Grays," an Iowa military company, which soon was 
scarcely to be equaled in drill throughout the United States, claiming to rank 
even with the noted Chicago Zouaves. When the secession movement commenced, 
he was captain of the company, and in December, 1860, by a vote of the members, 
he tendered their services to the then Secretary of War — Hon. J. Holt. 

When the president called for three months' volunteers, Captain Herron's com- 
pany was organized as part of the Ist regiment of Iowa volunteers, being desig- 
nated as company I, and entered the service May 9, 1861. Captain Herron dis- 
tinguished himself at the bloody battle of Wilson's creek, Mo., where General 
Lyon fell, August 10, 1861. The period of service of the regiment had previously 
expired ; but instead of taking advantage of this to return in safety to their homes, 
they volunteered to remain, and marched out to battle against overwhelming 



IN IOWA. 541 

nunibera. No general could ever say of an Iowa regiment, as McDowell reported 

of an Eastern corps — whose time had expired on the eve of conflict "they 

marched away to the sound of the enemy's guns." 

Captain Ilerron then returned home to raise a three years' regiment, and suc- 
ceeded; obtaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the 9th Iowa infantry, with 
a commission dated from September 10, 1861. The regiment became attached to 
General Curtis' forces, operating in southwestern Missouri, and participated in tha 
battles of Pea Kidge, March 7 and 8, 1862, where and when Lieutenant Colonel 
Herron commanded his regiment — the colonel having charge of a brigade. Dur- 
ing the second day's fight. Lieutenant Colonel Herron was severely wounded by 
a cannon shot, breaking his leg at the ankle, at the same time that it killed his 
horse. Notwithstanding the nature of this wound, he led his men on foot for over 
an hour longer, until they reached the enemy's batteries, where he was surrounded 
and after a desperate resistance, taken prisoner. He was removed to Van Buren 
Arkansas, but shortly after exchanged, and placed under the charge of a careful 
surgeon. So valuable an officer was Lieutenant Colonel Herron considered by 
General Curtis, that he gave in exchange for him a full rebel colonel — Louis He- 
bert — so that Lieutenant Colonel Herron might not die on the rebel hands, but 
have proper attention paid to his wounds. 

On the 16th of July, 1862, Lieutenant Colonel Herron was promoted to be a 
brigadier general of volunteers, and at the battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, 
December 7, 1862, he not only commanded two divisions of union troops, but 
fought and won the battle, against overwhelming numbers, before his reinforce- 
ments came up. During this engagement he lead one of his divisions in person. 

Several Iowa regiments took part in this desperate battle of Prairie 
Grove, and a description of it is due alike to them and to their horoic 
commander. The following is from the pen of one who was present : 

General Blunt had advanced some twenty miles south of Fayetteville, Arkan- 
sas, with his forces, and there drawn the attack of Hindman, who advanced upon 
him rapidly from Van Buren, with about 30,000 troops and twenty-two pieces of 
artillery. Blunt, with his little band of 10,000 men at Cane Hill, would have 
been but a mouthful for such an immense army of well disciplined soldiery as 
this. He knew his danger, and sent hurried messages to General Herron, who 
had the command of the 2d and 3d divisions of the army of the frontier, and was 
at that time at Wilson's creek, four miles south of Springfield, Mo. The moment 
General Herron received intelligence of General Blunt's danger, he set his army 
in motion and made forced marches, accomplishing the feat of pushing his infan- 
try one hundred and twelve miles in three days, and his cavalry one hundred and 
thirty-two miles in two days and a half 

On the morning of the 7th instant, as the advance guard, consisting of the Ist 
Arkansas cavalry and a portion of the 6th and 7th Missouri cavalry, were enter- 
ing a wood, upon the south bank of Illinois creek, ten miles south of Fayetteville, 
they were tired upon from ambush and thrown into a panic that resulted in a 
rout, and the loss of their baggage train of twenty-four wagons. They went fly- 
ing back two or three miles, until they met the main body, when they were rallied 
once more. Major Hubbard, of Pea Ridge fame, with a portion of two companies 
of the 1st Missouri cavalry, tried to stem the tide of rebels, but without success. 
Their superior numbers bore down everything before them, and among others 
this little band. Major Hubbard himself and two of his lieutenants were cap- 
tured, and the remainder forced to retreat at double quick. Our infantry were 
soon brought forward, and a few pieces of artillery got into position that sent the 
bold scoundrels back as rapidly as they came. General Herron followed up his 
advantage as quickly as possible, and soon found himself in contact with the 
main rebel force. 

This splendid army, contrai-y to our expectations, was well clothed, well armed 
and well fed, and better drilled than our own soldiery. It consisted of a corps 
of 26.000 men, commanded by General Hindman, and was in four divisions, com- 
mauded respectively by Generals Parsons, Marmaduke, Rains and Frost, and was 



542 TIMES OF THE REBELLION / 

supported by a park of artillery of twenty-two guns. Besides this, they had a 
great advantage in position. The battle field was a magnificent stretch of open 
ground, skirted on the east by an abrupt hill, covered with thick woods. On this 
bluff, concealed by the forest, were posted the rebels in full force. 

Our forces only numbered 6500 or 7000, and consisted of the following infan- 
try: The 94th and 37th Illinois; the 19th and 20th Iowa; the 26th Indiana and 
20th Wisconsin. In addition to these were four companies of artillery, who 
worked 24 guns, and some half a dozen companies of cavalry. Our men were 
worn down by a long and continuous forced march, and some of them had been 
without food for twenty-four hours. However, when the ball opened, they deployed 
into the field with loud huzzas, and went at the work in hand with great bravery. 
It took some little time to get into position, and place the batteries in the most 
commanding localities, and it was fully ten o'clock, a m., before the artillery duet 
was in full voice. As may be imagined, forty-five or fifty cannon well manned 
and discharged as rapidly as possible, make a tremendous racket. This was kept 
up until dark, when by that time green troops, who had never seen a cannon be- 
fore, laid down within a yard of a gun and slept, undisturbed by the firing. We 
did not lose a single man throughout the whole day by artillery, though a score 
or two of horses were killed. Our gunners were much more skilled and precise 
in their aim than the rebels, which was shown by the result. 

Upon the bluff or ridge occupied by the secesh, were many fine farm houses, 
which had been erected upon the elevation to escape the damps and vapors of the 
plain below. From the rear of two of these houses, was kept up a well-directed 
fire of some eight or nine guns. General Herron ordered the whole fire of our 
artillery to be directed upon the battery nearest to us, and silenced it in ten 
minutes. 

The 20th Wisconsin infantry, led by Lieutenant Colonel Bertram, then charged 
up the hill and took the battery upon a double-quick. They had no sooner gained 
possession of the well-earned prize, than the rebels arose in myriads from the 
bushes in the rear of the garden containing the battery in question, and poured 
a fire into the ranks of our boys that sent their columns reeling back down the 
declivity again, with great loss of life and limb. In this struggle 197 were reported 
oflScially, as killed and wounded. 

The rebels fought desperately, and seemed no more to regard a shower of bullets 
or a storm of grape than if it had been but a summer wind. No sooner had a 
solid shot plowed its way through their columns, or a shell opened a gap in their 
lines, than the vacancies were filled by others. They advanced steadily once more 
upon our left, and there we knew would be the hottest tug of the day. "'Tis 
darkest just before the dawn," some one has said. 'Twas so in our case. By a 
bold movement the rebels were once more checked, and just then the word came 
that the firing upon our extreme right was that of General Blunt, who had ar- 
rived with a strong battery, and about five thousand men. This intelligence added 
new courage to our men, and sent a vigor into every movement that meant victory 
or death. 

General Blunt ranged his twenty-four pieces in a line, and opened a galling fire 
upon the left wing of the rebel army, and drew a portion of their attention to- 
ward his forces. They advance upon him from the wood at a double-quick, in 
eight ranks, seemingly half a mile long. They went down a gentle smooth slope, 
with an easy prey apparently in view. When they had got to a certain point, within 
cannister range, he opened his entire fire upon them, "fairly lifting them from the 
ground," as he afterward described it. This checked their impetuosity, and 
put terror into their hearts, but still they came on. Another and another volley 
was given them until they broke and fled, and when the remnant of this storming 
party had left the field the ground was strewn and piled with rebel slain. In the 
meantime our boys had not been idle. They pressed the enemy hotly at every 
point, and as the sun went down they were falling back in every direction. Be- 
fore it had become fully dark, the only sounds of firing heard were those of our 
own musketry and cannon. The field was won and the victory gained. 

At nine o'clock of the same evening the enemy were in full retreat toward Van 



IN IOWA. 543 

Buren, ana at daylight this mornino; they were twelve miles away. A more com- 
plete and glorious victory never was obtained. As soon as the pall of night had 
descended upon their motions, a perfect stampede took place. Everything this 
morning denotes a hasty flight, and great fear lest we should pursue them. Al- 
though their force was large enough to crush us completely — in fact annihilate 
us — and they were well equipped and handled, our little army, of comparatively 
inexperienced troops, effected a brilliant repulse and won an unquestionable vic- 
tory. This morning all the contested ground and every inch of the battle-field 
are in our hands, and the only rebels in view are piles of the dead and the am- 
bulance parties carrying away the wounded. 

The weather of the 7th was delightful. The sun shown clearly in a cloudlesa 
sky, and the air was as balmy and quiet as on a June morning. It was remarked 
by many old soldiers that if the continent had been searched it would have been 
impossible to have selected a more beautiful field of battle than that of Prairie 
Grove. General Herron's forces entered it from the northern extremity, and those 
of General Blunt from the southern. The rebels were posted upon the hills and 
and in the woods for four miles along the eastern side of the field, while our bat- 
teries occupied the elevations upon the western side, a little more than a milo 
from the rebel lines. The intervening space was firm sward plowed field, stub- 
ble land, st.inding corn, and a narrow strip of brushwood, which skirted a little 
brook running through the middle of the valley. This open country was held 
by our infantry, and there they went through their maneuvers in full view of 
General Herron, who, for a good portion of the time, occupied a little hill near 
Murphy's battery, on the western side of the field. There could be witnessed 
the whole of this intensely exciting strife, not a movement of which escaped the 
quick attention of our young commander. The brilliant but disastrous charges 
made by the 20th Wisconsin and 19th Iowa upon the rebel battery were as plainly 
to be seen as the moves upon a chess board. The swarms upon swarms of rebels 
that came trooping out of the wood upon our left in numbers sufficient to appal 
a heart less strong than that of our commander were as openly seen with their 
gleaming muskets and flaunting banners, as if it had been a holiday parade, in- 
stead of the hottest battle that had ever taken place on this side of the Mississippi. 

The whole country lying north of the Arkansas river is at our mercy, and 
nothing remains for us to do but to enter in and take possession. General Her- 
ron has added new laurels to his bright reputation, and, as may be supposed, he 
is the idol of his men. Our Government has in him a vigorous and skillful 
general and a sleepless soldier. 

The spirit of the opposing commanders is well displayed in the ad- 
dress of General Hindraan to his troops before the battle, and by that 
of General Herron to his army after the victory. 

address to the troops. 

Headquarters 1st Corps, Trans-Mississippi Army, \ 
In the Field, December 4, 1862. / 

Soldiers ! — From the commencement to the end of the battle, bear constantly 
in mind what I now urge upon you: 

First. Never fire because your comrades do, nor because the enemy does, nor 
because you happen to see the enemy, nor for the sake of firing rapidly. Always 
wait till you are certainly within range of your gun ; then single out your man, 
take deliberate aim, as low down as the knee, and fire. 

Second. When occasion offers, be certain to pick off the enemy's oflBcers, espe- 
cially the mounted ones, and to kill his artillery horses. 

Third. Don't shout, except when you charge the enemy. As a general thing, 
keep silent, that orders may be heard. Obey the orders of your oflicers, but pay 
no attention to idle rumors, or the words of unauthorized persons. 

Fourth. Don't stop with your wounded comrade; the surgeon and infirmary 
corps will take care of him; do you go forward and avenge him. 

Fifth. Don't break ranks to plunder: if we whip the enemy, all he has will be 



544 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

ours ; if not. the spoils will be of no benefit to us. Plunderers and stracrgler? 
will be put to death upon the spot. File-closers are specially charged with this 
duty. The cavalry in rear will likewise attend to it. 

Remember that the enemy you engage has no feeling of mercy or kindness to- 
ward you. His ranks are made up of Pin Indians, free negroes, Southern tories, 
Kansas jayhawkers, and hired Dutch cut-throats. These Ijloody ruffians have in- 
vaded your country, stolen and destroyed your property, murdered your neighbors, 
outraged your women, driven your children from their homes, and defiled the 
graves of your kindred. If each man of you will do what I have here urged 
upon you, we will utterly destroy them. We can do this; we must do it; our 
country will be ruined if we fail. 

A just God will strengthen our arms and give us a glorious victory. 

T. C. HiNDMAN, 

Major General Commanding. 

Official : R. C. Newton, A. A. General. 
congratulatory address of general hereon after the battle of prairie grove. 
Headquarters 2d and 3d Divisions, Army of the Frontier, ) 
Prairie Grove, Ark., December 10, 1862. J 

Fellow Soldiers: — It is with pride and pleasure that I am enabled to congratu- 
late you on the victory so recently achieved over the enemy. Meeting their com- 
bined forces, vastly your superiors in numbers, armed and equipped in the most 
efficient manner, contrary to what we have been led to believe, marshaled by their 
ablest generals, posted in a strong position of their own selection, prepared and 
ready to attack us, entertaining toward us feelings of hatred and fiendish passion, 
evoked by infamous lies which even rebel generals should have disdained to utter, 
you, fellow-soldiers, after a forced march of over one hundred miles in less than 
three days; weary, exhausted, and almost famishing, animated only by that feel- 
ing of patriotism that induced you to give up the pleasures and comforts of home 
to undergo the dangers and hardships of the field, did most gallantly meet, fight 
and repulse the enemy. Your fellow soldiers, elsewhere, your friends and rela- 
tives at home, your fellow-citizens and your country, as they learn of the splendid 
service of the artillerymen, of the determined, daring and brilliant charges of the 
infantry, will render you that praise and honor which is justly your due. lowji, 
Illinois", Indiana, Wisconsin and Missouri, your native states, are proud of their 
noble sons, I, who witnessed your gallant daring in every encounter, in behalf 
of your country and myself, tender you grateful thanks for the services you have 
rendered. While we drop a tear, therefore, for those who have fiillen, and sym- 
pathize with those who are yet suflFering, let us not forget to render thanks to the 
Beneficent Giver of all blessings for the success that has thus far attested the 
truth and right of our glorious cause. F. J. Herron, 

Brigadier General Commanding 2d and 3d Divisions. 

Major General Samuel E. Curtis was born in Ohio in 1807 ; gradu- 
duated at West Point ; studied the law ; was a colonel of volunteers 
in the Mexican war ; and military governor of Monterey. On his re- 
turn home he divided his time between law and railroad engineering. 
He settled at Keokuk, and represented that district in congress at the 
outbreak of the rebellion. He gained lasting military reputation by 
his signal victory at Pea Eidge, described in our article, " Times of the 
Eebellion in Missouri." 

Major General G. M. Dodge was born in Massachusetts ; graduated 
at Partridge's military school, at Noi'wich, Vt., and was by profession 
a civil engineer. He entered the service as colonel of the Iowa 4th. 
He commanded a brigade, and was wounded at Pea Eidge. He was 
at Corinth, luka, Holy Springs and Yicksburg, at which last he was 
promoted to major general. In the Atlanta campaign he commanded 
the 16th army corps. He was again severely wounded during the 



IN IOWA. 545 

siege of Atlanta. Subsequently he was ordered to Fort Leavenworth, 
in Kansas, and assigned to the command of that department. One 
who knew him relates the following illustrative anecdote: 

While at Trenton, West Tennessee, we saw him do a thing which gave us a 
high opinion of his energy and determination. The Mobile and Ohio railroad 
had just been repaired, and as he had been entrusted with the construction he 
was anxious to get the trains through. One of the first locomotives that came 
down ran oflF the track near Trenton. He ordered all in the vicinity to help get 
it on; he pulled off his coat and helped at it himself, giving them such an exam- 
ple of working, driving energy, and showing such good judgment and vim in his 
directions and labor, that the damage was speedily repaired, and the train was 
soon whistling on its way. We were satisfied that General Dodge was no kid 
glove officer, but an earnest, practical, intelligent soldier, who did what many 
others would have only bunglingly ordered, and who thought it no disgrace to put 
his shoulder to the wheel if the cart stuck in the mud. 

Brigadier General John M. Corse was nationally known for his he- 
roic defense of Allatoona, in Sherman's Georgia campaign. The de- 
tails of this remarkable affair have thus been outlined : 

After General Hood crossed the Chattahoochee, a force of five brigades and 
eight guns, under General French, attacked Big iShanty, on the Chattanooga rail- 
road, and succeeded in taking the place. They then moved on Ackworth, further 
north, which occupied them until evening. The next morning, October 5th, they 
drove in the Federal pickets at Allatoona. This post was defended by Brigadier 
General John M. Corse, who had abandoned Rome in order to protect Allatoona, 
which was of far greater value, from falling into the hands of the enemy. 

General Corse commanded a garrison of 1700 men. General French, the rebel 
commander, sent to Corse a summons to surrender "to avoid the useless effusion 
of blood." Corse replied that he and his command " were ready for the useless 
effusion as soon as was agreeble to General French." Leaving their artillery on 
the south side, to shell the position, the rebels swung their infantry round to the 
north front, which was more practicable. The attack was violent and determined, 
and lasted until the middle of the afternoon, when the enemy withdrew, leaving 
1300 killed and wounded on the field. Nearly 700 of Corse's heroes were either 
killed or wounded. 

The rebels numbered about 7500 in all. They came provided with a wagon 
train to remove the rations which Sherman had accumulated at Allatoona, but 
they went away with empty wagons. The dead rebels had their haversacks full 
of uncooked black beans, sugar cane, etc. General Corse was wounded in the 
head, but not seriously. Only four guns were mounted in the fort. If the rebels 
had succeeded in taking the place, they would have been able, with the rations on 
hand, to have held it for several weeks. 

General Sherman witnessed the action from Kenesaw Mountain, with breath- 
less interest, aware of the vast interests at stake and peril to his future campaign 
in case of Corse's defeat. Two days afterward he issued a congratulatory order, 
commending General Corse for his gallant defense, which he considered an exam- 
ple illustrating both the necessity and possibility of defending fortified positions 
to the last. 

No Other state, we believe, has furnished a regiment with such a 
record as that of the 37th Iowa, or Greybeard regiment. 

The formation of the 37th or Greybeard regiment illustrated the strength of 
patriotism among the people of Iowa. This regiment was all composed of volun- 
teers not one of whom was liable to military duty. Every member was over 
forty-five years of age; and, therefore, it was called the Greybeard regiment. 
When first mustered into service, the regiment had 907 men. These " boys," as 
our volunteers are familiarly called, then had 1374 sons and grandsons in the 
union army. Twenty-seven of the common soldiers of the Greybeards were min- 
isters of the gospel; 20 of these Methodist preachers. 
35 



546 



TIMES OP THE REBELLION 



The refjiment were mostly substantial farmers from eastern Iowa; their Colo- 
nel Gr. Wrivincaid, boino; also an agriculturist from Muscatine county. No other 
state in the union has furnished such a corps as this; and no provision was made 
in the laws of the country for the acceptance of such. The War Department sur- 
mounted the difficulty, and they were mustered into service on the 15th Decem- 
ber, 1862. , , 

The regiment was designed for garrison duty, and were so employed, rendering 
most effective service. At Alton, Illinois, they guarded the rebel prisoners and 
with a remarkable faithfulness and success. The police of the prison was carried 
out with a thoroughness previously unknown, and the escapes were less. On being 
ordered to St. Louis, the citizens of Alton, headed by their mayor, keenly alive 
to the value of their services, assembled in public meeting, passed a series of ap- 
preciative resolutions, and united in a petition to the War Department, tp retain 
them at their post. It was unsuccessful, as they had been ordered immediately 
away. 

In Missouri, they guarded 180 miles of the Pacific railroad. They were, after 
this transferred to other points, and were at Memphis in 1864, when Forrest's 
cavalry made their sudden dash into that city. In 1865, they were employed in 
guarding the prisoners at Camp Chase, Ohio, and a part were also on duty at Cincin- 
nati. As late as March, 1865, when the regiment was in its third year of service, 
it mustered 500 muskets, more than half of its original number. Its labors were 
unusually severe, for nearly the entire period each man was summoned on guard 
duty, every other day. /-> u u x a 

Not all of this paternal corps set good soldierly examples. One old hunter and 
trapper, who "passed" by the name of Penny, and aged sixty-Jive, proved to be 
"bad coin." He ran off, and although due "hue and cry" was made, nearly 
three years elapsed before his hunters got on the right " scent," and he was dis- 
covered. The "old boy" was arrested as a deserter while setting his traps on 
the head waters of a frontier stream. 

We turn from such a sad, melanchol}^ dereliction of duty to the 
more pleasant contemplation of a sketch of the faithful Father King, 
aged eighty-two years. It is drawn by one who knew and probably 
loved him. This father in the Greybeard camp makes a good picture 
of a Western pioneer. He may, indeed, be termed a " representative 
man." 

The venerable Curtis King, " liisrh private," in company H of the celebrated 
37th Iowa, the regiment of " Silver Greys," or " Greybeards," has deservedly at- 
tracted much attention, alike from his great age, elevated character and exemplary 
patriotism. The following authentic particulars, obtained by an interview with 
him, can not fail to be read with interest : p j • u • 

" Father King," as his friends love to designate him, is six feet and an inch in 
hight, of massive and well knit frame, genial presence, careful and kindly spee^ch, 
o-ood 'health and spirits, and will be eighty-two years of age on the 10th of May 
next He is able to perform his military duties with alacrity, and has sustained the 
fatigues of guard duty with much less inconvenience than many younger soldiers. 
While those who were his juniors by scores of years, have been rendered invalids 
through patrol duty at night, this veteran of more than four-fifths of a century, 
has unintermittently returned to his post with cheerfulness and comfort Por 
this extraordinarv power of endurance, at so advanced an age, he is indebted to 
a constitution derived from a family remarkable for strength, vivacity, stature, 
and lono-evity, and to his healthful habits of toil and religious sobriety. 

Prior to the Revolution his grandfather. King, left Ireland, and with wife and 
six sons emigrated to the colony of Virginia, where, in the valley of the Rappa- 
hannock and in Culpepper county, he located on a mile square of land, leased 
from Colonel Carter. On this tract the children were reared, married and brought 
up their families. Thence King, youngest of the six sons and the father of Curtis, 
died at the age of fifty years from the bite of a copperhead— a fact which does 
not help to lessen the son's detestation of our more venomous modern copperheads. 



IN IOWA. ^^^ 



Curtis facher fought under Washington through the Revolutionary war and wa^ 
guarding pr.soners at Winchester when relieved by the return of peace Tuion 
the hrst emigrants to the free soil of Ohio, wan Curtis' only brother and tuouF 
his five sisters, while he and three sisters remained with their widowed mother 
on the old arm At the age of nineteen, Curtis obtained the consent of the res 
of the family to transfer their residence to the Great West, and after a journey of 
eight tedious weeks over the rugged mountains, they rejoined their friends at 
Hillsboro , in Highland county, Ohio. einienasat 

It is worthy of remark, that in Virginia, neither the wealthy grandsire, nor any 
of his descendants ever used slaves. Curtis rented a cottage fbr his mothe fl 
his three sisters but before long he found the latter all married and himself k d 
mother alone. He thereupon, as he states, considered what he shoufd do to make 
her happy and concluded to marry a certain attractive young widow, of thirtTsix 
years "of good report, pious, and well disposed." He was then not 20 yea fo d 
Locatinghis wife and mother together, he devoted himself arduously to^Ury^n. 
to make a living, and "found the labor of his hands blessed abundantly so t m 
before long he was comfortably fixed in his sphere of life." Then new ^r' tor es 
7:Zirr'"i-T'''^-'^' Mississippi and he was still led after them and was 
successful m his loc|itions, and continued on the gaining land abundantfy In 
the town of Danby, Hendricks county, Indiana, his mother died, and was buried 
at the age of one hundred and Three years. Her name was Ob^diencTand she 
was the daughter of Colonel Klackwell, of Virginia, a connection oXfamfly of 
John Randolph of Roanoke. ^Subsequently Curtis and his increasing family^ re- 

Z'^tu h'^'-'"^ ^'^'^f ?' ^^^^t'^'^-^ ^^-^^^y- 1«"''^. ^e^r the Des Mo nS river 
where they have now resided nearly sixteen years ' 

He has now been twenty-five yeal-s married to his second wife, who is iust half 
h>s age or forty-one years, and was sixteen when united in marr a<^e wTth him he 
an"L his ,f ^-^^^-/f-:f «'J- % her he has nine sons and thJee dauAlit 
and by his former wife had six sons and three dauirhters-in all twenfy-onechU 
drm. 10 of them sons The Irish ancestor, Curtis' grandfather Hved to he a'e 
of one hundred and fifteen years, and was six feet" and six inches in statute 
beveral of Curtis uncles were seven feet in hight, and lived to an extreme old 

T.\.:\ T^''' ^"'^'''. ""'^'^'"^ ^'^""^ England to Virginia, ar 3 here Urerunon 
the renta of h.s ancestral estates in the old country. After his demise the old 

tro?'i:^s"^fithe^'^^^'' '''^'"'' ^-- ^---^ '' ^"«^^-^' i::z%''tL't 

InJ^^H?^"''^^^ i^T*" ^^ ^^.^"^ '"^ '^""^'^^ "^'^''^^y service since the 25th October 
if L. T^ J'" be excused a feeling of pride in his personal hi^ory and ante 
cedents, and a desire that the facts of his life and family, since they hTve excS 
ounos.ty and comment should be correctly published. May he be spared to haU 
the return of peace and the restoration of the union ! ^ ^ '^ 

Of the conduct of the men of Iowa in battle we could fill a vol 
aTro JDln^n^^- instances-opening- with the last decL'LS:^; 

Lajp S^2&^i;Si:^ =ed ^^i:^rS^^^S^%of 

up tLywent, climbing on al -fours the^^^ ^'^^ 

a , o Ku^giu^ up cne nni, tfie horses plunging, the riders 



548 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

whipping. Upward they go, where never vehicle went before, up the precipitous 
and clogged sides of the hill. No sooner on the crest than their guns are unlim- 
bered and the men at their posts. Percussion shells and canister are shot spite- 
fully from the Parrot guns at the flying enemy. The day is gained — the position 
is taken — the troops surround the guns, and the enemy has deserted his post. The 
34-pounder, which had caused so much havoc, is silenced by Colonel Cook's bri- 
gade, and the rebels fly to the main fort in alarm. The day is gained — the foe is 
running ! Cheers upon cheers rend the air, and in a few minutes all is hushed. 

At the battle of Shiloah it is said of them : 

The 2d, 3d, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th Iowa regi- 
ments were engaged in this battle. The 7th had made itself glorious at Belmont 
and the 2d at Fort Donelson, the 7th being at both battles. Here every Iowa 
regiment did its duty, and their lists of killed and wounded prove it. The 8th, 
12th, and 14th were nearly all taken prisoners; and it was because they fought 
and held their ground to the last, in obedience to orders, instead of " retiring," as 
some of the Ohio and Illinois regiments did, and thus saving themselves. General 
Prentiss was taken prisoner with a portion of them. Many of our Iowa tield and 
company officers have been killed or wounded, and the record shows or will show 
when an official report is made, that our Iowa troops shed their blood as freely 
as those from any other state. 

Two Iowa regiments were led into the battle-field before their baggage had left 
the river. Arms had been placed in their hands only a few days before, for the 
first time, and they had never been drilled in loading and firing. Probably three- 
fourtiis (.r them had never l)efore seen a ball-cartridge; yet two regiments of bet- 
ter man-maUrial had never left the State of Iowa nor any other state, nor men 
more eager for a fight or placing that fight more distinctly on principle. The loch 
was led almost directly to the battle-field, and afterward was intermingled with 
the 16th. The latter was led across an open field exposed to a rebel battery fire, 
and when formed in line on the opposite side was ordered back again, by a "Gen- 
eral" commanding. Arms and legs were cut off and several men killed while 
crossing this field and retiring, yet the regiment behaved nobly — certainly better 
than could have been expected of raw recruits under their first fire. The regi- 
ment was afterward formed, with the 15th, in another exposed field — a rebel bat- 
tery and musketry in front in the woods. Here our regiments fought, for over an 
hour, against an almost concealed foe. In the mean time, an old regiment, of 
another state, came up and took position, and was the first to retire from the 
field. The Iowa regiments retired only when an advance and flanking movement 
was simultaneously made by an overwhelming force of the enemy. A delay of 
five minutes would have resulted in the surrounding and capture of our small force. 
The result was, in the 15th, the colonel wounded in the neck, major in the shoul- 
der, twenty killed, and some eighty wounded; in the 16th, the colonel wounded 
in the arm, lieutenant-colonel had his horse shot, twenty-six killed and ninety- 
three wounded, the color-sergeant killed and six of the eight color-guard wounded. 
1 would thank you to compare this with the reports of many old regiments re- 
ported by correspondents as having fought all day long most desperately, and 
had their hundreds killed and wounded. 1 think you will find the average not up 
to ours. That afternoon, the !6th, or a large portion of the regiment, was again 
in the battle, supporting a battery, under heavy rebel artillery-fire. At night they 
were in the advance, under Generals Hurlbut and Lauman, lying out in a drench- 
ing rain and expecting a conflict every moment. Next day they were marched out 
to join in the Monday's battle, but were held back to protect a reserve battery. 
That night and the following they lay out in the cold rain and mud, without over- 
coats or blankets, on duty. 

Let me here say, that when these regiments marched to the battle-field on Sun- 
day morning, they met scores and hundreds of soldiers belonging to other regi- 
ments (not one man from an Iowa regiment) going back to the river. In answer 
to inquiries, they all said their regiments had been " cut to pieces," and the rebels 
were whipping us, etc. They could not be turned back, although the effort was 
repeatedly made, and they warned our regiment not to advance; but the Iowa 



IN IOWA. 5^g 

boys pushed straight ahead and nobly did their duty. That afternoon thousands 
of thpsR men were on the river bank, and aids not being able to rally them o-ea- 
erals tueuiselves came down and literally drove them with swords to their dTitv 
No Iowa soldier, or but very few, were found in that cowardly crowd ; but Iowa 
officers helped to rally these recreants and march them off to the battle-field. 

At the charge of Black-Elver bridge, in Grant's Vicksburj:^ cam- 
paign, the 23d Iowa, of Lawler's brigade, won laurels. The circum- 
stances are thus told by one of the soldiers : 

Only eight companies were engaged in the charge, two being deployed as skir- 
mishers at the time. There is no charge on record, in the history of this war more 
brilliant or daring than that of the 23d on the Black-River bridge fortifications. 
When we received the order to charge, from our gallant Colonel Kinsman, we had 
a steep river-bank before us, then nearly a quarter of a mile of clear ground to 
the breast-works; on our right was a line of rifle pits filled with rebel sharp- 
shooters. At the word — forward, every man jumped upon the bank. A terrible 
enfilading fire from the sharpshooters struck our men ere we had hardly shown our 
heads. Onward the regiment dashed, the field and line-officers waving their swords 
in the front, led by Colonel Kinsman. The cross-fire of the rebels grew more 
terrible at every step. Many were lying dead and wounded on the ground. Our 
colonel fell, wounded in the leg; he rose up and again struggled forward ; he was 
slruck again and fell mortally wounded. For an instant it seemed that all were 
slain, 80 rapidly did our men fall. Lieutenant-Colonel Glasgow was now far in the 
lead, crying out to his men to avenge the death of their colonel. We beheld, for 
the first time, a deep, wide ditch, full of water, extending all along the front, and 
across the flank of the rebel works ; but, nothing daunted, the right of the regi- 
ment, which came first on the works, plunged across the ditch, formed across the 
flank of the intrenchment, and poured a destructive enfilading fire into the mass 
of rebels at a few paces distant. They could not stand this, at once they started 
from their former place of safety; the right of the regiment rushed upon them 
with the bayonet, the left had swung across the ditch and were on the works too. 
The whole rebel line fled when their left broke. Exhausted as our men were 
they outran the flying butternuts, in their efforts to reach the bridge, and took 
1,600 of them prisoners. We had possession of the strong defenses of Black- 
River bridge, with seventeen pieces of artillery. This part of the programme 
was played in three minutes, solely by the 23d Iowa, during which time f20 men 
fell on the field. After this the rest of the brigade got up, and took a large num- 
ber of prisoners on our right and left, who had thrown away their guns when 
they saw their defeat. Many escaped across the railroad bridge, some even swam 
the river, and quite a number were drowned while making this attempt. 

The 21st and 22d Iowa and 11th Wisconsin were the regiments that supported 
us. They did their duty well; but the rebels were utterly routed before these 
regiments reached the works; and owing to the rapidity with which the 23d 
moved, the supporting regiments did not get near enough to receive much dam- 
age from the rebel fire. They were all splendid regime'nts, and have since dis- 
tinguished themselves in a desperate assault on the defenses of Vicksburg. 

The following incident occurred at the same battle, and is told 
under the caption of, The Methodists in the Fight : 

The 24th Iowa is called a Methodist regiment. The colonel and several of the 
captains are Methodist preachers, and a majority of the soldiers are members of 
«ie Methodist Church. They did some of the best fighting of the dav, yesterday 
They went into the battle full of enthusiasm, and not one of them flinched durin"- 
the engagement. Their major was wounded late in the day. He walked from the 
fie d, and, on his way to the hospital captured a stalwart confederate, and com- 
pelled him to carry him on his back to the provost-marshal's headquarters It was 
a laughable sight to see Major Wright riding his captive into camp. The casualty- 
list of the Methodists is very large, and shows that they stood up to their work 
hke true soldiers. On returning from the battle-field in the evening they held a 



550 



TIMES OF THE REBELLION 



relio;ious meeting, at which the exercises were very impressive. As I write tliey 
are filling the wooJs with " Old Hundred." 

In this battle, after the enemy had been driven across the bridge, 
they endeavored to burn it to prevent pursuit, firing it in several 
places. The Iowa men made a strong effort to save it. 

Conspicuous among the latter was P]lias H. Durand of the 27th Iowa. Noticing 
a 6-pounder, that had been deserted by the foe, too hurriedly to permit even uf 
its being fired or spiked, he sprang to it, and turning it by himself upun a group 
of rebels on the bridge, sighted it with the utmost coolness and precision, and 
fired. The double charge of grape was well aimed, and, as the heroic gunner 
sprang upon the piece to see the effect of his discharge, a yell of triumph from 
his comrades rang out upon the air. Of the rebel group all but two lay dead or 
dying on the timber they were endeavoring to kindle. Twice more did our im- 
promptu artilleryman — who, it must be stated, did not belong to that arm of the 
service — load, sight, and fire the captured piece, and each time with the most fear- 
ful effect upon the enemy. As at first, he leaped upon the gun to see whut his 
shot had effected; but by this time he had attracted the notice of a Mississippi 
sharpshooter, who instantly leveled his deadly rifle upon the brave I'eilovv. The 
next moment Durand was seen to stagger and fall, and it was supposed that he 
was killed. But he was not to be so easily "jom/ out of the ring," as he after- 
ward remarked to his surgeon. At the instant that the rebel sharpshooter had 
pulled his trigger, Durand partially turned himself, and steadying l)imself upon 
the rammer of the piece, he was just in the act of leaping down to load again. 
The well-directed rifie-ball struck the rammer, and, splintering it, then passed 
into Durand's left shoulder, just below the clavicle or shoulder hone, and lodged 
a little above the inferior edge of the scapula or blade bone. He found that he 
could not use his arm, and therefore could not reload the 6-pounder. Determined, 
however, to continue the battle, he made his way down to the bridge, which was 
now more than half consumed, and seizing an ax from the hands of a dying 
pioneer, pressed forward with his brave comrades to assist in staying the progress 
of the flames. As he jostled forward his shoulder gave him dreadful pain; but, 
like a true hero, he pushed on until a piece of shell, tired from our own artillery, 
and falling short of its mark, wounded his remaining arm severely. Then seeing 
that he was no longer of any service, but rather a hindrance, he commenced his 
retreat. After getting clear of the masses of soldiers who were immediately by 
the bridge, he was met by an officer who halted him and asked why he was flying. 
"Flying, sir," he replied, with pardonable vehemence, "flying! Why it is as 
much as 1 can do to creep along, let alone fly ! Bee this hole through my shoul- 
der and this shell mark in my other arm?" The blood was flowing rapidly from 
his arm, and he must soon have fallen from weakness had not the ofiicer, appre- 
ciating the bravery of the noble fellow, dismounted and bound up the wounded 
limb with his own hands. He then gave him directions how to reach the hospi- 
tal and promised to have him promoted for his gallantry. His bravery was fully 
appreciated ; for, on hearing his narrative, and learning also that he had served 
ten years in the old regular army, his commander had him commissioned a second- 
lieutenant of artillery. 

And if anything were yet wanting, to illustrate the spirit of Iowa 
soldiers, we have it in the following striking instance of " the ruling 
passion." 

It was immediately after the battle of the Hatchie. The dead in that terrible 
conflict had been laid beneath the mold, while the wounded had been brought to 
tiiH church-building or placed in the spacious apartments of wealthy disloyalists 
of Bolivar. Among the number of unfortunates was William C. Nowlon, a ser- 
geant of Company 0, of the 3d Iowa infantry. His leg had been so badly shat- 
tered and torn by a musket-shot as to render amputation unavoidable. He was 
informed of such a necessity, but not a murmur or word of complaint escaped his 
lips, nor did the intelligence seem to cast over his fiice the least perceptible shade 



IN IOWA. 



551 



of seriousness. The table was prepared — the instruments were placed conve- 
niently, and everything put in i-eadiuess for the operation. He was brought out 
upon the verandah and placed upon the table — his poor, shattered, torn and half 
lieshless leg dangling around as if only an extraneous and senseless appendage. 
There was no sighing, no flinching, no drawing back or holding in. 

There was not a simple feeling of dumb resignation, nor yet of brute indiffer- 
ence, but of soldierly submission — a heroic submission, without a question or a 
sigh. lie indulged freely in conversation respecting the operation, until the 
chloroform was applied. From the waking and rational state he glided into th« 
ansesthetic without the convulsive motion of a single muscle and without the 
utterance of a single incoherent sentence; but glided into it as the innocent 
and weary child glides into the sweet embrace of a healthy and restoring sleep. 
The operation was performed; the arteries all ligatured; the stump cleansed; 
and the last suture just in that instant applied. During the entire operation he 
had scarcely moved a muscle. 

Just at this time, the large body of prisoners taken in the engagement were 
marched up the street, and were nearing the house where the maimed and bleed- 
ing soldier lay. The streets were all thronged by soldiery, and hundreds of them 
rushed to get a near sight of the vanquished, while they rent the heavens with 
their loud huzzas. A full regiment preceded the column of prisoners; and when 
just opposite, the band struck up, in force, the inspiring air of " Hail Columbia." 

In a moment — upon the very instant, the color mounted to his face. He opened 
his eyes half wonderingly, and raised his head from the pillow with the steadiness 
and diginity of a god. The scenes of the conflict came back to him, and he 
thought that his noble regiment was again breasting toward the enemy through a 
Bhower of shot and shell. His brave comradeis, he deemed, were falling one by 
one around him, just as they had done in that dreadful hour of fratricide and car- 
nage. The spirit of the time came over him, and his features assumed an air of 
bold, fierce, fiery, and unyielding determination; and he broke forth into excla- 
mations the most terrible and appalling I had ever listened to in all my life. 

" Louder with the music ! louder! louder!! louder!!! Burst the heavens with 
your strains ! Sweeter ! softer ! sweeter ! charm the blessed angels from the 
very courts of heaven ! Victory! Victory!! Onward! onward!! No flagging! 
no flinching! no faltering! Fill up! till up!! Step forward! press forward! 
Your comrades graves f The fresh graves of your slain ! Remember the graves 
of your comrades! Blue Mills! Blue Mills!! Shelbina! Shelbina!! Hager 
Wood! Hager Wood!! Shiloahl Shiloah ! ! Shiloah!!! For God's sake, onward! 
Onward, in heaven's name ! Onward ! onward ! ! onward ! ! ! See the devils 
waver! See them run! See! see!! see them fly!!! — fly! fiytl" 

During this outburst of passion his countenance kindled and became purple, 
till his look seemed that of diabolism. Such a fury marked his lineaments that 
I instinctively drew back. But there was "method in his madness." He only 
erred in mistaking time and in misplacing himself and his position; facts which 
the martial music and the "pomp and circumstance of war" in the public 
streets would have a natural tendency toward producing. 

In the very middle of his fury he seemed suddenly to comprehend his mistake. 
He ceased abruptly, his whole frame in a tremor of emotion. He looked around 
upon the faces present, and without a word, quietly laid down his head. He grew 
meditative as he seemed to realize a full sense of his unhappy situation. At 
length his eyes gradually filled with tears, and his lips grew slightly tremulous. 
He quietly remarked, " Well, boys, good bye; 1 should do but sorry fighting on 
a wooden leg." He again relaosed into silence, and was shortly afterward car- 
ried away to his room. 

Gay fellows were they too, in camp and on the march, as the follow- 
ing song testifies : 



1^ 



552 



TIMES OF THE REBELLION 
GAY AND HAPPY, 

A3 COMPOSED AND SUNG BY THE BOYS OP THE SIXTH IOWA YOLUNTEEBS. 

We 're the boys most gay and happy, 

Tho' we're tented in the field; 
With our nation's banner o 'er us, 
And its honor for a shield. 

Chorus — Then let the cannon boom as they will, 
We '11 be gay and happy still ; 
Gay and happy, gay and happy — 
We '11 be gay and happy still. 

Friends at home, be gay and happy, 

Never blush to speak our names ; 
If our comrades fall in battle, 

They shall share a soldier's fame. 
Chorus — Then let, etc. 

Colonel Corse is gay and happy — 

Holds his post with his command; 
Seldom has a soldier's honor 

Ever graced a better man. 
Chorus — Then let, etc. 

We're the gay and happy Hawkeyes, 

From the State of Iowa; 
Ready, when our colonel leads us, 

For the thickest of the fray, 
Chorus — Then let, etc. 

Rebels are not gay and happy ; 

For their "scrip" they can not eat — 
Some like birds we keep in cages, 

Dining on "hard tack" and meat 
Chorus — Then let, etc. 

Girls at home, be gay and happy. 

Show that you have woman s pride. 
Never wed a homesick coward — 

Wait and be a soldier's bride. 
Chorus — Then let, etc. 

Gay and happy, hear the answer, 

None but fools get married now. 
Valiant men have all enlisted, 
And to cowards we '11 not bow. 
Chorus — Then let, etc. 

We 're the girls so gay and happy, 

Waiting for the end of strife • 
Better share a soldier's rations 

Than to be a coward's wife. 
Chorus — Then let, etc. 

For the gay and for the happy, 

We 're as constant as the dove ; 
But the man who dare not soldier 
Never can obtain our love. 

Chorus — Then let the cowards prate as they will, 
We'll be gay and happy still; 
Gay and happy, gay and happy — 
We '11 be gay and happy still. 



IN IOWA. 553 

It is in place here to give the famous army song which Sherman's 
veterans chanted on their victorious march. It was written by Adju- 
tant Byers of the 5th Iowa, while confined in the rebel prison at Co 
lumbia, South Carolina, and being set to music was frequently sung 
by the captives, as a relief to the monotony of their prison life. After 
Wilmington was taken, it was sung in the theater, producing immense 
enthusiasm : 

THE MARCHING SONO OP SHERMAn's ARMY ON THEIR .WAY TO THE SEA. 

Our camp fires shone bright on the mountains 

That frowned on the river below, 
While we stood by our guns in the morning 

And eagerly watched for the foe — 
When a rider came out from the darkness 

That hung over mountain and tree, 
And shouted, " Boys, up and be ready, 

For Sherman will march for the sea." 

When cheer upon cheer for bold Sherman 

Went up from each valley and glen, 
And the bugles re-echoed the music 

That came from the lips of the men. 
For we knew that the stars in our banner 

More bright in their splendor would be. 
And that blessings from Northland would greet Ua, 

When Sherman marched down to the sea. 

Then foward, boys, forward to battle. 

We marched on our wearisome way 
And we stormed the wild hills of Resaca — 

God bless those who fell on that day. 
Then Kenesaw frowned in its glory, 

Frowned down on the flag of the free. 
But the East and the West bore our standards, 

And Sherman marched on to the sea. 

Still onward we pressed, till our banners 

Swept out from Atlanta's grim walls, 
And the blood of the patriot dampened 

The soil where the traitor flag falls. 
But we paused not to weep for the fallen, 

Who slept by each river and tree. 
Yet we twined them a wreath of the laurel, 

As Sherman marched down to the sea. 

O, proud was our army that morning, 

That stood where the pine darkly towers. 
When Sherman said : " Boys, you are weary 

But to-day fair Savannah is ours." 
Then sang we a song for our chieftain, 

That echoed o'er river and lea. 
And the stars in our banners shone brighter 

When Sherman marched down to the sea. 

These bold singers ceased not their march when they reached the 
sea, but swept on as conquerors through Carolina; and Iowa boys 
in the advance were the first to raise the banner of stars over the cap- 
ital of the state, Columbia, where not long before a captive lowan 



554 TIMES OF THE REBELLION IN IOWA. 

penned Sherman's march to the sea. "Well may we say, as does an 
Iowa editor : 

Hurrah for Iowa! — Colonel Kennedy of the 13th Iowa, Lieutenant McArthur, 
and Lieutenant W. H. Goodrell of the 15th Iowa, supported by about fifty men, 
constituted the advance guard which captured Columbia, South Carolina. The 
squad crossed the river in a small boat, and advanced on the city. The boys ran 
into a company of Wheeler's cavalry and received the benefit of several shots 
which did no damage. The colors of the 13th Iowa were flying over the old and 
new state houses before the 15th corps came up. The city surrendered to Gene- 
ral Hazen. ' 

A few weeks later, another " Hurra for lowa^' might have been given, 
topped with "a tiger," and a motion to "adjourn " for it was then 
that in the fall of Mobile, the 8th Iowa signalized, itself by leading in 
"the forlorn hope," in a gallant, successful and desperate charge 
against Fort Blakely. It was on this occasion that Lieutenant Vine- 
yard, leading company G, fell desperately wounded. Some of his men 
halted a moment where he lay : "Pa?/ no attention to me, boys,'^ he cried, 
*' move on! " and the rebels found they did. 



M I SS U E 1. 



Missouri was originally included in the limits of Louisiana, purchased 
of the French y;overnment in 1803. '"^ '^ ^ 



^ ^ -^ -^ ^ ^^ 




The first Europeans who visited any 
part of its territory appear to have 
been Marquette and Joliet, the 
French missionaries from Canada, 
who sailed down the Mississippi in 
1673. This river was more fully ex- 
plored by La Salle, in 1682, who de- 
clared all the region between the Il- 
linois country and the Gulf of Mex- 
ico to be an appendage of France. 
From this period, settlements began 
to be made in the valley of the Mis- 
sissippi, and the territory was pro- 
tected from Spanish invasion by a 
chain of fortifications, extending from 
the lakes to the gulf. Among these 
was Fort Orleans, built in 1719, near 
the mouth of the Osage, not far from 
the site of Jefi"erson City. 

The settlements in the Mississippi 
valley were made advancing from its 
northern and southern extremities into the interior. Missouri being in the 
central part, its progress was slow. Its lead mines were worked as early as 
1720. St. Genevieve, the oldest town, was founded in 1755; St. Louis in 
1764: other settlements followed in quick succession. During the progress 
of the contest between France and Great Britain, many of the Canadian 
French emigrated by way of the lakes, and going southward, located tliem- 
selves in both Upper and Lower Louisiana. These emigrants gave the first 
important impulse to the colonization of Missouri. 

After the conquest of Canada, in 1763, the jurisdiction of the Mississippi 
passed from France to Great Britain and Spain, the Mississippi River being 
the dividing line between the possessions of the two latter powers. The 
whole population of Spanish Louisiana, north and south, at the time of the 
public transfer, in 1769, is stated to have been 18,840 persons, of whom 5,556 
were whites, and the remainder negroes. A river trade had sprung up be- 

(555) 



Arms op Missouri. 

Motto — Stth(s pnpnli stiprema lexexto — Let the prop- 
erty of the people, be the supreme law. 



556 



MISSOURI. 



tween the northern and southern part of the province, and the exports at 
this period amounted to $250,000 annually. The laws of Spain were now 
extended over this part of Louisiana, and the character of the new govern- 
ment was conciliating. The highest tribunal in Upper Louisiana, which com- 
prised Missouri within its limits, was that of the lieutenant governor, the 
governor having jurisdiction in the lower province. The commandants of 
the various posts in the provinces held inferior tribunals. Lands were 
granted liberally to colonists, and great facilities were given to settlers. 
Many emigrants from Spain now came into the country. 

In 1763, Mr. Laclede, the head of a mercantile company, who had ob- 
tained a monopoly of the Indian and fur trade on the Mississippi and Mis- 
souri Rivers, left New Orleans on an expedition to form establishments, and 
open a commerce with the natives. Having left his stores at Fort Chartres, 
on the Kaskaskias, Laclede proceeded up the river to the bluff, where St. 
Louis now stands. Pleased with the situation, he determined to make it the 
central place of the company's operations. Laclede was accompanied by 
Auguste and Pierre Choteau, two young Creoles of New Orleans, of high 
respectability and intelligence. In 1764, Auguste, the elder of the two 
brothers, commenced the first buildings in St. Louis. These brothers became 
at this place the heads of numerous families, whose name became a passport 
that commanded safety and hospitality among the Indian nations in the 
United States, north and west. 

At the commencement of the American revolution, in 1775, St. Louis, 
originally a depot for the fur trade, had increased to a population of about 
800, and St. Genevieve to about half that number. In 1780, a body of En- 
glish and Indians, 1,540 strong, from Michillimackinac and the southern ex- 
tremity of Lake Michigan, attacked St. Louis. During the siege, which lasted 
about a week, some sixty persons were killed in the town and vicinity. While 
the fate of the garrison remained in great uncertainty, the timely arrival of 
Gen. Clarke, from Kentucky, turned the tide of fortune against the enemy.; 
The general peace of 1783, put an end to hostilities. Spain retained her 
previous possessions. Great Britain resigned East Louisiana, called also the 
''Illinois Country," to the United States, retaining only Canada and other 
possessions at the north. 

On the restoration of peace, the settlers in the western part of the United 
States, to some extent, emigrated and built their cabins on the western or 
Spanish side of the Mississippi. Difficulties, as might have been expected, 
soon arose between Spain and the United States. A dispute relative to the 
navigation of the Mississippi occurred in 1795, when, by treaty, Spain 
granted to the United States free navigation of that river. But Spain did 
not act up to the spirit of her agreement, and threw obstacles in the way 
of the Americans navigating that stream. An open warfare seems to have 
been only prevented by the cession of Louisiana to Finance, in 1801, who 
transferred it to the United States in 1803, being purchased of the French 
government for fifteen millions of dollars. 

The new purchase was immediately divided into the "Territory of Orleans" 
(since the state of Louisiana), and the "District of Louisiana," erected in 
1805 into a territorial government, administered by a governor and judges, 
under the title of " Territory of Louisiana," having four districts, St. Charles, 
St. Louis, Cape Girardeau, New Madrid and Arkansas. When the present 
stiite of Louisiana came into the Union, in 1812, the name of this territory 
was changed to "Missouri Territory." The territory extended from latitude 



MISSOURI. 557 

33° to 41° N. The government now became representative, and the first 
governor under the new government was William Clarke. The legislature 
consisted of a council of nine members, appointed by the president, and a 
house of representatives, one member for every 500 free white males, elected 
by the people. 

The limits of the Missouri Territory, on the west, were gradually extended 
by treaties with the Indians. "People from the western states began to move 
in from the time of the purchase, so that in 1810, the population numbered 
20,845, of whom all, but about 1,500 belonging to Arkansas, were settled 
within the present limits of Missouri. The French settlements were now 
overrun by Americans, from Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, etc., and American 
habits, usages, laws, and institutions soon became prevalent. The original 
settlers were quickly merged and almost lost among the later and more active 
population, until at length the whole became a homogeneous people. Immi- 
gration was so rapid, that in 1817, the territory contained 60,000 souls. In 
1817, application was made by the assembly to congress, for authority to 
frame a state constitution, preliminary to admission into the Union. A fierce 
and stormy debate arose at once on the subject in congress. A powerful 
party demanded that the new state should exclude slavery by their constitu- 
tion. The discussion raged for two years, threatening to tear the Union 
asunder; at length, however, the debate was stopped by the passage of the 
compromise resolutions of Mr. Clay, by which it was agreed that the institu- 
tion of slavery should be recognized in Missouri, but in no other new state 
north of latitude 36° 30'. The state constitution, somewhat modified since 
its adoption, was framed by a convention of forty delegates, which met at 
St. Louis, on the 12th of June, 1820, and was adopted on the 19th July fol- 
lowing. The new state was found, by a census taken the same year, to con- 
tain a population of 66,586, of whom 10,222 were slaves."* 

The north-western boundary of the Missouri was enlarged in the session 
of congress of 1836-7, by the addition of a wedge-shaped piece of terri- 
tory, measuring on the east side about 104 miles long, north and south, and 
about 60 miles wide on the north end, and bounded on the west by the Mis- 
souri River. This territory is now comprised in the six counties of Platte, 
Buchanan, Andrew, Atchison, Nodaway, and Holt, and contains over three 
thousand square miles. Although this acquisition was in opposition to the 
terms of the Missouri Compromise, it appears to have been acquiesced in 
with little or no opposition from any source. It had its justification in a 
better and more natural boundary, the Missouri River: and the country being 
of remarkable fertility, became filled with a wealthy and thriving popula- 
tion. 

Since the establishment of the state government, there has been to the 
present time a constant tide of emigration into Missouri, from the southern, 
western and northern states, and, to some extent, from Europe. Agriculture 
and commerce have flourished to a great extent. The manufacturing inter- 
ests are considerable, and its extraordinary mineral wealth, is beginning 
to be appreciated. Many of the Mormons, previous to their location at Nau- 
voo, emigrated to the north-western section of the state, where they caused 
much difficulty, in Ray county, in which some were killed and wounded. In 
1838, the governor of the state issued an order, or proclamation, for the ex- 
pulsion of the Mormons. After the repeal of the "Missouri Compromise," 

♦Fisher's Gazetteer of the United States. 



558 



MISSOURI. 



in 1854, the western border of the state became the theater of much excite- 
ment and many hostile demonstrations, arising from the contest between the 
free state men, who had emigrated into the adjoining Territory of Kansas, 
and the pro-slavery party, principally from the western border of Missouri, 
who were, by their opponents, termed "border ruffians." During the strug- 
gle for ascendency, man^ outrages were committed, and many lives lost on 
both sides. Of late years, a political contest has sprung up between the 
emancipation and pro-slavery parties in this state, the final result of which 
remains to be seen. 

Missouri is bounded N. by Iowa, E. by the Mississippi River, S. by Ar- 
kansas, and W. by Kansas, Nebraska, and the Indian territory. It is situ- 
ated between 36° and 40° 36' N. Lat., and between 89° and 95° 36' W. 
Long. It is 287 miles long and 230 broad, containing upward of 65,000 
square miles, nearly equaling in extent the six New England states together, 
and more than doubling them all in agricultural capacity. The surface of 
Missouri is quite varied. Alluvial, or bottom lands, are found on the mar- 
gins of the rivers. In the interior, bottoms and barrens, naked hills and 
prairies, heavy forests and streams of water, may be often seen in one view. 
In the south-east part, near the Mississippi and south of Cape Grirardeau, is 
an extensive marsh, reaching into Arkansas, and comprising an area nearly 
equal to the entire st;ite of Connecticut. Back of this is a hilly country, 
rich in minerals, which extends to Osnge River. One of the richest coal 
fields in the Union occupies the greater part of the state north of the Osage 
River, and extending nearly to the Iowa line. The coal is bituminous and 
much of it cannel. The great cannel coal bed in Calloway county, is the 
lai'gest body of cannel coal known: in places it is 75 feet thick. On distil- 
lation, it yields excellent coke, and a gas that, being destitute of sulphur, 
burns with a bright and beautiful flame. The lead region is at an average 
distance of seventy miles from St. Louis, and covers an area of 3,000 square 
miles. While in Wisconsin the lead does not extend 100 feet in depth, the 
lead veins of Missouri extend, in places, more than 1,000 feet. The mineral 
region contains 216 localities of lead ore, 90 of iron, and 25 of copper. The 
state abounds in iron; in fact, no country in the world contains so much of 
this useful ore as Missouri ; and her general mineral wealth is enormous, in 
coal, iron, copper, lead, etc. Minerals of the non-metallic kind are also 
abundant, limestone, sandstone, porphyries, gypsum, sienite, porcelain, pipe 
and variegated clays. 

The country north of the Missouri, and that which adjoins Kansas, has 
been termed the garden of the west. In most places it has a beautiful, un- 
dulating surface, sometimes rising into picturesque hills, then stretching into 
a sea of prairie, interspersed with shady groves and streams of water. 

Missouri possesses very great facilities for internal intercourse by water, 
having the navigation of the two greatest rivers in the United States, if not 
in the world. By means of the Mississippi River, forming her eastern boun- 
dary, she has commerce with the most northern territory of the Union, with 
the whole valley of the Ohio, some of the Atlantic states, and the Gulf of 
Mexico ; by the Missouri, which passes through the central part of the state, 
she can extend her commercial intei'course to the Rocky Mountains. The 
climate is variable, in winter the streams are sometimes frozen so as to admit 
the passage of heavy loaded vehicles ; the summers are very hot, but the air is 
dry and pure, and the climate may be classed among those most favorable to 
health. The soil of the state, speaking generally, is good and of great agri- 



MISSOURI. 



659 



cultural capabilities, particularly the bottom lands, bovderino; the rivers. 
The principal agricultural staples are Indian corn and hemp. The southern 
highlands are finely adapted to the culture of the grape. In 1810, the pop- 
ulation was less than 20,000 ; in 1830, in was 140,000; in 1850, 682,244, of 
whom 87,422 were slaves; in 1860, 1173,317, including 114,965 slaves. 




Central part of the Levee, at St. Louis. 

The view was taken from Bloody Island, near the Railroad Depot, on the Illinois side of the Mississippi, 
and shows the steamboats lying at the Levee, in the vicinity of the Custom House, and the Court House, 
the upper portion of which is seen in the distance. The river front here, for a long distance, is generally 
crowded with steamers, lyino; abreast of each other, in tiers of three and four deep, indicating the extra- 
ordinary commerce of the city. 

St. Louis, the commercial capital of Missouri, and of the great central 
valley of the Mississippi, is situated on the W. bank of the Mississippi, 18 
miles below the junction of the Missouri. It is in 38° 37' 28" N. Lat., and 
90° 15' 16" W. Long., about 1,200 miles above New Orleans, 705 from Cin- 
cinnati, 822 from St. Pnul, 564 from Louisville, Ky., 180 above Cairo, and 125 
from Jefferson City, the capital of the state. The compact part of the city 
stretches about three miles along the river, and two miles back. The site 
rises from the river into two limestone elevations, the first, twenty, and the 
second forty feet above the ordinary floods of the Mississippi, the ascent 
to the first is rather abrupt, the second rises more gradually, and spreads out 
into an extensive plain. The city is well laid out, the streets being for the 
most part 60 feet wide, and, with few exceptions cross each other at right 
angles. Front-street, which extends along the levee, is upward of 100 feet 
broad, built upon the side facing the river with a massive range of stone ware- 
houses, which make an imposing appearance. The populatton of St. Louis 



560 



MISSOURI. 



in 1840, was 16,469; in 1850, 82,774; and in 1860, 162,179. About one 
third of the inhabitants are natives of Germany or their descendants. 

St. Louis is sometimes fancifully called the ^'Mound City^' from a jjreat 
mound, at the base of which it was first settled, and which is said by the In- 
dians to have been the burial place of their ancestors for centuries. 

The natural advantages which St. Louis enjoys, as a commercial emporium, 
are probably equal to any inland port in the world. Situated midway be- 
tween two oceans, and near the geographical center of the finest agricultural 
and mineral region of the globe, almost at the very focus toward which con- 
verge the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Ohio, and the Illinois Rivers, she 
seems destined to be the great receiving and distributing depot for a vast re- 
gion of country. It is now, next to New Orleans, the principal port on the 
Mississippi, and among the western cities is the rival to Cincinnati in popu- 
lation and wealth. "In a circuit of less than 90 miles from the city, iron, 
coal, lead, and probably copper, are suiEciently abundant to supply the Union 
for indefinite ages, and of this region St. Louis is the only outlet. The man- 
ufactures of St. Louis embrace a great variety of products. Among the 
manufacturing establishments may be mentioned, extensive iron works, flour- 
ing mills, sugar refineries, manufactures of hemp, rope and bagging factories, 
tobacco factories, oil mills, etc. The city is supplied with water from the 
Mississippi, drawn up by two engines, each of about 350 horse power, and 
forced through a 20 inch pipe to the reservoir, located about one mile west, 
and capable of holding thirty-two millions of gallons. 

Very few cities in the Union have improved more rapidly in the style of 
its public buildings, than St. Louis; among these is the magnificent court 
house, which occupies a square, presenting a front on four streets : it is con- 
structed of limestone, and erected at an expense of upward of one million 
of dollars. The custom house, another noble building, is fire proof, con- 
structed of Missouri marble. The Lindell House is one of the most exten- 
sive and beautiful of hotels. The Mercantile Library building is a fine 
structure, having one of the best halls in the western states, capable of 
seating 2,300 persons. The library connected with the institution consists 
of upward of 14,000 volumes. The Library Association, among the curios- 
ities in their possession, have the original model of John Fitch's steam en- 
gine, made about the year 1795; it is some two feet high, with a copper 
boiler. They also have a marble slab, about seven feet square, from the ruins 
of ancient Ninevah, covered with a figure in bas-relief and interesting cunei- 
form inscriptions. The St. Louis University^ under the direction of the Cath- 
olics, has a spacious building in the city, with 18 instructors, and about 300 
students, and some 15,000 volumes in its libraries. This institution was 
founded, in 1829, by members of the Society of Jesus, and was incorporated 
by the legislature in 1832. In the museum connected with the University, 
is the dagger of Cortez, 14 inches long, the blade consisting of two divisions, 
with an apparatus and spring in the hilt for containing and conveying poison. 
The Washington University was founded in 1853. The city contains various 
other excellent literary institutions : among these are several medical colleges. 
There are also hospitals, dispensaries, and other charities, for the medical 
care of the destitute. Among the charitable institutions, the most conspic- 
uous are the Protestant and Catholic Orphan Asylums — the first under the 
direction of Protestant ladies, and the latter of the Sisters of Charity. The 
total value of the taxable property of St. Louis, for 1860, was about 100 
millions of dollars. 



MISSOURI. 



561 



The subjoined sketch of the history of St. Louis, is extracted from the 
London edition of the work of Abbe Domenech,* the original being in 
French: 

St. Louis, the Queen of the West, was French by birth; her cradle was sus- 
pended in the forest watered by the Mississippi ; her childhood was tried by many 
privations; and her adolescence was reached amid the terrors inspired by the In- 
dian's cry. Her youth, though more calm, was scarcely more happy. Abandoned 
by her guardian, the Lion of Castile, she was again claimed by her ancient mother; 
but only to be forsaken anew. She then passed under the protecting wing of the 
American eagle, and became the metropolis of the Empire of the Deserts. 




Sovih-eastern view of the Cvvrt House, St. Louis. 

M. d'Abadie, civil and military director-general, and governor of Louisiana, con- 
ceded, in 1762, to Mfssrs. Pierre Ligueste, Laclede, Antoine Maxan, and Company, 
the monopoly of the fur trade with the Indians of Mississippi and Missouri. M. 
Laclede, a man of remarkable intelligence, of an enterprising character, and the 
principal chief of the company, immediately prepared an expedition, with a view 
of forming a large establishment in the north-west. On the 3d of August, 1763, 
he started from New Orleans, and on the 3d of November following, he reached 
St. Genevieve, situated sixty miles south of where St. Louis is actually built. 

At that epoch the French colony, established sixty years before in Illinois, was 
in a surprising state of prosperity. It had considerably augmented its importam*? 
since 1732, at which period France was beginning to realize her great conception 
of uniting Canada to Louisiana by an extensive line of military posts, that were 



*" Seven Years Residence in the Great Deserts of North America, by the Abbe Em 
Domenech, Apostolical Missionary, Canon of Montpellier. Member of the Pontificial Aeiifl- 
emy Tiberina, and of the Geographical and Ethnographical Societies of France, etc.: " in 
two volumes. 



36 



• „- MISSOURI. 

5d2 

to have been supported by forts, the strategic positions of which were admirably 
chosen. But when M. Laclede arrived in the country, Louis XV had already signed 
the shameful treaty by which he ceded to England, in a most blamable and incon- 
siderate manner, one of the finest regions of the globe, the possession of which had 
cost nearly a century of efforts, discoveries, and combats, besides enormous sums 
of money. By that treaty, which will cover with eternal ignominy the memory of 
Louis XV, France yielded up to great Britain the two Canadies, the immense ter- 
ritory of the northern lakes, and the rich states of Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, 
Mississippi, and Western Louisiana, as far as the Gulf of Mexico. 

The Britannic frontiers, north, west, and south, were then surrounded by that 
French race, so antipathetic to the Saxon one. It enveloped them by its power 
and its immense territory, by an uinterrupted chain of fertile countries, which ex- 
tend from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, following the interminable and rich val- 
ley of the Mississippi, which winds round the English possessions like the coiling 
serpent whose innumerable folds entwined the Laocoon. Unhappily for France, 
the statesmen of her luxurious court were short-sighted in this matter; they did not 
know the value of our transatlantic dominions, nor forsee what the future might 
do for them. Occupied with miserable palace intrigues, they basely abandoned our 
finest colonies, and merely sought feebly to prolong their agony. Napoleon him- 
self committed a great fault when he ceded Louisiana for fifteen millions. He 
thought that a bird in the hand was better than two in the bush ; but what a bush 
he sold for such a sum ! Louisiana, that of herself contains colossal wealth, did 
she not give birth to many powerful states by dismembering herself? Did she not 
draw toward Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, and California? When one thinks of 
this great and irreparable loss which Louis XV and Napoleon I caused France to 
suffer, one can not help sighing at the blindness of that fatal policy, which, for the 
sake of passing difficulties, from pusillanimous fear, or from the want of perfect 
knowledge of the resources and importance of the colonies, forgets the honor and 
interest of the empire it rules. 

It was thus that in the time of M. Laclede, the Mississippi became the natural 
boundary of the French and English possessions; St. Genevieve was the only 
French settlement on the right bank of the river, all the others, being on the left, 
were made over to the English. After a short sojourn in that village, M. Laclede 
explored the country, and discovering, sixty miles more to the north, a table-land 
seventy-five feet above the Mississippi, and covered with forests and fertile ground, 
he took possession of it and laid the foundation of a town, which he named St. 
Louis, in the presence of the French officers of the Chartres and of two young 
Creoles, Messrs. Auguste and Pierre Chouteau. We had the satisfaction of seeing- 
the latter in 1847, during the festival celebrated at St. Louis in honor of Laclede 

Scarcely was the rising colony established, which was augmented by French, 
Creole, and Illinois emigrants, who would not remain under the English dominion, 
when it was greatly alarmed by the arrival of 400 Indians, who, without being hos- 
tile, were nevertheless very troublesome, on account of their continual demands 
for provisions and the daily robberies they committed. M. Laclede made all pos- 
sible haste to rescue his establishment from the peril that menaced it, and imme- 
diately acted in a manner that showed his tact and his profound knowledge of the 
Indian character. The chieftains having appeared in his presence, addressed him 
in these terms : 

" We are deserving of pity, for we are like ducks and geese seeking clear water whereon 
to rest, as also to find an easy existence. We know of no better place than where we are. 
We therefore intend to build our wigwams around your village. We shall be your children, 
and you will be our father." 

Laclede put an end to the conversation by promising to give his answer the next 
day, which he did in the following manner : 

" You told me yesterday that you were like ducks and geese that seek a fair country 
wherein to rest and live at ease. You told me that you were worthy of pity ; that you had 
not found a more favorable spot to establish yourselves in than this one ; that you would 
build your village around me, and that we could live together as friends. I shall now an- 
swer you as a kind father : and will tell you that, if you imitate the ducks and geese, you 
follow improvident guides j for, if they had any forethought, they would not establish 



MISSOURI. rro 

563 

tbemselves on clear water where they may be perceived by the eagle that will pounce on 
them. It would not have been so had they chosen a retired spot well shaded with trees. 
You. Missourians. will not be devoured by birds of prey, but by the red men, who have 
fought so long against you, and who have already so seriously reduced your number. At 
this very moment they are not far from us, watching the English to prevent them from tak- 
ing possession of their new territories. If they find you here they will slay your warriors 
and make your wives and children slaves. This is what will happen to you, if, as you say 
you follow the example of the ducks and geese, instead of listening to the counsels of men 
who reflect. Chieftains and warriors, think now, if it is not more prudent for you to o-o 
away quietly rather than to be crushed by your enemies, superior to you in number, in the 
presence of your massacred sires, of your wives and children torn to pieces and thrown to 
the dogs and vultures. Remember that it is a good father who speaks to you ; meditate on 
what he has said, and return this evening with your answer." 

In the evening the entire tribe of the Missourians presented itself in a body be- 
fore M. Laclede, and announced to him that its intention was to follow his advice ; 
the chiefs then begged of him to have pity on the women and children, bj giving 
them some provisions, and a little powder to the warriors. M. Laclede acceded 
liberally to their request, and sent them off next day well supplied and happy. 

On the 17th of July, 1755, M. de St. Ange de Bellerive resigned the command 
of the frontiers to the English, and came to St. Louis with his troops and the civic 
officers. His arrival favored the definitive organization of the colony ; St. Louis 
became the capital of Upper Louisiana, and M. de St. Ange was appointed gov- 
ernor of the place. But Louis XV had made, in 1763, another treaty, by which 
he ceded to Spain the remainder of our possessions in North America. This treaty, 
kept secret during a year, completed the measure of humiliations and losses that 
France had to endure under such a i*eign. The official news of it was only re- 
ceived at New Orleans on the 21st of April, 1764, and the consternation it spread 
throughout Upper and Lower Louisiana was such that the governor, M. d'Abadie, 
died of grief Serious disturbances were the consequence, and the tragical events 
which took place under the command of Gen. O'Reilly, of sanguinary memory, 
cau.sed the administration of Upper Louisiana to remain in the hands of the French 
for several years. It was only on the 1 1th of August, 1768, that the Spanish troops 
were able to take possession of St. Louis for the first time, and even then they coul<i 
not hold the position above eleven months. At last, peac^ being restored, the Span- 
iards again became masters of all the country in 1770, five years before the death 
of M. de St. Ange, who expired at St. Louis in 1775. aged seventy-six years. M. 
Laclede died at the Post of the Arkansas on the 20th of July, 1778, leaving no 
children. 

In 1780, St. Louis was unsuccessfully attacked by 1,000 Indians and Ens;lish- 
men, from Michillimackinac, who had received orders to seize upon the town on 
account of the part the Spaniards had taken in the war of American independ- 
ence. 

Spain never sought to derive any advantage from the resources of Upper Louis- 
iana : it would seem as if she merely considered that mighty region as a barrier 
against the encroachments of her neighbor on her Mexican possessions. This 
policy alone can explain her indifierence with regard to the government of that 
country. When she took possession of all the territory situated to the west of the 
Mississippi, she found there a French population already acclimated, civilized, and 
inured to fatigues, owing to the long wars it sustained against the English and the 
Indians. The prospect of a calm and peaceable existence had assembled this pop- 
ulation on the borders of Arkansas, of the Mississippi, and of the IMissouri. where 
it only awaited a protecting government, to enable it to give to industry and agri- 
culture all possible development. All that Spain had to do was to open markets 
for its produce, and for exchanges with the southern colonies. This extensive em- 
pire, possessing the largest natural advantages, bounded by the Mississippi, the 
Missouri, and the Pacific Ocean, might have^owing to the preponderance that it 
could have acquired (as we witness in our days), changed the course of events 
which have taken place in Europe since that epoch. P'rance could not aspire to 
Buch power as long as she possessed Canada, but she should have thought of it 
when she abandoned that colony. The immense results obtained by the liberal 
institutions of the United States show clearly, in the present day, that the loss of 



50^ MISSOURI. 

Canada would have turned to our advantage, and that by developing the produce 
of the possessions which we still retained to the west of the Mississippi, ne hould 
soesn have been amply compensated for the sacrifices made in 1763, after the taking 
of Quebec. Such was the opinion of the intelligent men of France. Turgot, our 
celebrated statesman, in particular, foresaw the advantages to be derived from such 
a policy, and he even submitted a plan to the king by means of which that vast re- 
gion he called Equinoctial France, was to become densely populated in a short 
time. But, as M. Nicollet observes in his essay on the primitive history of St. 
Louis, he was treated as a visionary. 

What was easy for France was still much more so for Spain ; but instead of adopt- 
ing this simple policy — liberal and grand in its results — Spain contented herself with 
isolating the colonists and the Indians of Missouri and of Mississippi, imposing an 
arlyitrary government upon them, checking all communication between the neigh- 
boring populations; establishing restrictions on importation, prohibiting foreign 
competition, restricting emigration, granting exclusive privileges, and making, 
without any conditions, concessions of lands, etc. It is not surprising, then, that 
shft complains that her colonies cost her more than she realized by them. No- 
where, either in her laws or in her decrees, is there to be found a plan adopted 
with a view of developing the natural and moral resources of these countries. As 
the government appeared only to occupy itself with the exigencies of each day, in 
like manner the inhabitants did not seem to think of the morrow. The Creoles of 
Upper Louisiana, who were the descendants of a brave and enterprising nation, not 
finding in this state of things any support for their phj'sical and moral faculties, 
penetrated into the depths of the forests, got amid a multitude of savage tribes 
whom they had not heard of before, began to explore the regions situated between 
the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains, and created the fur trade in that exten- 
.sive portion of North America. In this way was formed that class of intrepid men 
called voyageurs or engages, of whom w« have already spoken, and who were as 
necessary in the plains of the west as are the Canadian voyageurs in the frozen 
countries of the north and north-west. 

Meanwhile America had attained her independence, and France was commenc- 
ing her revolution, when, all of a sudden, on the 9th of July, 1803, at seven o'clock 
in the evening, the inhabitants of St. Louis learned that Spain had re-ceded Louis- 
iana to Napoleon, who, in turn had sold it to the United States. We will make no 
remark on the profound sensation produced by this unexpected new.s. We will 
merely observe that the colonists could scarcely recover from their astonishment 
on hearing that they had become republicans, and seeing a multitude of judges, 
lawyers, notaries, tax-gatherers, etc., arriving among them. They were even 
less able to understand that liberty which obliged them to leave their homes to 
vote at elections, or to serve as jurors. They had allowed civilization to advance 
without taking any notice of it. Their existence was so isolated, so simplified, that 
they lost sight of the advantages of social life. They possessed no public schools, 
and the missionaries, being too few in number, were seldom able to visit or in- 
struct them in their religious duties. The object of their material life did not go 
beyond the domestic circle, the virtue and honesty of which were proverbial. 
They knew nothing of notaries, lawyers, or judges; and the prison remained empty 
during thirty years. To give an idea of the simplicity of the Creoles, we can not 
do better than relate an incident that took place a few years after the cession of 
Louisiana to the United States. 

A Creole from Missouri was lounging about a sale of negro slaves on the bor- 
ders of the Mississippi, in Lower Louisiana. The merchant, who was from Ken- 
tucky, asked him if he wished to buy anything: " Yes," replied the Missourian, 
" I want a negro." Having made his choice, he inquired the price of the one he 
selected. "Five hundred piastres," replied the merchant; "but, according to cus- 
tom, you have one year to pay.'' At this proposition the purchaser became em- 
barrassed; the thought of being liable to such a debt during an entire year 
annoved him greatly. "No, no!' said he to the merchant, "I prefer paying you 
at once six hundred piastres, and letting the matter be ended." "Very well," said 
the obliging Kentuckian, "I will do anything you please to make the afiiiir con- 
venient to you." And the bargain was concluded. 



MISSOURI. 5(35 

Tho Spanish troops departed from Louisiana on the 3d of November, 1804 
The American governor, W. H. Harrison, who had the chief command of the In 
diau territories of Upper Louisiana, organized the civil and judicial power of that 
country; and on the 2d of July, 1805, Gen. James Wilkinson established there, 
by order of congress, a territorial government, of which St. Louis was the capital. 



The only military event in the annals of St. Louis was the attack upon the 
town by the English and Indians from Mackinaw, in 1780. The citizens 
had intelligence the previous fall of the contemplated expedition, and there- 
upon fortified the town with a rude stockade six feet high, made by two rows 
of upright palisades, a few feet apart, filled in between with earth. The out- 
line of the stockade described a semi-circle around the place, resting its ex- 
tremities upon the river, above and below the town, flanked by a small fort 
at each extremity. Three gates gave opening to the country in the rear, 
each defended by a piece of ordnance, kept well charged. Monette, in his 
History of the Mississippi Valley, gives these particuhirs : 

The British commandant at Michillimackinac. hearing of the disasters of the British 
arms in Florida, conceived the idea of leading an expedition upon his own responsibility 
against the Spanish settlement of St. Louis. Early in the spring he had assembled one 
hundred and forty regular British troops and Canadian Frenchmen, and fourteen hundred 
Indian warriors for the campaign. From the southern extremity of Lake Michigan this 
host of savages, under British leaders, marched across to the Mississippi, and encamped 
within a few miles of St. Louis. The town had been fortified for temporary defense, and 
the hostile host made a regular Indian inve.stment of the place. Skirmishes and desultory 
attacks continued for several days, during which many were killed, and others were taken 
captive by the Indians. Much of the stock of cattle and horses belonging to the place 
was killed or carried off. 

The people at length, believing a general attack was contemplated, and having lost con- 
fidence in their commandant's courage, or in his preparations for defense, sent a special re- 
quest to Col. Clark, then commanding at Kaskaskia, to come to their aid with such force 
as he could assemble. Col. Clark immediately made preparation to march to their relief. 
Having assembled nearly five hundred men under his command, he marched to the bank 
of the Mississippi, a short distance below the town of St. Louis. Here he remained en- 
camped for further observations. On the sixth of May the grand Indian attack was made, 
when Col. Clark, crossing the river, marched up to the town to take part in the engage- 
ment. The sight of the Americans, or the "Long ■knives,''' as they were called, under the 
command of the well-known Col. Clark, caused the savages to abandon the attack and 
seek safety in flight. They refused to participate in any further hostilities, and reproached 
the British commandant with duplicity in having assured them that he would march them 
to fight the Spaniards only, whereas now they were brought against the Spaniards and the 
Americans. They soon afterward abandoned the British standard, and returned to their 
towns, near Lakes Superior and Michigan. • 



An old settler, writing for the Missouri Republican, in 1826, and the St. 
Louis Sketch Book, gives these historical items: 

A lapse of twenty years has ensued since I first obtained a residence in this rising 
town. ... It did not, when I first knew it, appear to possess even the germ of the 
materials which have since been so successfully used in making it the mart of commerce 
and the seat of plenty. Then, with some exceptions, it was the residence of the indolent 
trader or trapper, or more desperate adventurers. . . . Twenty years ago there were 
no brick buildings in St. Louis. The houses were generally of wood, built in a fashiim 
peculiar to the country, and daubed with mud. There were, however, some of the better 
order, belonging to the first settlers of the town, but whose massive walls of stone weie 
calculated to excite the wonder of the modern beholder, giving the idea of an antiiiue 
fortress. What was then called Chouteau's Hill, but which has since lost that distinctive 
appellation, was nothing else than a barren waste, over which the wind whistled in its unob- 
structed course, if we except only an occasional cumbrous fortification, intended for a de- 
fense, and evidencing the poverty of the country in military as in other talent. Then, and 
for a long while after, the streets were intolerably bad, resembling the roads in Ohio, where 



566 MISSOURI 

it is related of a man that his hat was taken from his head just as he was disappearing 
forever in the regions of mud. 

Twenty years since, and down to a much later period, the commerce of the country, on 
the Mississippi, was carried on in Mackinaw batteaux and keel boats. A voyage performed 
in one of the latter kind was a fearful undertaking; and the return trip from New Orleaiis 
was considered an expeditious one if made in ninely days. When an increased commerce 
took pbice, our streets were thronged with voyageurs, of all ages, countries and comiil ex- 
ions. They were a soui-ce of constant ti'ouble to a weak and inefficient police, with w hum 
tliey delighted to kick up a row. Deprived, by the introduction of steamboats, of their 
usual means of living, and like the savage averse to settled life, they have almost entirely 
disappeared. At the time of which we write, the traveler who made a journey to the 
Atlantic states, did not resolve upon it without mature deliberation. . . . It then required 
from thirty to forty days to travel to Philadelphia. . . . The morals or religion of the 
people can not be defined. They had, it is true, vague notions of such things, but they 
were of so quiescent a character as to be easily set aside when in opposition to their pleas- 
ure or interest. There was but one church, and after a resort to this it was no uncommon 
thing to pass the remainder of the Sabbath evening in dancing or whist, for St. Louis then 
contained, at most, but a few hundred people." 

" Previous to the year 1829." says the Sketch Book of St. Louis, " there was no Pro- 
testant church in St. Louis, but in that year the first Presbyterian church was built, and 
the Rev. Artemas Bullard engaged as the minister. . . . There were places where the 
Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Universalists, etc., held divine service, but none of them 
possessed church edifices until this year. 

In 1844, another flood, equaling that which took place in the days of Crusat, visited the 
Mississippi. The river rose rapidly until the entire American bottom was submerged. 
Steamboats and all descriptions of water craft were to be seen winding their way through 
the woods opposite the city, conveying passengers to and from the coal hills on the Illinois 
shore, a distance of about twelve miles. This flood was very disastrous in its character, 
almost totally destroying Illinoistowii, which had become a village of several thousand 
inhabitants. The damage was immense, while not a few lives were lost, thousands of 
hogs, horses, cattle, sheep, fowls, etc., were drowned. ' Many who, before the flood, were 
in affluent circumstances, found themselves beggared. This was a marked event upon the 
trade of St. Louis, and she had scarcely recovered from the effects, when another calamity 
befel her. Late in the fall of 1848, that dreadful scourge, the cholera, made its appear- 
ance; the approach of cold weather stayed in a great measure the ravages of disease, but 
in the s|)ring it developed itself in full force. . . . The disease now assumed a more bold 
and formidable appearance, and instead of stalking through dirty lanes and filthy alleys, 
it boldly walked the streets. . . . Funeral processions crowded every street. . . The hum 
of trade was hushed. The levee was a desert.' 

When the disease was raging at its fiercest, the city was doomed to another horror — May 
17, 1849, it was burned — filteen squares were laid in ashes. The fire commenced on the 
steamer White Cloud. At the commencement the wind was blowing stiffly, forcing the 
boat directly into shore, which circumstance contributed seriously to the marine disaster. 
The wind set into the wharf, and although the cables of all the boats were hauled in, and 
they drifted out into the current, yet the Jlaming vessel seemed to outstrip them all in the 
speed with which she traveled down stream. ... In a short time, perhaps thirty minutes, 
twenty-three vessels were burnt. . . . Fifteen blocks of houses were destroyed and in- 
jured, causing a loss of ten millions of dollars. Olive-street was the commencement in 
the city, and with the esceirtion of one building, the entire space down to Market-street 
was laid in ruins. The progress of the flames was stayed by blowing up a portion of the 
buildings below Market-street with powder: in doing this, although timely warning was 
given, several persons lost their lives." 

In July, 1817, came the Gen. Pike, the first steamer which arrived at St. Louis. She 
was commanded by Capt. Jacob Reed, and w:is built on Bear Grass Creek, near Louisville. 
In 1847, on the anniversary of the city's birth, a miniature representation of the boat was 
exhibited, and became the most curious feature of the celebration, as showing the changes 
in steamboat architecture. " This miniature representation was about twenty feet long; 
the hull that of a barge, and the cabin on the lower deck run up on the inside of the run- 
ning board. The wheels were exposed, being without a wheel-house — she was propelled 
by a low pressure engine, with a single chimney and a large walking beam. The crew 
were supplied with poles, and where the current proved too stiong for the steam, they used 
the poles, as on keel boats, to help her along. It was mounted on wheels, and drawn by 
eight white horses. The boat was manned by a crew of steamboat captains, who appeared 
in the dress usually worn by the officers and men in their various stations." 



MISSOURI. 



567 




Bloody Island, opposite St. Louis, near the Illinois shore of the Missis- 
sippi, is the terminus of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad. It received its 
name from the circumstance of its being the dueling ground for this region. 
It is within the limits of Illinois, and at the time of high freshets is par- 
tially covered with water. It has a growth of large forest trees. This spot 
was selected by duelists from its being neutral ground : the island was for 

some time disputed territory between the states 
of Illinois and Missouri. A fatal contest of 
this kind ensued between Thomas Biddle, of 
St. Louis, and one of his friends, in which both 
were killed. The origin of the duel seems to 
have been some jocose remark made by the 
antagonist of Mr. Biddle in regard to his (Mr. 
Biddle's) family affairs. Mrs. Biddle foolishly 
considering herself insulted, gave her husband 
no rest until he had challenged the author of 
the remark to mortal combat. Having passed 
over to Bloody Island, they fought at the dis- 
tance of some three or four paces apart, and 
both fell mortally wounded. Mrs. Biddle, 
overwhelmed at the fatal consequences of her 
attempt to avenge her injured feelings, devoted 
the remainder of ber life to penitence, and her 
fortune to charity. The annexed engraving is 
a view of a monument erected in memory of 
husband and wife, on the premises of St. Mary's 
Orphan Asylum, on Tenth-street, under the charge of the order of the 
"Daughters of Charity." The monument is about 20 feet high : the follow- 
ing words are affixed over the door, "Pray for the souls of Thomas and Anne 
Biddle." 

The following inscriptions are from monuments within the city limits: 

In memory of one whose name needs no eulogy, Joseph M. White, late Delegate in Con- 
gress from the Territory of Florida. Born in Franklin county, Kentucky, 8th of Oct., 1798, 
died in St. Louis, at the residence of his brother, Thomas J. White, M.D., the 19th day of 
October, 1839. 

Thomas Barbour, M.D., son of the Hon. P. P. Barbour, of Virginia. Born Aug. 26, 
1810, and died June 18, 1849. In all the relations of life, he illustrated the strength and 
beauty of Christian principle — ardent affection, generous friendship, and fervent charity 
were the spontaneous emotions of a heart imbued with the holy desire of glorifying God 
and doing good to man. As a practitioner of medicine he had attained a distinguished 
eminence. With the Medical Department of the University of Missouri, his name is asso- 
ciated as one of its founders and most able and faithful teachers. With the early history 
of the Central Presbyterian Church, of which he was an Elder, his name is recorded as one 
of its brightest ornaments. 



Biddle Monument, St. Louis. 



Over the door are the words, Pray for 
Ihesouls of Thomas and Anne BicUUe. 



Jefferson City, the capital of Missouri is situated on the right bank of 
Missouri River, on elevated, uneven and somewhat rocky ground, 125 mile^ 
W. of St. Louis. It contains the state house, a state penitentiary, the gov- 
ernor's house, several schools, 5 churches, 2 banks, and about 3,500 inhabit- 
ants, of whom near one half are Germans or of German orgin. The state 
house is built of stone, at an expense of $250,000, and presents a magnifi- 
cent appearance as it is approached sailing up the river from the eastward. 



'>68 



MISSOURI. 



Over the door of the main entrance of the capitol is the following inscrip- 
tion : 

" Erected Anno Domini, 1838. L. W. Boggs, Governor; P. C. Glover, Sec'y of State ; H. 
H. Baber, Aud. Pub. Accts ; W. B. Napton, Att'y General; A. McClellan, Treasurer, Com- 
missioners. S. Hills, Architect." 




East vieto of Jefferson City. 

The view annexed presents the appearance of the Capitol and other bnildings, as the citj' is entered 
upon the Pacific Ilailrciud. 'I'he bluff shown is 80 feet higli, and on its summit is the residence of Gen. J. 
L. Minor, formerly secretary (if the state. The Railroad Depot is at the foot of the bluff on the left ; the 
t'apitol on Capitol Hill is in the central part, at the base of which is the Ferry and City L.-inding. 

Tlie first white persons who located themselves within the limits of Jefferson City were 
John Wier and a Dr. Brown. Wier, who appciirs to have been a squatter, built his cabin 
on the spot where J. T. Rogers' (late mayor) house now stands. Wier's Creek, at the foot 
of Capitol Hill, was named after him. Dr. Brown, said to have been from Ireland, located 
himself on the declivity of Capitol Hill. William Jones, a bricklayer, kept thi- first ferry 
and house of entertainment at this place; he was succeeded by Mr. Thomas Rogers, the 
father of the mayor. Dr. Stephen C. Dorris, father of Dr. A. P. Dorris, was the first reg- 
ular physician: he was succeeded by Dr. Bolton, and he in turn by Dr. Mills. Robert A. 
Ewing (afterwarfl judge of the county court), was the first resident lawyer. Judge Wells 
was the next. Robert Jones was the first merchant: he had his store at the base of the 
Capitol Hill, near the ferry and city wharf. Among his purchases was that of two or three 
barrels of coffee, which at that time was considered a bold and hazardous speculation, as 
it was supposed it would take a long period to sell such an amount. 

The first school was taught by Jesse F. Roys, an itinerant teacher from North Carolina; 
he was succeeded by Hiram H. Baber, Esq., a native of Virginia, and now, with one ex- 
ception, the oldest inhabitant of Jefferson City. The school house was about half way 
between the railroad depot and the penitentiary. Jason Harrison, Esq., the first clerk of 
Cole county, was a native of Maryland; he came into Missouri in 1811 , and into Jefferson 
'/City in 1831. The first brick structure erected was a one story building, 16 feet square, 
ibuilt by Wm. Jones, and occupied as the state treasury ofiice: it stood opposite the Metho- 
diPt'Church. The first state house was built of brick, by Reuben Garnett, and stood in 
a 'lot adjoining the governor's house. It was accidentally burnt in Nov., 1837, and all the 
state papers, except those in the auditor's oflSce destroved. The seat of government was 
located in 1821, laid out in 1822, and the first sale of lots was made in 1823. The first 
tmstees of the town were Adam Hope, John C. Gordon, and Josiah Ramsay, jr. The first 
governor resident in Jefferson City, was John Miller, and a man of great wealth. He died 
while member of Congress, and was buried at St. Louis. 



MISSOURI. 5G9 

The first printing press was started here in 1826, by Calvin Ounn, who, it is believed, 
was fVom Connecticut. It was called the "Jeffersonian Republican." The first house for 
public worship here was erected by the Methodists and Baptists: this was in 1838. The 
Episcopal church was erected in 1842; the first resident Episcopal clergyman was Rev. 
Wm. L. Hommann. The first Presbyterian church was built about the year 1845, and tho 
first resident clergyman was Rev. Hiram S. Goodrich, D.D., from the eastern states, who 
came here about 1843. The Catholics, who are the largest religious body in the city, 
erected their first house of worship in 1847: their present handsome structure was built in 
1857. The state penitentiary was opened about 1835: the first warden was Gen. Lewis 
Bolton, and for about three months he had but one convict under his charge, who was put 
here for horse stealing or some kindred crime. This prisoner was much delighted when 
the next convict arrived, for ho was quite weary of solitude. 

The Missouri River is about 1,000 yards wide at this place, its ordinary current three 
and a half miles an hour, and its fall four inches to the mile. The ordinary rise of water 
here is from 10 to 15 feet above low water mark. The highest floods occur annually in 
June, like the annual overflow of the Nile in Egypt. It is caused by the melting of Ihe 
snow in the Rocky Mountains, nearly 3,000 miles distant. One of the greatest rise of 
waters known was on the 24th of June, 1844, at which time the water rose thirty feet above 
low water mark. 

In this section the principal fish are the cat, buffalo, and shovel fish: sturgeon are also 
taken. The cat fish ordinarily weigh from 3 to 25 lbs. In some instances they have been 
known to weigh 200 lbs. The method by which they are taken is called "jugging for 
cats." A single line about four feet in length, having a hook baited with flesh, is attached 
to the handle of a gallon jug and then thrown into the middle of the current of the i-iver. 
When the bait is swallowed it is known by the sinking of the jug, which acts like a cork: 
the fisherman thereupon takes up the line and secures the fish. The fisherman's usual 
method is to go up the stream, throw in his jugs, and float down with them, hugging the 
shore with his boat, so as to be in a position to closely watch his jugs, of which he can 
generally oversee some 10 or 12 at a time. 



The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in the Jefferson 
City graveyard : 

Erected by the State of Missouri to the memory of Gov. Thomas Reynolds, who died 
Feb. 9, 1844, aged 48 years. He was born in Bracken county, Kentucky, March 12, 1796 : 
in early life he became a citizen of the State of Illinois, and there filled the several offices 
of Clerk of the House of Representatives, Attorney General, Speaker of the House of Rep- 
resentatives, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In 1829, he removed to the State 
of Missouri, and was successively Speaker of the House of Representatives, Judge of the 
Second Judicial Circuit, and died Governor of the State. His life was one of honor, virtue 
and patriotism, and in every situation in which he was placed, he discharged his duty faith- 
fully. 

In memory of Peter G. Glover, born in Buckingham county, Va., Jan. 14, 1792 ; died 
in Osage county, Oct. 27, 1851, and lies buried here. He emigrated to Kentucky in early 
life, then to Missouri, where he filled the important public oflBces of the Justice of the 
County Court, Representative from Callaway, Senator from Cole, Auditor of Public Ac- 
counts, Superintendent of Common Schools, and Treasurer of the State, to the satisfaction 
of the people. As a father, husband, and friend, he was without reproach. 



Wm. A. RoBARDS, late Attorney General of the State of Missouri, born in Ky., May 3, 
1817; died Sept. 3, 1851. Erected by the State of Missouri, of which he was a worthy cit- 
izen, and its able and faithful officer, having filled several offices of public trust. 



New Madrid, the seat of New Madrid county, is on the Mississippi, 150 
miles below St. Louis, in the south-eastern corner of the state, and has about 
1,000 inhabitants. This is one of the old towns of Missouri, and the earliest 
American settlement west of the Mississippi River. Through the diplomatic 
talents of Colonel Wilkinson, the Spanish governor of Louisiana was induced 
to adopt a policy of conciliation to the western people, in hopes of attaching 
them to the Spanish government, and so forming a political union with the 



570 



MISSOURI. 



Louisianians, that should terminate in a dismemberment of the east from the 
west, and an incorporation of the latter under the Spanish crown. Says 
Monette: 

The first step toward the a '•omplishment of this desirable object was the plan of form- 
ing. American settlements in Upper Louisiana, as well as in the Florida district of Lower 
Louisiana. A large American settlement was to be formed on the west side of the Mis- 
sissippi, between the mouth of the Ohio and the St. Francis River. General Morgan, an 
American citizen, received a large grant of land about seventy milea below the mouth of 
tho Ohio, upon which he was to introduce and settle an American colony. Soon afterward 
and in 1788, General Morgan arrived with his colony, and located it about seventy miles 
below the mouth of the Ohio, upon the ancient alluvions which extend westward to the 
Whitewater Creek, within the present county of New Madrid, in Missouri. Here, upon 
the beautiful rolling plains, he laid off the plan of a magnificent city, which, in honor of 
the Spanish capital, he called " New Madrid." The extent and plan of the new city was 
but, little, if any, inferior to the old capital which it was to commemorate. Spacious 
streets, extensive public squares, avenues, and promenades were tastefully laid off to mag- 
nify and adorn the future city. In less than twelve months from its first location, it had 
assumed, according to Major Stoddart, the appearance of a regularly built town, with nu- 
merous temporary houses distributed over a high and beautiful undulatory plain. Its lati- 
tude was determined to be 36 deg. 30 min. north. In the center of the site, and about one 
mile from the Mississippi, was a beautiful lake, to be inclosed by the future streets of the 
city. 

This policy was continued for nearly two years, in hopes of gaining over the western 
people to an adherence to the Spanish interests. Nor was it wholly unsuccessful. In the 
meantime, many individuals in Kentucky, as well as on the Cumberland, had become fa- 
vorably impressed toward a union with Louisiana under the Spanish crown, and a very 
large portion of them had been highly dissatisfied with the policy of the Federal govern- 
ment, because it had failed to secure for them the free navigation of the river, either by 
formal negotiation or by force of arms. But this state of mitigated feeling toward the 
Spanish authorities was of but short duration. 



New Madrid was nearly ruined by the great earthquakes of the winter 
of 1811-12, it being the center of the most violent shocks. The first 
occurred in the night of 15th Dec, 1811, and they were repeated at in- 
tervals for two or three months, being felt from Pittsburg to New Orleans. 
By them the Little Prairie settlement, thirty miles below this place, was en- 
tirely broken up, and Great Prairie nearly ruined. The graveyard at New 
Madrid, with its sleeping tenants, was precipitated into the river, and the 
town dwindled to insignificance and decay. Thousands of acres in this sec- 
tion of the country sunk, and multitudes of ponds and lakes were created in 
their places. "The earth burst in what are called sand blows. Earth, sand, 
coal, and water were thrown up to great hights in the air." The Mississippi 
was dammed up and flowed backward; birds descended from the air, and 
took refuge in the bosoms of people that were passing. The whole country 
was inundated. A great number of boats that were passing on the river 
were sunk, and whole crews perished ; one or two that were fastened to islands 
went down with them. The counti'y being but sparsely settled, and the build- 
ings mostly logs, the loss of life was less than it otherwise would have been. 
Col. John Shaw gives these reminiscences of this event.* 

While lodging about thirty miles north of New Madrid, on the 14th of December, 1811, 
about two o'clock in the morning, occurred a heavy shock of an earthquake. The house 
where I was stopping, was partly of wood and partly of brick structure; the brick portion 
all fell, but I and the family all fortunately escaped unhurt. At another shock, about two 
o'clock in the morning of the 7th of February, 1812, I was in New Madrid, when nearly 
two thousand people, of all ages, fled in terror from their falling dwellings, in that place 

*" Personal Narrative of Col. John Shaw, of Marquette county, Wisconsin," published 
in the Collections of the Historical Society of Wisconsin. 



MISSOURI. 



671 



and the surrounding country, and directed their course about thirty miles north to Ty wap- 
pety Hill, on the western bank of the Mississippi, about seven miles back from the river 
This was the first high ground above New Madrid, and here the fugitives formed an en- 
campment. It was proposed that all should kneel, and engage in supplicating God's mercy, 
and all simultaneously, Catholics and Protestants, knelt and offered solemn prayer to their 
Creator. 

About twelve miles back toward New Madrid, a young woman about seventeen years 
of age, named Betsey Masters, had been left by her parents and family, her leg having 
been broken below the knee by the falling of one of the weight-poles of the roof of the 
cabin; and, though a total stranger, I was the only person who would consent to return and 
see whether she still survived. Receiving a description of the locality of the place, I 
started, and found the poor girl upon a bed, as she had beeu left, with some water and 
corn bread within her reach. I cooked up some food for her, and made her condition as 
comfortable as circumstances would allow, and returned the same day to the grand en- 
campment. Miss Masters eventually recovered. 

In abandoning their homes, on this emergency, the people only stopped long enough to 
get their teams, and hurry in their f\imilies and some provisions. It was a matter of doubt 
among them, whether water or fire would be most likely to burst forth, and cover all the 
country. The timber land around New Madrid sunk five or six feet, so that the lakes and 
lagoons, which seemed to have their beds pushed up, discharged their waters over the sunken 
lands. Through the fissures caused by the earthquake, were forced up vast quantities of 
a hard, jet black substance, which appeared very smootli, as though worn by friction. It 
seemed a very different substance from either anthracite or bituminous coal'* 

This hegira, with all its attendant appalling circumstances, was a most heart-rending 
scene, and had the effect to constrain the most wicked and profane, earnestly to plead 
to God in prayer for mercy. In less than three months, most of these people returned to 
their homes, and though the earthquakes continued occasially with less destructive effects, 
they became so accustomed to the recurring vibrations, that they paid little or no reo-ard 
to them, not even interrupting or checking their dances, frolics, and vices. 

Father Cartwright, in his autobiography, gives us some facts to show that 
the earthquakes proved an element of strength to the Methodists. He tells 

ub: 

In the winter of 1812 we had a very severe earthquake; it seemed to stop the curroit 
of the Mississippi, broke flatboats loose from their moorings, and opened large cracks or 
fissures in the earth. This eartliquake struck terror to thousands of people, and under the 
mighty panic hundreds iiud thousands crowded to, and joined the different cliurches. 
There were many very interesting incidents connected with the shaking of the earth at 
this time; two I will name. I had preached in Nashville the night before the second 
dreadful shock came, to a large congregation. Early tlie next morning I arose and walked 
out on the hill near the house where I had preached, when I saw a negro woman coming 
down the hill to the spring, with an empty pail upon her head. (It is very common for 
negroes to carry water this way without touching the pail with either hand.) When she 
got within a few rods of where I stood, the earth began to tremble and jar; chimneys were 
thrown down, scaffolding around many new buildings fell with a loud crash, hundreds of 
the citizens suddenly awoke, and sprang into the streets; loud screaming followed, for 
many thought the day of judgment was come. The young mistresses of the above-named 
negro woman came running after her, and begging her to pray for them. She raised the 
shout and said to them, " My Jesus is coming in the clouds of heaven, and I can't wait to 
pray for you now; I must go and meet him. I told you so, that he would come, and you 
would not believe me. Farewell. Hallelujah! Jesus is coming, and I am ready. Halle- 
lujah! Amen." And on she went, shouting and clapping her hands, with the empty pail 
on her head. 

Near Russellville, Logan county, Kentucky, lived old Brother Valentine Cook, of very 
precious memory, with his wife Tabitha. Brother Cook was a graduate at Cokesbury Col- 
lege at an early day in the history of Methodism in these United States. He was a very 
pious, successful pioneer preacher, but, for the want of a sufficient support for a rising and 
rapidly increasing family, he had located, and was teaching school at the time of the above 

*The late Hon. Lewis F. Linn, a resident of St. Genevieve, and for many years a mem- 
ber of the United States senate from Missouri, and a man of science, addressed a letter, in 
1836, to the chairman of the committee on commerce, in which he speaks of the New Mad- 
rid earthquakes, and distinctly mentions water, sand, and coal issuing from the yast chasms 
opened by the convulsions. 



572 MISSOURI. 

named earthquake. He and his wife were in bed when the earth began to shake and trem- 
ble. He sprang out of bed, threw open the door, and began to shout, and started, with 
nothing on but his night-clothes. He steered his course east, shouting every step, saying, 
" My Jesus is coming." His wife took after him, and at the top of her voice cried out, 
"O Mr. Cook, don't leave me." 

"0 Tabby," said he, " my Jesus is coming, and I can not wait for you ; " and on he 
went, shouting at every jump, "My Jesus is coming; I can't wait for you, Tabby." 

The vears of the excitement by these earthquakes hundreds joined the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, and though many rt'ere sincere, and stood firm, yet there were hundreds that 
no doubt had joined them from mere fright. 

The earthquake gave Tecumseh, the Shawnee chieftain, the reputation of 
a prophet among the Indians of Alabama. A few months previous to this 
event, he was on his mission to the southern Indians, to unite all the tribes 
of the south with those of the north in his grand scheme of exterminating 
the whole white race from the wide extent of the Mississippi valley — from 
the lakes of the north to the Gulf of Mexico. Drake, in his memoir of Te- 
cumseh, gives this anecdote: 

On his return from Florida, Tecumseh went among the Creeks m Alabama, urging them 
to unite with the Seminoles. Arriving at Tuckhabatchee, a Creek town on the Tallapoosa 
River, he made his way to the lodge of the chief, called the Big Warrior. He explained 
his object, delivered his war talk, presented a bundle of sticks, gave a peace of wampum 
and a "hatchet; all which the Big Warrior took. When Tecumseh, reading the intentions 
and spirit of the Big Warrior, looked him in the eye, and pointing his finger toward his 
face, said: " Your blood is white; you have taken my talk, and the sticks, and the wam- 
pum, and the hatchet, but you do liot mean to fight;" I know the reason; you do not be- 
lieve the Great Spirit has s'ent me; you shall know; I leave Tuckhabatchee directly, and 
shall go straight to Detroit; when larrive there, I will stamp on the ground with my foot, 
and shake down every house in Tuckhabatchee." So saying, he turned and left the Big 
Warrior in utter amazement, at both his manner and his threat, and pursued his journey. 
The Indians were struck no less with his conduct than was the Big Warrior, and began to 
dread the arrival of the day when the threatened calamity would befall them. They met 
often and talked over this matter, and counted the days carefully, to know the time when 
Tecumseh would reach Detroit. The morning they had fixed upon, as the period of his 
arrival, at last came. A mighty rumbling was heard — the Indians all ran out of their 
houses— the earth began to shake; when at last, sure enough, every house in Tuckhabat- 
chee was shaken down! The exclamation was in every mouth, " Tecumseh has got to 
Detroit! " The effect was electrical. The message he had delivered to the Big Warrior 
was believed, and many of the Indians took their rifles and prepared for the war. The 
reader will not be surprised to learn that an earthquake had produced all this; but he will 
be, doubtless, that it should happen on the very day on which Tecumseh arrived at Detroit; 
and, in exact fulfillment of his threat. It was the famous earthquake of New Madrid. 



Lexington, the county seat of Fayette, is situated for the most part on 
high grounds, on the south bank of the Missouri. The bluffs at the landing 
being about 200 feet above the river, the city is but partially seen from the 
decks of passing steamers. It is 125 miles above Jefferson City, and 250 
from St. Louis. It contains the county buildings, 8 churches, the Masonic 
College, a flourishing institution, under the patronage of the Masonic fra- 
ternity of the state, and about 5,000 inhabitants. 

Fayette, the county in which Lexington is situated, ranks the second in 
wealth in Missouri. Hemp is the most important production. Inexhausti- 
ble beds of bituminous coal are found in almost every part of the county, 
and the soil is rich and fertile. The Messrs. McGrew's establishment for the 
manufacture of bale rope, at Lexington landing, is admirably constructed. 
The hemp is unloaded at the upper story, and passes through the various 
stages of its manufacture, till it comes out bales of rope, ready for transpor- 
tation to market, in the warehouse below. The machinery is moved by 



MISSOURI. 5Y3 

steam, the coal to produce whicli is dug out of the earth a few feet only from 
the building. Eight tuns of rope can be manufactured daily. 




View of Lexington Landing. 

The engraving shows the appearance of the steamboat landing as it appears from the point on the 
opposite sidt! of Missouri River. The Messrs. M'Gi'ew's Hemp Factory, Flouring Mill, etc., are seen in 
the central part ; the road to the city back from the bluffs appears on the left ; the places from whence 
coal is taken on the right. 

Lexington was originally laid out about a mile back from the river, which, at that period, 
was hardly considered fit for navigation, goods being principally transported by land. The 
present city, being an extension of the old town, was commenced in 1839. At that time, 
the site on which the present court house stands was a cornfield, owned by James Aull, 
brother to Robert Aull, the president of the Bank of Lexington, both of whom were na- 
tives of New Castle, Del. The first court house was erected in the ancient part of Lex- 
ington, and is now occupied as a Female Seminary, a flourishing institution under the 
fatronage of the Baptists. The first house of worship in Lexington, was erected about 
831 or 1832, by the Cumberland and the Old School Presbyterians. It was a small frame 
building, which stood a few rods west of the old court house. Rev. John L. Yantis, now 
president of the Theological College at Richmond, was one of the first preachers. The 
inhabitants previously attended public worship in the country, back from the river. The 
Baptist and Methodist churches were erected in 1840. The Episcopal church is a recent 
structure; the first minister who officiated was Rev. St. Michael Fackler, now a missionary 
in Oregon. The Dutch Reformed Church bought their meeting house of the Christians 
or Campbellite Baptists, in 1856. 

The first regular public house in the modern part of Lexington, was the house next the 
residence of Robert Aull, the president of the bank, on the summit of the blufiF. This 
spot commands an extensive prospect up and down the river, showing Wellington, 8 miles 
distant, also Camden, in Ray county, some 8 or 10 miles distant in a direct line, but 18 by 
the river. The first regular ferryman was William Jack, a Methodist class leader and ox- 
horter, a man much esteemed for his Christian life and conversation. In 1827, C. R. More- 
head, cashier of the Farmer's Bank, built and loaded the first flatboat, in which he trans- 
ported the first tobacco raised for export in the county. This cargo, which consisted of 
forty-six hogsheads, with a quantity of bees-wax and peltries, was sent to New Orleans. 
The first goods brought by steamboats came in 1828, by the steamer William Duncan. 

In 1838, at the period of the Mormon war, as it was called, Lexington contained some 500 
inhabitants. The Mormons first located themselves in Jackson county, about 35 miles 
west. They afterward efi'ected a more permanent settlement in Caldwell county. At first 
they were enabled to live peaceably with their neighbors. In 1838, difiiculties arising, the 
governor of Missouri gave orders for their expulsion. A conflict took place in Ray county, 
in which Patten, a Mormon leader and elder was killed, and a number wounded. During 
this period it was quite a time of alarm in this section, and the inhabitants of Lexington 
fled to Richmond for safety. 

Wm Downing is believed to have been the first innkeeper in the ancient part of Lexing- 
ton. Wm. Todd was the first judge of the circuit court; the present judge, Russ el Hicks, 



gY4 MISSOURI. 

who first came into the county about the year 1825, hired himself out to a farmer for about 
tea dollars a month. He afterward became a school teacher, and while studying law, he 
supported himself by this occupation. 



The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in the graveyard in 
this place: 

In memory of Rev. Finis Ewing, born in Bedford county, Va., July 10, 1773, died in 
Lexington, Mo., July 4,1841. He was a Minister of the Gospel for forty-five years ; was 
one of the fathers and founders of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 



In memory of Reverend Jesse Greene, born Nov. 29, A.D. 1791, died April 18, A.D, 
1847. A pure Christian, a wise Counsellor, a faithful Minister, a Pioneer of Methodism in 
Missouri, part in the Council and Itinerant labors of his Church, and fell at his post. " I 
heard a voice from heaven, saying write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord ; Yea, 
saith the Spirit, their works do follow them." Rev. xiv, 13. The members of the Saint 
Louis Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South have erected this mon- 
ument over his remains, A.D. 1860. 



L. A. Griswold, Hebe of Prudence Constellation, No. 34, A.A.R., surreiMered her crown 
on Earth to be crowned with immortal glory in Heaven. In memory of Lockie A. Gris- 
wold, wife of Sylvanus A. Griswold, completed her errand of Mercy here, and was per- 
mitted to behold the Light of the Seraphic world, which ever inspired her with fraternal 
excellence, at 10 o'clock, P.M., Sept. 27, 1856. 




North-eastern view of Kansas City. 

Showing the appearance of Kansas City, at the Landing, as seen from the opposite bank of the Missouri. 
The forest shown in the distance, beyond the point of tlie bluff on the right, is within the territorial limits 
of Kansas. The Ferry Landing and the old Jail or Calaboose appear on the left. 

Kansas City is situated near the mouth of Kansas River, at the western 
boundary line between the state of Missouri and Kansas, 282 miles westward 
of Jefferson City, 456 from St. Louis, and 109 southerly from St. Joseph, on 
the Missouri. It is the western terminus of the line of the Pacific Railroad. 
A bluff, about 120 feet above high water mark, extends along the river for 
about a mile within the city limits. The principal part of the town is situ- 
ated immediately back of the bluff, through which roads are being cut to the 
levee in front. This city is the great depot for the Santa Fe trade, and it ia 



MISSOURI. 



575 



estimated that one fourth, of all the shipments up the Missouri River, from 
its mouth to the Rocky Mountains, are received here. Kansas City was in- 
corporated in 1853. Population about 8,000. 

As far back as the days of Lewis and Clarke, or the first expeditions of the vari- 
ous trapping companies of the French and the old pioneers of the west, the site 
of Kansas City has been a prominent point for the business of the old trappers and 
traders, who have had many a business transaction around their camp fires under 
the blufis of the " Katosmoiiih," as this spot was formerly called. 

The principal portion of the land inclosed by the old city limits was entered by 
Gabriel Prudhomme, an old mountain trader. The selection, survey, and first sale 
of the lots was made in 1838. The survey was but a partial one, and owing to 
some aisagreement, nothing was done by the stockholders except the erection of a 
few cabins. In 184G, the town was re-surveyed by J. C. McCoy, Esq., and the 
growth of the city may be dated as commencing from that year. Within eighteen 
months after the first sale of lots, there was a popuhition of about 700. The pro- 
prietors of the town were J. C. McCoy, Wm. Gilliss, Robert Campbell, H. Jobe, 
W. B. Evans, Jacob Ragan, and Fry R McGee. 

The first house erected in Kansas City was a log cabin, which stood on the site 
of the building in which the Western Journal of Commerce is issued. This cabin 
was erected in 1839, by Thomas A. Smart, as a trading house. The second build- 
ing was erected by Anthony Richers, a native of Germany, who was educated for 
the Catholic ministry. Father Bernard Donnelly, a native of Ireland and a Cath- 
olic, is believed to have been the first clergyman who officiated in public worship ; 
he preached in a log building, now used as a school house, near Broadway, about 
half a mile back from the steamboat landing. The first physician was Dr. Benoist 
Troost, of Holland, formerly a surgeon under Napoleon. The first postmaster was 
William Chick, who for a time kept the office in the top of his hat. "One eyed 
Ellis," as he was familiarly called, appears to have been the first lawyer, who, it 
is stated, employed his leisure time in "picking up stray horses." Wm. B. Evans 
kept the first tavern, at the corner of Main and Levee-streets. The first newspapers 
were the "Kansas Ledger," first issued in 1852, and the "Western Journal of 
Commerce," first issued in Aug., 1854, under the name of the "Kansas City En- 
terprise." 

A great portion of the early trade of the city was with the Indians, mountain 
and Mackinaw traders, boatmen, etc. Poneys, pelts, furs, etc., were received in 
exchange for powder, lead, tobacco, colfee, etc. The first and principal warehouses 
in town were erected in 1847. Col. E. C. McCarty, in company with Mr. Russell, 
started the first train from Kansas City to New Mexico ; old Mr. McDowell took 
the charge of it, and was the first man that ever crossed the American Desert in 
a wagon. The following is extracted from the Annals of the City of Kansas, pub- 
lished in 1858: 

The New Mexico, or, as it is generally known, the Santa Fe trade, is said to have first 
began at Boonville, or Old Franklin, as early as the year 1824. Mr. Monroe, Philip 
Thompson, the Subletts of St. Louis and Jackson counties, Nat. Sernes, and others, were 
among the first men ever engaged iu the trade. The idea of taking or sending goods to New 
Mexico, was first suggested to these gentlemen by the richness and thick settlements of this 
valley of the Rio Grande Del Norte. When returned to the states, they commenced mak- 
ing preparations to forward goofjs to this valley. How to get their merchandise there, 
without being at an almost ruinous expense, was the most important subject of considera- 
tion. Finally, having resolved to go — to make the experiment at all hazards, they started, 
taking out their freight as best they could, some in one horse wagons, some in carts, some 
on pack-mules, and, on dit, with packs on their backs. They were successful — a better 
trade was found than they anticipated— more goods were sent out, with better carriage fa- 
cilities, and in a few years large fortunes were realized. In 1845, Messrs. Bent and St. 
Vrain landed the first cargo of goods at Kansas City, that was ever shipped from this 
point to New Mexico in wagons that went out in a train. This train consisted of eighteen 
wagons, with five yoke of cattle to the wagon, and about 5,000 lbs. of freight to each 
team. A great excitement was extant. Mexican commerce had given new life to border 
trade. Gradually the business with New Mexico became concentrated at points on the river. 
From 1832 to 1848, or 1850, our neighbor city, Independence, had the whole command of 



576 



MISSOURI. 



this great trade. Her merchants amassed fortuues, and the business generated by this 
prosperous intercourse, built up Independence into one of the most flourishing and beauti- 
i'ul towns iu the west. 

During these years, from 1832 to 1848, some few mountain and Mexican goods were 
landed among the cottonwoods below our city. Messrs. Bent & St. Vrain are amor g the 
oldest freighters engaged in transporting goods over the Great Plains; in 1834, they landed 
a small shipment of mountain goods at Mr. Francois Chouteau's log warehouse, neai- the 
island just east of the city. In 1846 our citizens then had what they thought to be quite 
a large and respectable trade with New Mexico, and the next year, 1847, it is conceded 
that Kansas City fairly divided this great tra^de with the city of Independence; and since 
1850, Kansas City has had the exclusive benefit of all the shipping, commission, storage, 
repairing and outfitting business of the mountains and New Mexico, save, perhaps, a few 
wagons that have been loaded and outfitted at Independence by her own merchants. 




A Tram ci-ossing the Great Plains. 

From the most reliable information we can obtain, it is estimated that there are at least 
three hundred merchants and freighters now engaged in the New Mexico and mountain 
commerce. Properly, in this connection, may be inserted a few remarks concerning our 
mountain traffic and importations. 

Some of our leading merchants for years have had trading houses established in tha 
mountains, where they constantly keep a large stock of goods to trade with the Indians, 
who pay for these goods with their annuity money, with buffalo robes, with furs, pelts, 
hides, and Indian ornamental fabrics. 

This trade done in the mountains, creates large importations of the above mountain 
products to our city. In 1857, the following importations were made: Robes, furs, etc., 
$267,253 52; Mexican wool, .f 129,600; goat skins, $25,000; dressed buckskins, $62,500; 
dry hides, $37,500; peltries, $36,000. Like the transport of Mexican goods, these imports 
come to us as the cargoes of the great mountain trains or caravans. 

Train is only another word for caravan. These caravans, then, consist of from forty to 
eighty large canvas covered wagons, with from fifty :|^o sixty-five hundred pounds of 
freight to each wagon — also, six j'oke of oxen or five span of mules for every wagon — 
two men as drivers for every team, besides supercargoes, wagon masters, etc., who gener- 
ally ride on horseback. When under way, these wagons are about one hundred feet apart, 
and as each wagon and team occupies a space of about ninety or one hundred feet, a train 
of eighty wagons would stretch out over the prairie for a distance of a trifle over three 
miles, in 1857, 9,884 wagons left Kansas City for New Mexico. Now, if these wagons 
were all in one train, they would make a caravan 223 miles long, with 98,840 mules and 
oxen, and freighting an amount of merchandise equal to 59,304,000 lbs. 



A recent visitor at Kansas City gives some valuable items : 

Just below the mouth of the Kansas, and between it and the highlands on which Kanaas- 



MISSOURI. 577 

.C'*y is located, is an extent of level bottom land, embracing some fifty acres, and covered 
fparselj with trees. Tliis is the camping ground of the immense caravans of Russell, 
ii'.jors & Co. We found several acres covered with the enormous wagons that are used 
ic the prairie trade. Here is also an immense stable for the horses, mules, etc., and a 
place of deposit for feed for the thousands of oxen. It was to me something of a sight to 
»ee such a number of land ships. They will carry from seven to ten thousand pounds, and 
are drawn by from three to six yokes of oxen. They are covered when loaded, so as uj 
protect the goods from the rains. 1 examined them, and found them made many hundreds 
of miles to the east. I saw a large number which came from Michigan. They are strong, 
heavily ironed and massive wagons. 

The commercial business of the town is mostly transacted on the levee. The solid 
blocks of warehouses receive the goods from the steamers, and from them they are loaded 
into the immense wagons and taken to their final destination. Here is the landing and 
the starting place for the vast trade to Santa Fe and New Mexico. One of the si!ijj,ular 
features in the streets is the large number of Mexicans, or as every body here calls them, 
"greasers," with their trains of mules, loading for their far distant homes. Kansas City 
has been the starting place for this trade for thirty years. Many of the citizens have be- 
con>o wealthy by it, and the evidences of prosperity and thrift around us are traceable to 
the efi'ects of this Santa Fe trade. I do not see any cause that can disturb this in the fu- 
ture. Heavy loads of goods and merchandise of all kinds are brought from St. Louis and 
the east, on steamers, to this, the last and the nearest point to the Territory of New Mex- 
ico, and as this business must increase with the settlement of the country to the west and 
south-west, the permanence of the prosperity of this city seems to be fixed. 

These "greasers " arc a hard looking set of men. They are a sort of compromise be- 
tween the Indian and negro, with now and then a touch of Spanish blood. They are gen- 
erally short and small, quite dark, veiy black straight hair, generally hanging about their 
face5. Their national hat is a low crowned slouch looking concern. They wear girdles, 
with knives, etc., convenient for use. Altogethei- they look like an ignorant, sensual, 
treacherous, thieving and blood-thirsty set, which is very much the cliaracter they bear 
among the people of this city. 

Kansas City, being in Missouri, has a few slaves, but they are fast disappearing. Some 
forty were shipped ott" in one gang this spring for the southern market. The original set 
tiers were Southerners and sl.iveholders, but the northern element has been pouring in 
upon them till a large proportion of the business men are now from the free states. There 
is nt>»»' no talk about slavery, all are engaged in a more sensible business — building up 
the city. 



St. eTosEPH, the most, populous and flourishing place in north-western 
Missouri, is situated on the E. bank of the Missouri, 565 miles N.W. from 
St. Louis, 391 from Jefferson City, and 206, by the Hannibal and St. Joseph 
Railroad, from the Mississippi. The city is for the most part on broken and 
uneven ground, called the Black Snake Hills, and is surrounded by a rich 
and fertile country. There are 7 churches, 2 female seminaries, 2 daily and 3 
weekly papers published here. There are several steam sawing and grist mills 
and other extensive manufacturing establishments. The Catholic Female 
Seminary of this place stands on a commanding elevation back from the city, 
and is seen from down the river at a great distance. The completion of the 
Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad makes this, at present, the most western 
point in the United States reached by the great chain of railroads, and has 
opened a new era in its prosperity. It is now the central point for all west- 
ern travel. The Great Salt Lake mail, the Pike's Peak express, and the 
Pony express, taking dispatches to San Francisco in eight days, all start from 
this place. Population about 10,000. 

The city of St. Joseph was founded by Joseph Robidoux, a native of St. 
Louis, and of French descent. Mr. Robidoux first visited this place in 1803, 
as an Indian trader, being in connection at that time with the American Fur 
Company. He was forfi/ days in sailing up the Missouri from St. Louis, and 
camped out every night on shore with his boatmen, about a dozen in nuiuber. 
The Indians lived on the city grounds till they removed to the opposite bank 
37 



578 MISSOURI. 

of the river, about 25 mileB above. He erected his first trading house ia 
1831, about two miles below the city. In 1833, he built a second tradin;? 
house on the spot now occupied by the City Hotel : and in 1838 pre-emptf;'! 
the site of the city. 



South view of St. Joseph. 

The view shows the appearance of the city, as it is approached from the south by the Missouri River. 
The Court House, in the central part, stands on an elevation of about 200 feet ; the Kailroad from Hanni- 
bal enters the city on the rich bottom lands on the right. The sand bank seen in the view on the left, is 
within the limits of Kansas. 

The town was laid off in 1843. The first resident clergyman in the place 
was a Catholic, Rev. Thomas Scanlan, and the first public worship was held 
in the house of Mr. Julius C. Robidoux, the first postmaster in the place. 
Mr. R.'s first ofiice was west of the Black Snake Creek, and he was the first 
regular merchant in St. Joseph. Rev. T, S. Reeve, the next minister, first 
preached in a log house on the corner of Third and Francis-streets. The 
first settlers were principally from Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Among 
the first settlers were Col. Samuel Hall, Capt. Wm. H. Hanson and William 
Ewing, from Kentucky ; Capt. John Whitehead and James Cargill, from 
Virginia; Frederick W. Smith, from St. Louis; and Michael Rogers, from 
Ireland. Daniel Gr. Keedy, from Maryland, was the first physician. Jona- 
than M. Bassett, James B. Grardenhire, and Willard P. Hall, were among the 
first lawyers. Mrs. Stone, a widow lady, opened the first school. The first 
tavern was kept by David St. Clair, from Indiana, who came here in 18-13. 
Jeremiah Lewis, from Kentucky, was the first ferryman. 

Westoji, a flourishing commercial town, on the Missouri River, about 4 
miles above Fort Leavenworth, is the river port for Platte county, about 225 
miles W.N.W., by the road, from Jefferson City, and upward of 500 by 
water from St. Louis. Its frontier position renders it a favorable position 
for emigrants starting for California and other points west. It was first settled 
in 1838. The great emigration westward of late years, has much increased 
the activity of trade at this point. Two newspapers are published here. 
Population about 3,500. 



MISSOURI. 579 

Independence^ the county seat of Jackson, is important as one of the start- 
ii.;^: points in the trade to New Mexico, and other places westward. It is 
about five miles back from the Missouri River, and 1(55 miles W. by N. from 
J'^iferson City. It was laid out in 1828, and is surrounded by a most beau- 
tiful and fertile country, abundantly supplied with pure water. Population 
about 3,500. 




Hannibal. 

Hannibal, Marion county, on the western bank of the Mississippi, is 15 
miles below Quincy, 111., and 153 above St. Louis. It is a flourishing town 
and the shipping port of a large quantity of hemp, tobacco, pork, etc., 
raised in the vicinity. Stone coal, and excellent limestone for building pur- 
poses, are abundant. Its importance, however, is principally derived from 
its being the eastern terminus of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, a 
line extending directly across the northern part of the state, and which, at 
this point, connects this great western railroad with the system of railroads 
eastward of the Mississippi. Hannibal was laid out in 1819, and incorpor- 
ated in 1839. It is one of the most thriving towns on the Mississippi, has 
numerous manufacturing establishments, an increasing commerce, and about 
8,000 people. 



Col. John Shaw, in his personal narrative, relates some incidents that 
occurred in this section of Missouri in the war of 1812. He acted as a 
scout on this frontier. We here quote from him: 

The Upper Mississippi Indians, of all tribes, commenced depredations on the 
frontiers of Missouri and Illinois, in 1811, and early in 1812. Several persons 
were killed in different quarters. About thirty miles above the mouth of Salt 
River, and fully a hundred above the mouth of the Missouri, was Gilbert's Lick, 
on the western bank of the Mississippi, a place of noted resort for animals and 
cattle to lick the brackish water; and where a man named Samuel Gilbert, from 
Virginia, had settled two or three years prior to the spring of 1812. In that region, 
and particularly below him, were a number of other settlers. About the latter 
part of May, 1812, a party of from twelve to eighteen Upper Mississippi Indians 
descended the river in canoes, and fell upon the scattered cabins of this upper set- 
tlement in the night, and killed a dozen or more people. 

This massacre in the Gilbert's Lick settlement, caused great consternation along 
the Missouri frontier, and the people, as a matter of precaution, commenced fort- 
ing. Some seven or eight forts or stockades were erected, to which a portion of 
the inhabitants resorted, while many others held themselves in readiness to flee 
there for safety, in case it might be thought necessary. I remember the naiB4t of 



580 



MISSOURI 



Stout's Fort, Wood's Fort, a small stockade at what is now Clarksville, Fort Ho-jv- 
iivi., and a fort at Howell's settlement — the latter nearest to Col. Duniel Boone ; b"! 
th^) people bordering immediately on the Missouri River, being less exposed to dan 
gcT, did not so early resort to the erection of stockades. 

About this time, probably a little after, while I was engaged with eighteen or 
tw««nty men in building a temporary stockade where Clarksville now stands, on tlie 
wi!%tern bank of the Mississippi, a party of Indians came and killed the entire 
family of one O'Neil, about three miles above Clarksville, while O'Neil himself was 
ei»ployed with his neighbors in erecting the stockade. In company with O'Neil 
and others, I hastened to the scene of murder, and found all killed, scalped, and 
horribly mangled. One of the children, about a year and a half old, was found 
literally baked in a large pot metal bake kettle or Dutch oven, with a cover on ; and 
as there were no marks of the knife or tomahawk on the body, the child must have 
been put in alive to suffer this horrible death; the oil or fat in the bottom of the 
kettle was nearly two inches deep. 

I went to St. Louis, in company Avith Ira Cottle, to see Gov. Clark, and ascertain 
whether war had been actually declared. This must have been sometime in June, 
but the news of the declaration of war against Great Britain had not yet reached 
th^re. On our return, I was strongly urged by the people to act as a spy or scout 
on the frontier, as 1 was possessed of great bodily activity, and it was well known 
that I had seen much woods experience. I consented to act in this capacity on 
tha frontiers of St. Charles county, never thinking or troubling myself about any 
pe<?uniary recompense, and was only anxious to render the distressed people a use- 
liil service. I immediately entered alone upon this duty, sometimes mounted, and 
sometimes on foot, and carefully watching the river above the settlements, to dis- 
oorer whether any Indians had landed, and sometimes to follow their trails, learn 
their destination, and report to the settlements. 

Upon my advice, several of the weaker stockades were abandoned, for twenty or 
thirty miles around, and concentrated at a place near the mouth of Cuivre or Cop- 
per River, at or near the present village of Monroe; and there a large number of 
us, perhaps some sixty or seventy persons, were some two or three weeks employed 
in the erection of a fort. We named it in honor of the patriotic governor, Benja- 
min. Howard, and between twenty and thirty families were soon safely lodged ir. 
Fort Hotvard. The fort was an oblong square, north and south, and embraced 
about half an acre, with block houses at all the corners except the south-east one. 
As the war had now fairly commenced, an act of congress authorized the rais- 
ing of six companies of Rangers; three to be raised on the Missouri side of the 
Mississippi, and the other three on the Illinois side. The Missouri companies were 
commanded by Daniel M. Boone, Nathan Boone, and David Musick. 1 he commis 
sion of Nathan Boone was dated in June, 1812, to serve a year, as were doubtless 
the others. 

The Indians, supplied by their British employers with new rifles, seemed bent 
on exterminating the Americans — always, however, excepting the French and 
Spaniards, who, from their Indian intermarriages, were regarded as friends and 
connections. Their constant attacks and murders, led to offensive measures. 

Of the famous Sink Hole hattie, fought on the 24th of May, 1814, near Fort How> 
ard, I shall be able to give a full account, as I was present and participated in it. 
Capt. Peter Craig commanded at P^ort Howard ; he resided with his father-in-law, 
Andrew Ramsey, at Cape Girardeau, and did not exceed thirty years of age. 
Drakeford Gray was first lieutenant. Wilson Able, the second, and Edward Spears, 
third lieutenant. 

About noon, five of the men went out of the fort to Byrne's deserted house on 
the bluff, about a quarter of a mile below the fort, to bring in a grindstone, la 
consequence of back water from the Mississippi, they went in a canoe ; and on 
tiieir return were fired on by a party supposed to be fifty Indians, who were under 
shelter of some brush that grew along at the foot of the bluff, near Byrne's house, 
imd about fifteen rods distant from the canoe at the time. Three of the whites 
were killed, and one mortally wounded ; and as the back water, where the canoo 
was, was only about knee deep, the Indiana ran out and tomahawked their vio- 
tims. 



MISSOURI. 



581 



The people in the fort ran out as quick as possible, and fired across the buck 
■water at the Indians, but as they were nearly a quarter of a mile oflF, it was of 
course without effect. Capt. Craig with a party of some twenty-five men hastened 
in pursuit of the Indians, and ran across a point of the back water, a few inches 
deep; while another party, of whom 1 was one, of about twenty -five, ran to the 
right of the water, with a view of intercepting the Indians, who seemed to be mak- 
ing toward the bluff or high plain west and north-west of the fort. The party with 
which I had started, and Capt. Craig's soon united. 

Immediately on the bluff was the cultivated field and deserted residence of Ben- 
jamin Allen, the field about forty rods across, beyond which was pretty thick tim- 
ber. Here the Indians made a stand, and here the fight commenced. Both parties 
treed, and as the firing waxed warm, the Indians slowly retired as the whites ad- 
vanced. After this fighting had been going on perhaps some ten minutes, the whites 
were reinforced by Capt. David Musick, of Cape au Gris, with about twenty men. 
Capt. Musick had been on a scout toward the head of Cuivre River, and had re- 
turned, though unknown at Fort Howard, to the Crossing of Cuivre River, about a 
mile from the fort, and about a mile and a half from the scene of conflict ; and had 
stopped with his men to graze their horses, when hearing the firing, they instantly 
remounted and dashed toward the place of battle, and dismounting in the edge of 
the timber on the bluff, and hitching their horses, they rushed through a part of • 
the Indian line, and shortly after the enemy fled, a part bearing to the right of the 
Sink Hole toward Bob's Creek, but the most of them taking refuge in the Sink 
Hole, which was close by where the main fighting had taken place. About the 
time the Indians were retreating. Capt. Craig exposed himself about four feet be- 
yond his tree, and was shot through the body, and fell dead ; James Putney was 
killed before Capt. Craig, and perhaps one or two others. Before the Indians re- 
tired to the Sink Hole, the fighting had become animated, the loading was done 
quick, and shots rapidly exchanged, and when one of our party was killed or 
wounded, it was announced aloud. 

This Sink Hole was about sixty feet in length, and about twelve to fifteen feet 
wide, and ten'or twelve feet deep. Near the bottom on the south-east side, was a 
shelving rock, under which perhaps some fifty or sixty persons might have shel- 
tered themselves. At the north-east end of the Sink Hole, the descent was quite 
gradual, the other end much more abrupt, and the south-east side was nearly per- 
pendicular, and the other side about like the steep roof of a house. On the south- 
east side, the Indians, as a further protection in case the whites should rush up, 
dug under the shelving rock with their knives. On the sides and in the bottom of 
the Sink Hole were some bushes, which also served as something of a screen for 
the Indians. 

Capt Musick and his men took post on the north-east side of the Sink Hole, and 
the others occupied other positions surrounding the enemy. As the trees ap- 
proached close to the Sink Hole, these served in part to protect our party. Find- 
ing we could not get a good opportunity to dislodge the enemy, as they were best 
protected, those of our men who had families at the fort, gradually went there, not 
knowing but a large body of Indians might seize the favorable occasion to attack 
the fort, while the men were mostly away, engaged in the exciting contest. 

The Indians in the Sink Hole had a drum, made of a skin stretched over a sec- 
tion of hollow tree, on which they beat quite constantly ; and some Indian would 
shake a rattle, called she-shu-qui, probably a dried bladder with pebbles within ; 
and even, for a moment, would venture to thrust his head in view, with his hand 
elevated shaking his rattle, and calling out peash! peash! which was understood to 
be a sort of defiance, or as Black Hawk, who was one of the party, says in his ac 
count of that affair, a kind of bravado to come and fight them in the Sink Hole. 
When the Indians would creep up and shoot over the rim of the Sink Hole, thov 
would instantly disappear, and while they sometimes fired effectual shots, they in 
turn became occasionally the victims of our rifles. From about one to fouro'clofk 
in the afternoon, the firing was inconstant, our men generally reserving their fire 
till an Indian would shovr his head, and all of us were studying how he could more 
effectually attack and dislodge the enemy. 

At length Lieut. Spears suggested that a pair of cart wheels, axle and tongue. 



582 MISSOURI. 

which were seen at Allen's place, near at hand, be obtained, and a moving batter-v 
constructed. This idea was entertained favorably, and an hour or more consumed 
in its construction. Some oak floor puncheons, from seven to ei,2;ht feet in lensrtli, 
were made fast to the axle in an upright position, and port-holes made through 
them. Finally, the battery was ready for trial, and was sufficiently large to pro- 
tect some half a dozen or more men. It was moved forward slowly, and seemed 
to attract the particular attention of the Indians, who had evidently heard the 
knocking and pounding connected with its manufacture, and who now frequently 
popped up their heads to make momentary discoveries ; and it was at length moved 
up to within less than ten paces of the brink of the Sink Hole, on the south-east 
side. The upright plank did not reach the ground within some eighteen inches, 
our men calculating to shoot beneath the lower end of the plank at the Indians ; 
but the latter, from their position, had the decided advantage of this neglected 
aperture, for the Indians shooting beneath the battery at an upward angle, would 
get shots at the whites before the latter could see them. The Indians also watched 
the port-holes, and directed some of their shots to them. Lieut. Spears was shot 
dead, thi-ough the forehead, and his death was much lamented, as he had proved 
himself the most active and intrepid officer engaged. John Patterson was wounded 
in the thigh, and some others wounded behind the battery. Having failed in the 
•object for which it was designed, the battery was abandoned after sundown. 

Our hope all along had been, that the Indians would emerge from their covert, 
and attempt to retreat to where we supposed their canoes were left, some three or 
four miles distant, in which case we were firmly determined to rush upon them, 
and endeavor to cut them totally off. The men generally evinced the greatest 
bravery during the whole engagement. Night now coming on, and having heard 
the reports of half a dozen or so of guns in the direction of the fort, by a few In- 
dians who rushed out from the woods skirting Bob's Creek, not more than forty 
rods from the north end of the fort. This movement on the part of the few Indians 
who had escaped when the others took refuge in the Sink Hole, was evidently de- 
signed to divert the attention of the whites, and alarm them for the safety of the 
fort, and thus effectually relieve the Indians in the Sink Hole. This was the result, 
for Capt. Musick and men retired to the fort, carrying the dead and wounded, and 
made every preparation to repel a night attack. As the Mississippi waj, quite high, 
with much back water over the low grounds, the approach of the enemy was thus 
facilitated, and it was feared a large Indian force was at hand. The people were 
always more apprehensive of danger at a time when the river was swollen, than 
when at its ordinary stage. 

The men in the fort were mostly up all night, ready for resistance, if necessary. 
There was no physician at the fort, and much effort was made to set some broken 
bones. There was a well in the fort, and provisions and ammunition sufficient to 
sustain a pretty formidable attack. The women were greatly alarmed, pressing 
their infants to their bosoms, fearing they might not be permitted to behold another 
morning's light; but the night passed away without seeing or hearing an Indian. 
The next morning a party went to the Sink Hole, and found the Indians gone, who 
had carried off all their dead and wounded, except five dead bodies left on the 
north-west bank of the Sink Hole ; and by the signs of blood within the Sink Hole, 
it was judged that well nigh thirty of the enemy must have been killed and 
wounded. Lieut. Drakeford Gray's report of the affair, made eight of our party 
killed, one missing, and five wounded — making a total of fourteen; I had thought 
the number was nearer twenty. Our dead were buried near the fort, when Capt. 
i^Iusick and his men went over to Cape au Gris, where they belonged, and of which 
garrison Capt. Musick had the command. We that day sent out scouts, while I 
|)i()cepded to St. Charles to procure medical and surgical assistance, and sent for- 
ward Drs. Hubbard and Wilson. 



St. Charles, the capital of St. Charles county, is on the northern bank of 
the Missouri River, 18 miles from its mouth, and about 20 by land from St. 
Louis. The first settlement of St. Charles dates back to the year 1764, 



MISSOURI. . 583 

when it was settled by the French, and for a long time was regardod as the 
rival of St. Louis. The opening of the North Missouri Railroad has added 
much to its prosperity. It is handsomely situated on the first elevation on 
the river from its mouth. The rocky blufi"s in the vicinity present beautiful 
views of both the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Quarries of limestone, 
sandstone, and stone coal have been opened near the town. The village is 
upward of a mile long, and has several streets parallel with the river. It 
contains the usual county buildings, several steam mills, etc., a Catholic con- 
vent, a female academy, and St. Charles College, founded in 1837, under the 
patronage of the Methodists. Population about 3,000. 

Boonville, a flourishing town, the county seat of Cooper county, is on the 
S. bank of Missouri River, 48 miles N.W. from Jefferson City. It has im- 
portant commercial advantages, which have drawn to it the principal trade 
of S.W. Missouri, of a portion of Arkansas, and the Cherokee Nation. It 
has a healthy situation, and is surrounded by a rich farming region. Grapes 
are cultivated here to some extent. Iron, lead, stone coal, marble and lime- 
stone are abundant in the vicinity. The New Mexico or Santa Fe trade is 
said to have first begun at Boonville, or Old Franklin, as early as 1824. 
Population about 4,000. 

Jwnton, the county seat of Iron county, is on the line of the Iron Moun- 
tain Railroad, 87 miles from St. Louis. The county abounds in mineral 
wealth, iron, marble, copper, and lead, and the town, containing some few 
hundred inhabitants, is becoming quite a summer resort from its excellent 
medicinal springs. 

Potosi is one of the oldest towns in the state, having been settled in 1763, 
by Messrs. Renault and Moses. It is near the line of the Iron Mountain 
Railroad, 54 miles from St. Louis. It is the county seat of Washington, and 
has been long noted as the seat of the richest of lead mines. The town has 
about 700 inhabitants. 

The famous 3Iine a Burton, at this place, was the most important and 
principal discovery made in Missouri under Spanish authority. It took its 
name from M. Burton, a Frenchman, who, while hunting in this quarter, 
found the ore lying on the surface of the ground. This was about the year 
1780. Hon. Thos. H. Benton gives this account of Mr. Burton from per- 
sonal knowledge, and published it in the St. Louis Enquirer of October 16, 
1818: 

He is a Frenchman from the north of France. In the forepart of the last cen- 
tury, he served in the low countries under the orders of Marshal Saxe. He was 
at the siege of Bergen-op zoom, and assisted in the assault of that place when it 
was assailed by a division of Marshal Saxe's army, under the command of Cuunt 
Lowendahl. He has also seen service upon the continent He was at the building 
of Fort Chartres, on the American bottom, afterward went to Fort Du Quesne (now 
Pittsburo;), and was present at Braddock's defeat. From the life of a soldier, Bur- 
ton passed to that of a hunter, and in that character, about half a century ago 
while pursuing a bear to the west of the Mississippi, he discovered the rich lead 
mines which have borne his name ever since. His present age can not be ascer- 
tained He was certainly an old soldier at Fort Chartres, when some of the peo- 
ple of the present day were little children at that place. The most moderate com- 
putation will make h'im one hundred and six. He now lives in the family of Mr. 
Micheaux, at the Little Rock ferrv, three miles above Ste. Genevieve, and walks to 
that village almost every Sunday to attend Mass. He is what we call a square built 
man of five feet eight inches high, full chest and forehead; his sense of seeing 
and bearing somewhat impaired, but free from disease, and apparently able to hold 
out against time for many years to come. 



584 



MISSOURI. 



In 1797, Moses Austin, a native of Connecticut, who afterward became 
identified with the history of Texas, explored the country about Mine a Bur- 
ton, and obtained a grant of a league square from the Spanish government, 
in consideration of erecting a reverberating furnace and other works, for the 
purpose of prosecuting the mining business at these mines. 

"Associated with Mr. Austin, was his son Stephen F. Austin, who, in 1798, com- 
menced operations, erected a suitable furnace for smelting the " ashes of lead," 
and sunk the first regular shaft for raising ore. These improvements revived the 
mining business, and drew to the country many American families, who settled iu 
the neighborhood of the mines. The next year a shot-tower was built on the pin- 
nacle of the cliflp near Herculaneum, under the superintendence of Mr. Elias 
Bates, and patent shot were made. A manufactory of sheet lead was completed 
the same year, and the Spanish arsenals at New Orleans and Havana, received a 
considerable part of their supplies for the Spanish navy from these mines." 

Hermann^ capital of Grasconade county, is on the line of the Pacific Rail- 
road, 81 miles from St. Louis. It was first settled in 1837, by the German 
Settlement Society, of Philadelphia. The place and vicinity are noted for 
the culture of the grape, being second only to Cincinnati. A good year's 
jrrowth of the grape will yield over 100,000 gallons of wine, worth from 
%\ 25 to $2 per gallon. 

There are in the state a large number of towns of from 1,000 to 3,000 in- 
habitants, beside those described. These are among them: Canton, in Lewis 
county, 175 miles N.E. from Jeflferson City. Carondolet, on the Iron Moun- 
td,in Railroad, 6 miles from St. Louis. This is an old town, settled half a 
century since, and named from one of its early settlers, Baron De Carondo- 
let. ChiUicofhe, the county seat of Livingston, is. 129 miles west of Hanni- 
bal, on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad. Columbia, the county seat 
of Boone, 33 miles N.N.W. from Jeflferson City, and is the seat of the State 
University and of two colleges. Fulton, county seat of Callaway, is 24 miles 
N.E. from Jeflferson City. Here is located Westminster College and the 
State Lunatic and Deaf and Dumb Asylums. Glasgow is in Howard county, 
on the left bank of the Missouri, 60 miles N.W. of Jeflferson City. La 
Grange is on the Mississippi, in Lewis county, 104 N.N.E. of Jeflferson City. 
Louisiana is on the left bank of the Mississippi, 82 miles N.E. of Jefferson 
City. Palmyra, the county seat of Marion, on the Hannibal and St. Joseph 
Railroad, 14 miles from Hannibal, has two colleges and two academies, and 
is considered the most beautiful town of northern Missouri. St. Genevieve, 
the capital of St. Genevieve county, is situated on the W. bank of the Mis- 
sissippi, 72 miles below St. Louis, and 117 S.E. from Jefferson City. St. 
Genevieve exports large quantities of copper, lead, limestone, marble, and 
white sand; the latter article is of superior quality, being used in the glass 
works of Boston and Pittsburg. It is noted as the oldest town in Missouri, 
having been settled by a few French families in 1751. Tipton is in Moniteau 
county, 38 miles from Jefferson City. Washington is in Franklin county, on 
the line of the Pacific Railroad, 54 miles from St. Louis. HuntsviUe, county 
t?eat of Randolph, is on the North Missouri Railroad, 160 miles N.W. from 
St. Louis: near it is Mount Pleasant College. Mound City, or Hudson, is 
Ht the junction of the North Missouri and Hannibal and St. Joseph Rail- 
roads, 1()8 miles from St. Louis. Mexico, the county seat of Audrian, is on 
the North Missouri Railroad, 50 miles N.E. from Jefferson City. 



MISSOURI. 585 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, MISCELLANIES, ETC. 

Gen. WiUiam Clark was born in Virginia in Aug., JJ^O and in 1784 removed 
with his father's family, to the Falls of the Ohio, now the site of Louisville, where 
hi^ brothrthe dStingu^^ Gen. George Rogers Clark, had a short time previ- 
oislv established a for't. In 1793, he was appointed by Washington lieutenant of 
nflemen '' In 1803 he was tendered by Mr. Jefferson the appointment of captain 
of engineers, to assume joint command with Captain Merriwether Lewis, of 
?he NoJth-western Expedition to the Pacific Ocean. This was accepted, and the 
party 1 ft S Louis in^March, 1804, for the vast and then unexplored regions be- 
tween the Mississippi River and the ocean, under the joint command of himself 
«^d T Pwis thev beino-, by a special regulation to that effect, equal in rank. On 
tht pSis ex^pedlSoA, h"^ wa? the prindpal military director, while Lewis assisted 
by himself, was^the scientific manager. Gen._ Clark thenkep and wrote the Jour- 
nal which has since been published, and assisted Lewis in all his celestial obser- 
?a ions, when they were together. On their return to St. Louis from the Pacific 
Ocean in the fall of 1806, Capt. Lewis was appointed governor of he territory 
then designated as Upper Louisiana, and the place of lieutenant-colonel of infantry 
was offered to Gen. (tlien Capt.) Clark: but he preferred the P^-^^f J-^^.^g-f 
at St. Louis, having become, by his intercourse with the various t^^^^o^.^h^e Mis- 
souri well acquainted with the proper course o be pursued toward them, and he 
remained in this oSice until he was made brigadier general for the J^erritory of 
uTper Louisiana, under the laws of congress. During the ate war with Gre^at 
Br^^ain he was applied to by the war department to revise the plan of the campaign 
then Toing on under Gen. Hall, and was offered the appointment of brigadier ^en- 
eraHn the United States army, and the command then held by Hull; these how- 
ever he refused, being convinced that the operations of this officer were t^o far 
advanced to be ucces'sfuUy remedied. In 1813, President Madison appointed him 
Tn Xce of Gov. Howard, resigned, governor of the territory and supermtendent 
of Indian affairs, after he had twice refused to be nominated to the first oftice. He 
held both these offices until Missouri was admitted into the Union as a state in 
1820 Upon her admission, he was nominated against his consent as a candidate 
for governor, but was not elected, being in Virginia at t^e time of election _ He 
Sen remained in private life until 1822, when he was appointed by President Mon- 
roe superintendent of Indian affairs. As commissioner and superintendent of In- 
dkn affairs for a long series of years, he made treaties wi h almost every tribe of 
Indlns and exhibited to all of them the feelings of a philanthropist, as well as a 
becoming zeal for the rights of the government of his country. He was applied 
to to accept the office of United States senator from Missouri, but declined, be- 
le^?ng that he could more efficiently serve his country, and the cause of hamanity 
n the Indian department than in the national halls of legislation^ .^^ffi^''' *^^ 
youngest of six brothers, the four oldest of >vhom were distinguished officers m 
the Revolutionary war. One of them fell in the struggle; another was killed by 
he ndTans upon the Wabash, and his brother, Gen. George Rogers Clark is well 
known the people of the west. The early history of Kentucky is identified with 
his and as lon^^ as that noble and proud state maintains her lofty eminence, she 
t^fllcherS his name. Gen. Clark Was a resident of St. Louis for more than thirty 
years, and died therein September, 1838, aged 68 je^rs:'-Blakes Bwg. Diet 

Gov. Benjamin Howard was born in Virginia. From 1807 to 1810, he was a 
representative in Congress from Kentucky, when he was appointed governor of 
SEs?iSerritory. iS 1 813, he resigned the latter office being appointed brigadier 
General in the US. service. This was the period of the war with Great Britain, 
She was in command of the 8th military department, then embracing all the 
t "iTi torXm the interior of Indiana to the Mexican frontier^ He died after two 
Hvs nines, at St. Louis, in Sept., 1814. He was a brave and patriotic man and 
hi J loss was ;incerely felt. Seve;al forts in the west have been named from him. 

Hon. Lewis F. Linn ^^, born near Louisville, Ky in 1?^, and was educated 
to medicine which he practiced after his removal to Missouri. From 18o3 to 1843, 
he was a senator in congress from Missouri, and died Oct. 3d, in the last named year 



586 MISSOURI. 

at his residence in St. Genevieve. His congressional career was eminently distin- 
guished for ability, and for his identification with the interests of the Mississippi 
Valley. His virtues were eulogized by many of the best men in the country. 

Hon. TTiomas Hart Benton "was born in Hillsborough, North Carolina, March 
14, 1782, and educated at Chapel Hill College. He left that institution without re- 
ceiving a degree, and forthwith commenced the study of law in William and Mary 
College, Virginia, under Mr. St. George Tucker. In 1810, he entered the United 
States army, but soon resigned his commission of lieutenant-colonel, and in 1811 
was at Nashville, Tenn., where he commenced the practice of the law. He soon 
afterward emigrated to St. Louis, Mo., where he connected himself with the press 
as the editor of a newspaper, the Missouri Argus. In 1820, he was elected a mem- 
ber of the United States senate, serving as chairman of many important com- 
mittees, and remained in that body till the session of 1851, at which time he failed 
of re-election. As Missouri was not admitted into the Union till August 10, 1821, 
more than a year of Mr. Benton's first term of service expired before he took his 
seat. He occupied himself during this interval before taking his seat in congress 
in acquiring a knowledge of the language and literature of Spain. Immediately 
after he appeared in the senate he took a prominent part in the deliberations of 
that body, and rapidly rose to eminence and distinction. Few public measures 
were discussed between the years 1821 and 1851 that he did not participate in 
largely, and the influence he wielded was always felt and confessed by the coun- 
try. He was one of the chief props and supporters of the administrations of 
Presidents Jackson and Van Buren. The people of Missouri long clung to him as 
their apostle and leader ; and it required persevering effort to defeat him. But he 
had served them during the entire period of thirty years without interruption, and 
others, who aspired to honors he enjoyed, became impatient for an opportunity to 
supplant him. His defeat was the consequence. Col. Benton was distinguished 
for his learning, iron will, practical mind, and strong memory. As a public speaker 
he was not interesting or calculated to produce an eS"ect on the passions of an 
audience, but his speeches were read with avidity, always producing a decided in- 
fluence. He was elected a representative in the thirty-third congress for the dis- 
trict of St. Louis, and on his retirement from public life devoted himself to the 
preparation of a valuable register of the debates in congress, upon which he 
labored until his death, which occurred in Washington on the 10th of April, 1858, 
of cancer in the stomach." — Lanman's Diet, of Congress. 



EXPULSION OF THE MORMONS FROM MISSOURI. 

[From Perkins' Annals of the West.] 

From the time of Rigdon's conversion, in October, 1830, the progress of Mor- 
monism was wonderfully rapid, he being a man of more than common capacity 
and cunning. Kirtland, Ohio, became the chief city for the time being, while 
large numbers went to Missouri in consequence of revelations to that efi'ect. In 
July, 1833, the number of Mormons in Jackson county, ^Missouri, was over 1,200. 
Their increase having produced some anxiety among the neighboring settlers, a 
meeting was held in the month just named, from whence emanated resolutions for- 
bidding all Mormons thenceforth to settle in that county, and intimating that all 
who did not soon remove of their own will would be forced to do so. Among the 
resolutions was one requiring the Mormon newspaper to be stopped, but as this 
was not at once complied with the office of the paper was- destroyed. Another 
large meeting of the citizens being held, the Mormons became alarmed and con- 
tracted to remove. Before this contract, however, could be complied with, violent 
fu'oceedings were again resorted to; houses were destroyed, men whipped, and at 
ength some of both parties were killed. The result was a removal of the Mor- 
mons across the Missouri into Clay county. 

These outrages being communicated to the Prophet at Kirtland, he took steps 
to bring about a great gathering of his disciples, with which, marshaled as an 
army, in May, 1834, he started for Missouri, which in due time he reached, but 



MISSOURI. 587 

with no other result than the transfer of a certain portion of his followers as per- 
manent settlers to a region already too full of them. At first the citizens of Cflay 
county were friendly to the persecuted; but ere long trouble grew up, and the 
wanderers were once more forced to seek a new home, in order to prevent outrages. 
This home they found in Caldwell county, where, by permission of the neighbors 
and state legislature, they organized a county government, the country having been 
previously unsettled. Soon after this removal, numbers of Mormons flocking in, 
settlements were also formed in Davis and Carroll: — the three towns of the new 
sect being Far West in Caldwell ; Adam-on-di-ah-mond, called Diahmond or Diah- 
man, in Davis ; and Dewit, in Carroll. Thus far the Mormon writers and their 
enemies pretty well agree in their narratives of the Missouri troubles ; but thence- 
forth all is contradiction and uncertainty. These contradictions we can not recon- 
cile, and we have not room to give both relations ; referring our readers, therefore, 
to Hunt and Greene, we will, in a few words, state our own impressions of the 
causes of the quarrel and the catastrophe. 

The Mormons, or Latter-day Saints, held two views which they were fond of 
dwelling upon, and which were calculated to alarm and excite the people of the 
frontier. One was, that the west was to be their inheritance, and that the uncon- 
verted dwellers upon the lands about them were to be destroyed, and the saints to 
succeed to their property. The destruction spoken of was to be, as Smith taught, 
by the hand of God ; but those who were threatened naturally enough concluded 
that the Mormons might think themselves instruments in His hand to work the 
change they foretold and desired. They believed also, with or without reason, that 
the saints, anticipating, like many other heirs, the income of their inheritance, 
helped themselves to what they needed of food and clothing; or, as the world 
called it, were arrant thieves. 

The other offensive view was, the descent of the Indians from the Hebrews, 
taught by the Book of Mormon, and their ultimate restoration to their share in the 
inheritance of the faithful : from this view, the neighbors were easily led to infer 
a union of the saints and savages to desolate the frontier. Looking with suspicion 
upon the new sect, and believing them to be already rogues and thieves, the in- 
habitants of Carroll and Davis counties were of course opposed to their possession 
of the chief political influence, such as they already possessed in Caldwell, and 
from the fear that they would acquire more, arose the first open quarrel. This took 
place in August, 1838, at an election in Davis county, where their right of sufi'rage 
was disputed. The aSray which ensued being exaggerated, and some severe cuts 
and bruises being converted into mortal wounds by the voice of rumor, a number 
of the Mormons of Caldwell county went to Diahmond, and after learning the facts, 
by force or persuasion induced a magistrate of Davis, known to be a leading oppo- 
nent of theirs, to sign a promise not to molest them any more by word or deed. 
For this Joe Smith and Lyman Wight were arrested and held to trial. By this 
time the prejudices and fears of both parties were fully aroused ; each anticipated 
violence from the other, and to prevent it each proceeded to violence. The Mor- 
mons of Caldwell, legally organized, turned out to preserve the peace; and the 
Anti-Mormons of Davis, Carroll and Livingston, acting upon the sacred principle 
of self-defense, armed and embodied themselves for the same commendable pur- 
pose. Unhappily, in this case, as in many similar ones, the preservation of peace 
was ill confided to men moved by mingled fear and hatred ; and instead of it, the 
opposing forces produced plunderings, burnings, and bloodshed, which did not 
terminate until Governor Boggs, on the 27th of October, authorized Gen. Clark, 
Avith the full military power of the state, to exterminate or drive from Missouri, if 
he thought necessary, the unhappy followers of Joe Smith. Against the army, 
3,500 strong, thus brought to annihilate them, and which was evidently not a mob, 
the 1,400 Mormons made no resistance; 300 fled, and the remainder surrendered. 
The leaders were examined and held to trial, bail being refused ; while the mass 
of the unhappy people were stripped of their property to pay the expenses of the 
war, and driven, men, women, and children, in mid winter, from the state, naked 
and starving. Multitudes of them were forced to encamp without tents, and with 
scarce any clothes or food, on the bank of the Mississippi, which was too full of 
ice for them to cross. The people of Illinois, however, received the fugitives when 



588 



MISSOURI. 



they reached the eastern shore, with open arms, and the saints entered upon a 
new and yet more surprising series of adventures than those they had already 
passed through. The Mormons found their way from Missouri into the neighbor- 
ing state through the course of the year 1839, and missionaries were sent abroad 
to paint their sufferings, and ask relief for those who were persecuted because of 
their religious views; although their re/«'grioMS views a,ppear to have had little or 
nothing to do with the opposition experienced by them in Missouri. 



THE IRON MINES OF MISSOURI. 

No country on the globe, of the same extent, equals Missouri in the quantity of 
iron. "The metalliferous region of Missouri covers an area of at least 20,000 

square miles, or about 12,800,000 
acres, and the same formation ex- 
tends southward into Arkansas and 
westward into the territories, in 
this great region is a uniformity of 
mineral character as unusal as the 
great extent of the deposits. The 
whole country is composed of lower 
magnesian limestone, and bears 
lead throughout its entire extent, 
and in numerous localities, iron 
mines of great value exist. The 
ore is massive, generally found on 
or near the surface, and of remark- 
able purity. Among the most re- 
markable of these iron formations 
is the celebrated Iron Mountain, in 
St. Francis county, nearPotosi, and 
about 80 miles south from St. Louis 
by the Iron Mountain Railroad, 
and 30 west of the Mississippi 




One of the Iron Mountains, and rising to the hight of 
five hundred and eighty-one feet. 



River. On account of the difficulty of transportation, and the prevailing impreS' 
sion that the ore from the Iron Mountain could not be smelted, it remained un- 
productive till the formation of the Iron Mountain Company, in 1845. It now 
furnishes the chief material for the St. Louis rolling-mill, and is the principal sup 
port of the iron manufactures of Missouri. 

The mountain is the south-western termination of a ridge of porphyritic rocks. 
It is of a conical shape, flattened at the top, and slopes toward the west. It is 
made up exclusively of specular oxide of iron, the most abundant and valuable 
ore in the state, in its purest form, containing no perceptible quantity of other 
mineral substances except a little less than one per cent, of silica, which, accord- 
ing to Dr. Ditton, who made an analysis of the ore four or five years ago, rather 
improves than injures its quality. The quantity of the ore is inexhaustible, and, 
for most pui-poses, its quality requires no improvement. 

The area of the Iron Mountain covers an extent of some five hundred acres. 
It rises to the hight of two hundred and sixty feet above the general level of the 
surrounding country. Its whole top is a solid mass of iron, and one can see noth- 
ing but iron lumps as far as the eye can reach. The ore of this mountain is 
known as the specular oxide, and usually yields some sixty-eight or seventy per 
cent, of pure iron, and so free from injurious substances as to present no obstacle 
to working it directly into blooms. The metal is so excellent that much of it is 
now used by the manufacturers on the Ohio River, for mixing with the ore found 
there. There are in operation at the mountain three blast furnaces, producing 
from seven thousand to seven thousand five hundred tuns of metal annually. Be- 
sides this immense deposit of ore above the surface, a shaft sunk at the base of 
the mountain gives fifteen feet of clay and ore, thirty feet of white sandstone, 
thirty-three feet of blue porphyry, and fifty-three feet of pure iron ore. This bod 
of mineral would be immensely valuable if there was none above the surface. 



MISSOURI. 539 

"About sk ralles south and a little east of the Iron Mountain are deposits of ore 
no less rich, and scarcely less extensive. These are chiefly in Ptlot Knob and 
Shepherd Moimtain. The Pilot Knob ore is different from_ all other ore of the 
neiifhborhood, both in appearance and in composition. It is of finer grain and 
more compact and breaks with a gray, steel-like fracture. It contains from ten to 
twenty per cent, of silica, which renders it more readily fusible, and better fatted 
for some purposes. The Knob is a very striking feature in the landscape. Rising 
almost perpendicularly five hundred and eighty-one feet on a base of three hun- 
dred and sixty acres, and almost wholly isolated, it has long served as a land-mark 
to the pioneers of Missouri. Hence its name. A very large portion of the moun- 
tain is pure iron. It is somewhat difficult to estimate the quantity of the ore, on 
acconn of its being interstratified with slate. The rocks about the base of the 
mountain are dark gray, silicious and slaty. At a hight of three hundred feet 
ZjZl more traces l\ iron. At a bight of four hundred -d orty-one feet 
there is a stratum of pure ore. from nineteen to twenty-four feet thick. Beneath 
and above this are beds of ore mixed with the sihcious rocks. It is estimated that 
the amount of ore above the surface is not less than 13,8/2,773 tuns, and probably 
much more. Its igneous origin is not certain, but probable ; and hence it is proba- 
ble that it extends downward to an indefinite extent, according to the well-founded 

* Sh7pher?Mounttin, which is a little more than a mile south-west of Pilot Knob, 
rises to a hii^ht of 660 feet on a base of 800 acres. It is penetrated with veins or 
dykes of ore, running in different directions, but mostly vertical, and of indefanite 

'"^From the mine, which is worked at about 500 feet from the top of Pilot Knob, 
the ore is carried in cars on a railway running down the side of the mountain, on 
a fearfully steep inclined plane. Upon this plane we climbed laboriously to the 
m ne and then ascended to the flagstaff, firmly fastened among the rocks, on the 
topmost peak, which are so well worn bjr the feet of strangers that they present 
the innearance of pure wrought iron, which is hardly remarkable in view of the 
fact'that horse-shoes and knives have been repeatedly made from the crude ore, 

"" WhL^ weXtet'on^^the authority of Prof. Swallow, that there is enough ore, of 
the very best quality, within a few miles of Pilot Knob and Iron Mountain, above 
t e lurface of the valleys, not reckoning the vast deposits that he beneath to fur- 
nsh one million tuns per annum of manufactured iron for two hundred years, 
some estimate may be formed of the vast advantages that must accrue to Missouri 
fZ the possessio^n of so rich a store of that indispensable metal, which, greater 
n its power even than gold, has always stood pre-eminent in its influence on the 
prosperity of nations, seeming, as it were, to communicate to those who own and 
manuf\icture it some of its own hardy and sterling qualities. 

The mines of Elba, Sweden, and Norway, all together do not equal these peaks 
The substantial wealth of England and Belgium is drawn from their mines, but 
neither of them possess the mineral wealth, the iron, lead, coal, tm and copper of 
this single state. 

Gen. James MZHnson was born in Maryland about the year 1J57, was educated 
to medicine, entered the army of the Revolution, and was breveted brigadier gen- 
eral After the war he settled in Kentucky in commercial business. Again en- 
terin.^ the army, he had command of the United States forces m the Mississippi 
vallev In the war of 1812, he served on the northern frontier He died in 1825, 
a<--ed"68 He published "Memoirs of My Own limes, 3 vols. 8vo., 181b. 
'^ Major Amos Stoddard, the first American governor of Upper Louisiana, was 
born in Woodbury, Conn'., and was a soldier of the Revolution. He was subse 
nuently clerk of the supreme court in Boston, also prac iced law at Hallowell 
Siaine In 1799, he entered the army as captain of artillery. About the year 
1S04 he was appointed first military commandant and civil governor otLppor 
ouisiana, his ifeadquartors being St. Louis. He died of lockjaw in 1^1--J>;-; ^ 
wound received at the siege of Fort Meigs. He was a man of talent, and ^^.l^ the 
author of Sketches of Louisiana, a valuable work. 




i 



THE TIMES 



OF 



THE REBELLION 



IN 



MISSOURI. 



At the outbreak of the Eebellion the governors of all the border 
slave-states were secessionists with the single exception of Maryland. 
Some of them, it is true, professed "neutrality;" but subsequent 
events proved them to have been rebels in disguise, and therefore 
especially despicable for uniting hypocrisy to their treason. Prom- 
inent among these was Claiborne F. Jackson of Missouri, whose atro- 
cious policy brought upon his state untold miseries. The result of 
the presidential campaign was no sooner known than he and his 
accomplices in crime began their attempt to take the state out of 
the union. What rendered this conduct the more nefarious was the 
knowledge, on the part of Jackson, that the majority of the peo- 
ple were opposed to uniting their fortunes with the Southern confed- 
eracy. In a letter to Judge Walker he says, " I have been, from the 
beginning in favor of prompt action on the part of the Southern 
States, but the majority of the people have differed from me." And 
yet, with this knowledge, he plunged his state into the whirlpool of 
treason and blood. ^ n- 

In January, 1861, the state legislature passed an act calling a con- 
vention, and providing for the election of delegates. Contrary to the 
expectation of the leaders, who had used every art to carry out their 
designs, the convention proved to be a loyal body. 

Determined not to be foiled, the rebel leaders began to raise troops, 
which were placed under the control of the governor. Preparations 
were also made to seize the arsenals and all other public property be- 
fore the new president should be inaugurated In all these movements 
the governor was the most active spirit. He even entered into cor- 
respondence with the secession leaders in other states, and pledged 
Missouri to the cause upon which they had entered. 

When the president called for troops, his act was denounced by 
Jackson in terms violent and abusive ; and he called the legislature 
together in order to obtain the means of placing the state on a war 

The* action of this body was not waited for, and on the 20th of 
•^ (591) 



502 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

April the enemies of the government seized upon the arsenal at Lib- 
erty, near the state line, and laid their plans for obtaining the posses- 
sion of a much more important one located at St. Louis. In tiiis, 
however, they were foiled by the activity and energy of Capt. Stokes, 
of the United States army, who succeeded in removing an immense 
amount of the material of war into the State of Illinois, which doubt- 
less would soon have fallen into the hands of the secessionists and 
greatly aided their cause. 

Capture of Camp Jackson. — Early in May, Governor Jackson ordered out the 
militia of the state to go into camps in their several districts, ostensibly to obtain 
instruction in military drill, but in reality to precipitate the state into secession. 
The legislature, at the same period, passed vrhat was termed the "Military Bill," 
which was, in the language of General Harney, "an indirect secession ordinance, 
ignoring even the forms resorted to by other states." This bill gave the governor 
despotic power; three million of dollars were to be placed in his hands; author- 
ity was given him to draw for soldiers as long as there was a man left unarmed, 
and to question the justness of his conduct was to incur the death penalty. Every 
soldier was required to take an oath of allegiance to the State of Missouri. 

At Linden's, grove, in the outskirts of St. Louis, a camp was formed, called 
Camp .Jackson. The principal avenues were named Beauregard, Davis, etc., and 
a quantity of arms, shot, and shell, stolen from the U. S. arsenal at Baton Rouge, 
was received there, which had come up the river in boxes marked "Marble," 
"Nails," and " Collin's Axes." A secession flag was displayed; the troops were 
constantly cheering for Jeff. Davis and the Southern Confederacy; prominent 
union men visiting the camp were insulted and hailed as federal spies. It was a 
secession camp and nothing else. In all it contained about 1000 men, under Gen- 
eral D. M. Frost. 

On the 6th of May the police commissioners of St. Louis insolently demanded 
of Captain Nathaniel Lyon, the officer in command of the arsenal, that he should 
remove the United States troops from all places and buildings occupied by them 
outside of the arsenal, on the ground that the United States government had no 
right to occupy or touch the soil of the sovereign State of Missouri. 

Captain Lyon, on his own responsibility, on the 10th summoned the home guard 
of the city (composed largely of Germans,) whom he had provided with arms at 
the arsenal, to assemble at their different posts, at noon, for an unknown service. 
At two o'clock the whole town was greatly agitated by the tidings that some 7000 
men, with 20 pieces of artillery, under Captain Lyon, were marching up Market 
street for Camp Jackson. On their arrival they rapidly surrounded it, planting 
batteries upon all the commanding hights. 

Upon learning of their approach. General Frost sent a note to Captain Lyon, 
disowning any disloyal intentions on their part ; that they had simply gathered in 
obedience to the laws of the state for instruction. Captain Lyon refused to re- 
ceive this communication, and dispatched one to General Frost demanding his 
unconditional surrender within "one half hour's time.'' The demand was agreed 
to, and they, to the number of 800, were made prisoners of war, marched to the 
arsenal, and, for the time, held there under guard, excepting those who were will- 
ing to take the oath of allegiance: of these there were less than a dozen. On the 
return of the troops to the city, they were not only taunted and spit upon by the 
mob, but revolvers were discharged at them, when the former turned and fired 
into the crowd, wounding and killing twenty-two persons, mostly innocent spec- 
tators. 

The energetic measures of Captain Lyon for the time awed the secession spirit 
of the city and vicinity; and he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general of 
volunteers and given command of the union forces in Missouri. 

Skirmish at BooneviUe. — Union men, of all parties throughout the state, at this 
period began to be proscribed and driven from their homes. Governor Jackson, 
who, with General Sterling Price, had assembled a large force of State troops, at 
the capital, Jefferson City, learned that General Lyon was on his way to attack 



IN MISSOURI. 593 

him, on the 15th of June fled with hi8 forces to Ikionville, forty miles above, burn- 
ing, as they went, the railroad bridj^es on the route. Thither tieneral Lyon, 
with 2000 men, pursued and defeated them in a sli^jht skirmish, in which they 
broke ranks and injjloriously fled. Lyon took their camp equipage and a large 
number of prisoners, many of whom being of immature age, "misguided youths, 
led astray by ingeniously devised frauds of designing leaders," he liberated on 
co«dition that they should not serve against the United States. " But lest, as in 
the aflfair of Camp Jackson, this clemency should be misconstrued, he gave warn- 
ing that the government would not always be expected to indulge in it to the com- 
promise of its evident welfare." 

Action near Carthage. — In the beginning of July General Lyon left Boonville 
in pursuit of the enemy in the south-western portion of the state. On the 5th 
Colonel Franz Sigel had a brilliant fight with the enemy in the vicinity of Car- 
thage, he having been sent into that section of country just after the affair at 
Booneville. Sigel's troops consisted of 1200 men, being parts of the two infantry 
regiments of Sigel and Solomon, and two batteries of artillery. The rebels, under 
Generals Parsons and Rains, numbered 5000 men, including two regiments of 
CftTalry any five pieces of artillery. Early in the morning Sigel marched from 
his camp just south-east of Carthage, and nine miles north of that place found 
the enemy, at half past nine o'clock, drawn up in line of battle, on elevated 
ground of a prairie, just beyond Dry Run Creek. By most skillful maneuver- 
ing Sigel defeated them and continued his retreat with but insignificant loss — 
the enemy suffering severely. 

Early in July General Fremont was appointed to the command of 
the Western Department, and made his headquarters at St. Louis. 
His arrival was at the season of gloom and despondency^ consequent 
upon the defeat at Manassas. Of tlie new levies of federal troops few 
were in the field : the term of enlistment of the three-months' men 
was just expiring, while 50,000 rebel soldiers were on the southern 
frontier. General Pope was in north Missouri with nearly all the dis- 
posable force, and Lyon was at Springfield with an army of less than 
6000 men, threatened by an enemy nearly four times his own number. 
There was danger, also, on the Mississippi river, where General Pil- 
low, from New Madrid, was threatening General Prentiss and his small 
force, at Cairo. Unable to reinforce General Lyon, that gallant ofiScer 
made the best possible use of the small force at his disposal. On the 
Ist of August, learning that the enemy, under McCulloch and Price 
were advancing upon him, he went out to meet them, and the next 
day had a severe skirmish at Dug Spring, the enemy suffering from a 
very successful charge of the United States cavalry. This was fol- 
lowed by a general engagement, on the 10th of the same month, in 
which Lyon lost his life in a noble but unequal struggle. 

Battle of Wilson's Creek. — The rebels, under Ben McCulloch were from 20,000 
to 25,000 in number, the union forces under Lyon, less than 6000. The union 
general, having learned that the enemy was meditating an attack, determined tO' 
become the attacking party, as that plan promised the greatest success. Accord- 
ing, on Friday evening, August 9th, General Lyon set out from Springfield, with 
the intention of falling upon the enemy next morning at daylight. His little 
array was divided into two columns : one of 3700 men, under his own command ; 
the other of 1500, under Colonel Sigel, who had orders to attack the enemy at a 
point three miles distant from that to be assailed by the main column. 

The result is told, in a few lines, by one who was, at the time, within the .south- 
ern lines, and who wrote from his own knowledge and from information received 
from those who took a part in the conflict. He says: "Notwithstanding McCul- 
loch's reputation as a wary and watchful chief, his army, outnumbering the enemy 
three or four to one, was completely surprised. Indeed, so silent was the march, 
38 



594 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

80 perfect the plan of attack, that the first notice they had of the enemy's pres- 
ence was the shot and shell from the batteries of Totten and Sigel falling into the 
very heart of their camp. 'J"he federal accounts claim that success would not have 
been doubtful had the gallant Lyon lived half an hour longer. But the panic that 
prevailed among the rebels, and how very nearly the field was lost, could only be 
told by those whose reports have never seen the light. I have heard persons who 
were upon the field say that, many were still asleep, many preparing breakfiist, and 
others eating, when the enemy's artillery opened upon them. Many fled at the first 
alarm; but a large army still remained. The contest was long and doubtful, till 
Lyon, bravely leading a charge in person, fell. The union forces then withdrew, 
under the command of Major S. D. Sturgis. The movement of Sigel, in the end, 
proved unsuccessful. He was compelled to retire with the loss of nearly all his 
artillery." 

The official report of our loss was 1235. The 1st Kansas and L<t Missouri, each 
lost about half of their entire number. The rebels reportt^d their loss at 1738. 
Sturgis, in his report, thought it " probably would reach 300U " 

The result of the battle made it necessary for the remnant of 
Lyon's army to retreat, which was effected in good order, under Sigel, 
upon whom the command now devolved. Hundreds of citizens ac- 
companied the army ; and south-western Missouri was overrun and 
devastated by the rebels. 

The Siege of Lexington. — On Wednesday the 11th of September, a force of 
2640 union soldiers were in Lexington, under the command of Colonel Jas. B. 
Mulligan, (a young lawyer of Chicago, of Irish parentage), when the advance of 
the enemy approached the town, which in a few days was increased to 30,000 
men, under General Sterling Price. In the mean while our troops had built en- 
trenchments around their camp, inclosing some fifteen acres, including within its 
limits the college buildings. Price invested the works on the 12th, but no direct 
assault was made until the 18th. The little band heroically held his large army at 
bay; but all access to the river being cut off they suffered intensely for water, and 
it was not until their provisions wei-e exhausted and nearly the last cartridge 
fired that they surrendered. 

General Price obtained considerable eclat by a stratagem he used in approach- 
ing the union lines. He made a viovctble breastwork of hempen bales of some 
twenty rods in length, behind the cover of which his men, as they rolled them 
ahead, advanced in security close up to the union works. He was not a rebel at 
heart; but he had, against his better nature, been seduced into treason. After 
the surrender he chided one of his men for indignities offered to the union flag, 
closing his rebuke with the expression, '' 1 yet love that jlagT 

Price was endeared to the people of Missouri by generous and noble personal 
traits; and, when he sided with the rebel cause, these qualities, by their influ- 
encing others into error, were productive of greater evil than could have been in 
the power of any mere villain with superior intellectual force to have inflicted. 

Battle of Belmont. — Belmont is a point on the Mississippi river, 
nearly opposite Columbus, Ky. It is about twenty miles below Cairo, 
and was the scene of one General G-rant's first battles. His whole 
force in this battle, which took place on the 7th of JSTovember, 1861, 
was 2850. He lost 507 men ; the rebels 966, beside their entire en- 
campment with valuable stores. The following account is given by 
one present. 

Landing two and half miles above Belmont, it was two hours before we had 
disposed our men in line of battle to engage the enemy ; thus giving them full 
time for preparation, and to come out and meet us, when the engagement soon be- 
came general. Although the enemy were two to our one we never faltered, but 
drove them from one stronghold to another, until we were told to charge the bat- 
teries. The enthusiasm of our men, on receiving this order, beggars description ; 
Bome threw oflF their coats, all whooped and yelled, and each man went to work as 



IN MISSOURI. ty% 

though the taking of the batteries depended on his own exertions; they leaped 
like catfi, irom log to log, and from brush to brush, sometimes running, soiiK^tim.'S 
crawling, never wavering until they had tal^en the enemy's last gun, Our boys 
drove them through their encampment, and down the river bank, taking their 
tents, stores, and baggage. 

Our men and officers were so elated with thekir victory, that they went round sha- 
king hands and congratulating one another on the result, and General Grant's 
order to fall into line and retire to their transports was not executed as rapidly as 
it should have been, and some half an hour was consumed in these manifestations, 
until the enemy had outflanked us, by landing the rebel general, Cheatham's bri- 
gade — fresh troops from Columbus — between us and our transports. This move- 
ment was concealed from us by the bend of the river. IS'o alternative was left 
but to fight it out, and cut our way through the serried columns. The order to 
march was given, and, although our troops had had six hours of hard fighting 
they did not appear weary, but attacked the enemy with renewed vigor and drove 
him back, and cut their way through his ranks to our transports. Beaten again, 
the enemy planted their new, fresh artillery, supported by infantry, in a cornfield 
just above our transports, with the intention of sinking them, when we started 
up the river, and of bagging the entire army; but thanks to the gunboats, Lex- 
ington and Tyler, and their experienced gunners, they saved us from a terrible 
and certain doom; they took up a position between us and the enemy, and opened 
their guns upon them, letting slip a whole broadside at once. This movement 
was performed so quick that the i-ebel guns icere silenced as soon as they opened. 
The first shot from the gunboats was a cannister-shot, and it made a perfect lane 
through the enemy's ranks. Defeated in this — their third movement — the enemy's 
infantry broke for our transports, and as we pushed from shore they fired upon 
us until we got out of range, their bullets coming on our transports '' like hail 
upon a meeting house," but they did but little execution. 

Price, after the fall of Lexin2:ton, finding himself unable to hold it, 
retreated to the south-west, with Fremont in pursuit. Many inci- 
dents of interest took place, which have become obscure in conse- 
quence of the more brilliant occurrences of a war abounding in splen- 
did exjoloits. But the famous charge of Fremont's body-guard, at 
Springfield, on the 25th of October, 1861, remains memorable. It is 
thrillingly described by a writer in the Atlantic Monthly : 

Among the foreign officers whom the famous Genei'al Fremont drew around 
him was Charles Zagonyi — a Hungarian refugee, but long a resident of this 
country. In his boyhood, Zagonyi had plunged into the passionate, but unavail- 
ing struggle which Hungary made for her liberty. 

General Fremont welcomed Zagonyi cordially, and authorized him to recruit a 
company of horse, to act as his body-guard. Zagonyi was most scrupulous in his 
selection; but so ardent was the desire to serve under the eye and near the per- 
son of the general, that in five days after the lists were opened two full companies 
were enlisted. Soon after a whole company, composed of the very flower of Ken- 
tucky, tendered its services, and requested to be added to the guard. Zagonyi 
was still overwhelmed with applications, and he obtained permission to re- 
cruit a fourth company. The fourth company, however, did not go with us into 
the field. The men were clad in blue jackets, trowsers, and caps. They were 
armed with light German sabers, the best that at that time could be procured, and 
revolvers ; besides which, the first company carried carbines. They were mounted 
upon bay horses, carefully chosen from the government stables. Zagonyi had but 
little time to instruct his recruits; but in less than a month from the commence- 
ment of the enlistment the body-guard was a well disciplined and most efficient 
corps of cavalry. The ofticers were all Americans except three — one Hollander, 
and two Hungarians, Zagonyi and Lieutenant Maythenyi, who came to the United 
States during his boyhood. 

On the prairie, near the town, at the edge of the woodland in which he knew 
his wily foe lay hidden, Zagonyi halted his command. He spurred along the 



596 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

line. With eager glance he scanned each horse and rider. To his officers he gave 
th» simple order, "Follow me! do as I do ! " and then drawing up in front of his 
men, with a voice tremulous and shrill with emotion, he spoke : 

" Fellow-Soldiers, Comrades, Brothers I — This is your first battle. For our three hun- 
dred the enemy are two thousand. If any of yon are sick, or tired by the long march, or 
if any think the number is to great, now is the time to turn back." He paused ; no one 
was sick or tired. " We must not retreat. Our honor and the honor of our general and 
our country, tell us to go on. I will lead you. We have been called holiday soldiers for 
the pavements of St. Louis ; to-day we will show that we are soldiers for the battle. 
Your watchword shall be, ' The Union and Fremont!' Draw saber 1 By the right flank — 
quick trot — march I " 

Bright swords flashed in the sunshine, a passionate shout burst from every lip, 
and, with one accord, the trot passing into a gallop, the compact column swept on 
to its deadly purpose. Most of them were boys. A few weeks before they had 
left their homes. Those who were cool enough to note it say that ruddy cheeks 
grew pale, and fiery eyes were dimmed with tears. Who shall tell what thoughts, 
vrhat visions of peaceful cottages nestling among the groves of Kentucky or shi. 
ning upon the banks of the Ohio and the Illinois, what sad recollections of tearful 
farewells, of tender, loving faces, filled their minds during these fearful moments 
of suspense? No word was spoken. With lips compressed, firmly clenching their 
sword-hilts, with quick tramp of hoofs and clank of steel, honor leading and glory 
awaiting them, the young soldiers flew forward, each brave rider and each strain- 
ing steed of one huge creature, enormous, terrible, irresistible. 
'"T were worth ten years of peaceful life, 
One glance at their array." 

They pass the fair ground. They are at the corner of the lanewhere the wood 
begins. It runs close to the fence on their left for a hundred yards, and beyond 
it they see white tents gleaming. They are half way past the forest, when, sharp 
and loud, a volley of musketry bursts upon the head of the column ; horses stag- 
ger, riders reel and fall, but the troop presses forward undismayed. The farther 
corner of the road is reached, and Zagonyi beholds the terrible array. Amazed, 
he involuntarily checks his horse. The rebels are not surprised. There, to hia 
left, they stood crowning the bight, foot and horse, ready to ingulf him. if he 
should be rash enough to go on. The road he is following declines rapidly. There 
is but one thing to do — run the gauntlet, gain the cover of the hill, and charge up 
the steep. These thoughts pass quicker then they can be told. He waves his sa- 
ber over his head, and shouting, "Forward! follow me ! quick trot! gallop! " he 
dashes headlong down the stony road. The first company and most of the second 
follow. From the left a thousand muzzles belch forth a hissing flood of bullets; 
the poor fellows clutch wildly at the air and fall from their saddles, and maddened 
horses throw themselves against the fences. 1'heir speed is not for an instant 
checked; farther down the hill they fly, like wasps driven by the leaden storm. 
Sharp volleys pour out of the underbrush at the left, clearing wide gaps through 
their ranks. They leap the brook, take down the fence, and draw up under the 
shelter of the hill. Zagonyi looked around him, and to his horror sees that only 
a fourth of his men are with him. He cries, "They do not come — we are lost!" 
and frantically waves his saber. 

He had not long to wait. The delay of the rest of the guard was not from hes- 
itation. When Captain Foley reached the lower corner of the wood, and saw the 
enemy's line, he thought a flank attack might be advantageously made. He or- 
dered some of his men to dismount and take down the fence. This was done 
under a severe fire. Several men fell, and he found the wood so dense that it 
could not be penetrated. Looking down the hill, he saw the flash of Zagonyi's 
saber, and at once gave the order, " Forward ! " At the same time. Lieutenant 
Kennedy, a stalwart Kentuckian, shouted, "Come on, boys! remember old Ken- 
tucky ! " and the third company of the guard, fire on every side of them — from be- 
hind trees, from under the fences — with thundering strides and loud cheers, 
poured down the slope and rushed to the side of Zagonyi. They have lost sev- 
enty dead and wounded men, and the carcases of horses are strewn along the lane. 
Kennedy is wounded in the arm, and lies upon the stones, his faithful charger 



IN MISSOURI. ' 597 

standing motionless beside him. Lieutenant GofF received a wound in the thigh ; 
he kept his seat, and cried out, " The devils have hit me, but I will give it to 
them yet! " 

The guard is formed under the shelter of the hill. In front, with a gentle in- 
clination, rises a grassy slope broken by occasional tree stumps. A line of tire 
upon the summit marks the position of the rebel infantry, and nearer and on the 
top of a lower eminence to the right stand their horse. Up to this time no guards- 
man has struck a blow, but blue coats and bay horses lie thick along the bloody 
lane. Their time has come. Lieutenant Maythenyi, with thirty men, is ordered 
to attack the cavalry. With sabers flashing over their heads, the little band of 
heroes spring toward their tremendous foe. Right upon the center they charge. 
The dense mass opens, the blue coats force their way in, and the whole rebel 
squadron scatter in disgraceful flight through the cornfields in the rear. The bays 
follow them, sabering the fugitives. Days after, the enemy's horses lay thick 
among the uncut corn. 

Zagonyi holds his main body until Maythenyi disappears in the cloud of rebel 
cavalry; then his voice rises through the air — "In open order — charge!" The 
line opens out to give pl.ay to the sword-arm. Steeds respond to the ardor of their 
riders, and, quick as thought, with thrilling cheers, the noble hearts rush into the 
leaden torrent which pours down the incline. With unabated fire the gallant fel- 
lows press through. Their fierce onset is not even checked. The foe do not wait 
for them — they waver, break, and fly. The guardsmen press into the midst of 
the rout, and their fast falling swords work a terrible revenge. Some of the bold- 
est of the southrons retreat into the woods, and continue a murderous fire from 
behind trees and thickets. Seven guard horses fall on a space not more than 
twenty feet square. As his steed sinks under him, one of the officers is caught 
around the shoulders by a grape-vine, and hangs dangling in the air until he is 
cut down by his friends. 

The rebel foot are flying in furious haste from the field. Some take refuge in 
the fair-ground, some hurry into the cornfield, but the greater part run along the 
edge of the wood, swarm over the fence into the road, and hasten to the village. 
The guardsmen follow. Zagonyi leads them. Over the loudest roar of battle 
rings his clarion voice — " Come on, old Kentuck ! I'm with you ! " And the flash 
of his sword-blade tells his men where to go. As he approaches a barn a man 
steps from behind the door and lowers his rifle ; but before he had reached the 
level, Zagonyi's saber-point descended upon his head, and his life-blood leaps to 
the very top of the huge barn-door. 

The conflict now rages through the village — in the public square and along the 
street. Up and down the guard ride in squads of three or four, and, wherever 
they see a group of the enemy, charge upon and scatter them. It is hand to hand. 
No one but has a share in the fray. 

There was at least one soldier in the southern ranks. A young officer, superbly 
mounted, charged alone upon a large body of the guard. He passed through the 
line unscathed, killing one man. He wheels, charges back, and again breaks 
through, killing another man. A third time he rushes upon the union line, a 
score of saber-points confront him, but he pushes on until he reaches Zagonyi — 
he presses his pistol so close to the major's side that he feels it and draws convul- 
sively back, the bullet passes through the front of Zagoni's coat, who at the same 
instant runs the daring rebel through the body ; he falls, and the men, thinking 
their commander hurt, kill him with a half dozen wounds. 

" He was a brave man," said Zagonyi afterward, " and I did wish to make him 
prisoner." 

Meanwhile it has grown dark. The foe has left the village, and the battle has 
ceased. The assembly is sounded, and the guard gathers in the plaza, ^'otmore 
than eighty mounted men appear ; the rest are killed, wounded, or unhorsed. At 
this time one of the most characteristic incidents of the aSair took place. 

Just before the charge, Zagoni directed one of his buglers, a PVenchman, to 
sound a signal. The bugler did not seem to pay any attention to the order, but 
darted after Lieutenant Maythenyi. A few moments afterward he was observed 
in another part of the field busily pursuing the flying infantry. His active form 



598 



TIMES OF THE REBELLION 



was always seen in the thickest of the fijiht. When the line was lormed in Hie 
plaza, Zagonyi noticed the bugler, and afiproachinji him said, 'In tlie midst of 
tlie battle jou disobeyed my order. You are unwortliy to be a nicinber of the 
gUHrd. J dismiss you." The bugler showed ins bugle to his indignnnt com- 
mander — the mouth-piece of the instrument was shot away. He said, "'J'be 
mouth was shoot off I could not bugle viz mon bugle, and so 1 bugle viz uion pis- 
tol and saber." It is unnecessary to add the brave Frenchman was not dismisMMJ. 

I must not forget to mention Sergeant Hunter of the Kentucky company. His 
soldierly figure never failed to attract the eye in the ranks of the guard. He had 
served in the regular cavalry; and the bodyguard had profited greatly from liia 
skill as a drill-master. He lost three horses in the fight. As soon as one was 
killed he caught another from the rebels : the third horse taken in this way he 
rode into St. Louis. 

The sergeant slew five men. "I won't speak of those that I shot," said he, 
"another may have hit them; but these I touched with my saber I am sure of, be- 
cause I felt them." 

At the beginning of the charge, he came to the extreme right and took position 
next to Zagonyi, whom he followed closely through the battle. The major, seeing 
him, said : 

" Why are you here, Sergeant Hunter? Tour place is with your company on 
the left." 

"I kind o' wanted to be in the front," was the answer. 

" What could 1 say to such a man ?" exclaimed Zagonyi, speaking of the mafe 
ter afterward. 

There was hardly a horse or rider among the survivors that did not bring away 
some mark of the fray. I saw one animal with no less than seven wounds — none 
of them serious. Scabbards were bent, clothes and caps pierced, pistols injured. 
I saw one pistol from which the sight had been cut as neatly as it could have been 
done by machinery. A piece of board a few inches long was cut from a fence on 
the field, in which there were thirty-one shot holes. 

It was now nine o'clock. The wounded had been carried to the hospital. The 
dismounted troopers had been placed in charge of them — in the double capacity 
of nurses and guards. Zagonyi expected the foe to return every minute. It 
seemed like madness to try and hold the town with his small force, exhausted by 
the long march and desperate fight. He therefore left Springfield, and retired, be- 
fore morning, twenty-five miles on the Bolivar road. 

The loss of the enemy, was 116 killed. The number of wounded could not be 
ascertained. After the conflict had drifted away from the hill-side, some of the 
foe had returned to the field, taken away their wounded and robbed our dead. 
The loss of the guard was 53 out of 148 actually engaged, 12 men having been left 
by Zagonyi in charge of his train. 

The fame of the guard is secure. Out from that fiery baptism they came child- 
ren of the nation ; and American song and story will carry their heroic triumph 
down to the latest generation. 

Fremont's campaign in south-western Missouri was ai'rested by an 
order from the War Department, at the beginning of November. 
Fremont, at that time, was deprived of command in Missouri, and 
a new campaign was prosecuted in the south-west, with signal ability 
and success, under General Curtis, who drove the confederate forces 
out of the state into Arkansas ; and after Sterling Price had formed a 
junction with VauDorn and McCulloch, he defeated their combined 
ibrces in the memorable battle of Pea Eidge, just on the south-west 
line of the state. 

While Price's army was on its retreat they passed through Fayette- 
ville, just over the state line. This beautiful mountain-town was the 
brightest spot in all Arkansas. Several literary institutions, con- 
ducted by northern-born men, were blessing this entire region of 



IN MISSOURI. 599 



country. Liglit, knowledge, and Christum love were spreading 
among the people, and a pure, moral tone diftused into the society o 
the -nTace William Baxter, president of one of these institutions, m 
his frank-hearted and artless little volume, ''Pm Bulge and Pnnne 
Grove," tells us how, on this retreat of Price, his men conducted them- 
selves' on their arrival at his town. 

I was somewhat familiar with the great retreats in history, but never before 
had I realized the full meaning of the term. Early in the morning of the 21st 
of Fbruty the Missouri army! which had been marching day and n-g t oon- 
staitly h^rlLed by the enemyf made its appearance , the ^-'^^^.^-J- ^;^f J ''. 
r othinff their looks dispirited, no music to cheer them, no right p ospects be- 
foSt was a practical picture of secession; and O how sadly did the Missouri 
?oLLS from their beloved state ! thousands of them, alas, never to return ! 
oS the officers, the judge advocate of Price s army, stopped a while at my 
house and wept like a child^t the thought of leaving homeland coun ry behind^ 
There are many others, who complain bitterly because McCulloch had not come 
to their aid to enable them to male a.stand on their own soil against the foe now 

'The'oCt'fTe'commisstr'y and quartermaster's department, unable to re- 
move thdr stores, threw open the vadous depots to the soldiers and citizens; 
renermTssion thus granted was construed into a general license to p under, and 
pUk.e"or became fhe order of the day. An officer, fearing the eflects of liquor 
Srn a we-aried, pursued, and reckless soldiery, took the precaution to burst in 
tlfe hears a number of barrels of whisky, which constituted a portion of the 
a myttores and the cellar was soon several inches deep with ^ - Pr^BCioi^s^u^^^ 
Bv some means the place was discovered, and scores drank the filthy puddle w hich 
f/erilled liquor had made. Private stores were broken open, and every one 
heledimseU to whatever suited him; and as regiment after regiment poured 
in to swe Uthe tide of waste and robbery, the scene became one of not and unre- 
sUWrplunder And yet, strange tosay, this was not in an enemy s country 
hese men claimed to be the defenders of the very people that they were despoil- 
n' aTd at tlS very moment the men of Arkansas were acting as rear-guard to 
thfs very army en -aged, hundreds of them, a« I have just stated. Passing among 
hem as^I di7whire tlui employed, so general had the work o^, destruction and 
pwS iecome, that it was a'lmost impossible to find ;Y!"f';^« t^^'^et ^ 
possess some evidence of being carried away by he «P.>'•;^f ^^'^ J".^^ .^^ ?^^^^^ 
nn,^ with a cic^ar box half filled with sugar, another with a pair ot lady s gaiters 
stickTnloutofhis pocket; this had a pair of baby's shoes, that, some fine lace, 
a tficial floats adLned the caps of so£e ; while jars oj^^'^^^XS f fact 
molasses, tape, calico, school-books, letters law papers, f ^« ^^^^.^^ ^'.^^^e^ 
nearly every article known to traffic, even to a thermometer, might have ^een ^ee" 
?n thJmotEy throng. Indeed, any one could see at a glance that the great^^par^ 
of them had taken articles for which they had no use whatever. . . . • • ^^^^J' 
Jhreatened, cursed, called them thieves, made aPPeals to heir -anh" ss and ^ta e 
pride, and to the fact that they were among those ^^^"''"^J" ^.'^^^^^^^^^^^ 
hot a 1 in vain ■ stealing had become a recreation, and they would steal ^eneiai 
Prce himself trove to'check the disorder which 1 have attempted faintly to des- 
crTbe n for once his commands were powerless, and the work of ruin went on. 
The troops encamped, for the night, south of us, but «»any of the officers re- 
mained in town Among those that 1 best remember were General Kains tor 
Tee sobj;-, and^most gendemanly in his manners ; ,^|f J-^;^^-;^^^ ^teS 
at bein- thus made " an exile from home ; Churchill, Clarke, said to he the oe^r 
artiUerfst in Price's army ; Emmett McDonald, who indeed looked ami talked like 
SfebTave soldier that ife was ; and Ben McCulloch, meditating doubtless upon 
the dark deeds that the morrow would bring. , ., i f ,->„,.<• 

The brutal McCulloch, the next day wantonly burnt the ^^e.t Pa t 
of the town ; and, in his vandalism, consigned the colleges, with then 
fine libraries, to the flames. 



QQQ TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

Mr. Baxter gives us another picture, the entrance of the union ad- 
vance, in the pursuit. As they welcomed our heroic soldiers, and saw, 
once more our beautiful but long exiled flag, he tells us how their 
hearts bounded with glorious emotions ; how the sweet tears of pleas- 
ure started, and the nerves thrilled, as the successive waves of deli- 
cious sensation struck and passed over these vibrating, human chords 
of the immortal soul. 

Another day passed, one of strange quiet; one army had swept by in hurried 
retreat, the other, we felt assured would soon appear in pursuit. Most of the men 
who favored the southern cause had left, and to nearly all who remained, the ap- 
proach of the union army meant deliverance. Night came, and southward the 
camp-fires of the armies of Price and McCulloch could be seen, while to the 
northern sky a glow, like that of the aurora borealis, was given by those of 
the federal soldiery. With the next dawn came the report of the advance of the 
men of the north; the heavy pickets, pressed back by the advancing enemy, rode 
slowly by, and soon, in hot haste, came a scouting party who had been watching 
the movements of the pursuing foe. In answer to our inquiries, they said the 
"feds" were rapidly coming; and, indeed, they were with the swiftness and fury 
of a storm. The last of the rebel pickets were but a few hundred yards north 
of my residence, watching with deep interest a few gleaming points of steel on 
the wooded hill opposite; soon a line of blue wound down the hillside, the pick- 
ets turned their horses" heads southward ; there was a clatter of hoofs, a flashing 
sabers, a wild and fierce hurrah, ringing shots from revolvers, men fleeing for 
life, men and steeds in the chase both seemingly animated by the same spirit of 
destruction; in a word, the most exciting of military spectacles ; a cavalry charge 
had been made past my door. Within a few moments men had been slain and 
wounded, prisoners taken, and our town was in possession of the advance guard 
of the union army. 

And now they streamed in on every side; the whole country seemed alive with 
mounted men. A loud shout was heard on the public square; we turned our eyes 
in that direction, and a splendid banner, made when the union sentiment ran 
high, but which for months had been concealed, was floating from the flag-staff on 
the court-house, and we were once more under the stripes and stars. Strange that 
an emblem should have such power over the human soul ! and yet the first sight of 
the ocean or the down-rushing flood of Niagara did not awaken such emotions as 
the waving folds of that banner of the free. Carefully had it been concealed, and 
faithfully preserved when its possession would have been deemed a high crime if 
discovered. A few eyos had been permitted to look upon it in secret during the 
dark days; the tones of the voice were low when it was mentioned ; on one occa- 
sion a confederate officer ha,di only a ma^^j-ess between him and that flag ; but 
now it was flung out once more by loyal hands to the free air, hailed with almost 
frantic delight by loyal voices, stretched to its utmost tension by a strong breeze; 
every stripe distinct, every star visible; the old flag, the joy of every loyal heart! 
Scorn and contumely had been heaped upon it; to mention it, save in condemna- 
tion, a crime; its place usurped by another banner, but the day of its triumph 
had come at last. 

Soon the main body of the troops, under General Asboth, rode into town. 
Their appearance, when contrasted with that of the legions of Price, who pre- 
ceded them, was magnificent; and, indeed, apart from any comparison, they were 
a noble body of men. They were mostly from Iowa and Illinois; under a chief 
who had seen service in Europe, and who looked more like a soldier than any of 
the hastily improvised generals who were with the army whose retreat we had just 
witnessed. The union ladies warmly and gladly saluted the flag which was borne 
at the head of the column, and my wife was the first, from the balcony of our 
dwelling, to wave and shout a welcome. An officer observing her, while thus 
greeting the banner, called out, " Where are you from ? " " Massachusetts" was 
the reply. ^' Ah,'' he said, "/ thought so ! I too am from Massachusetts." 
This force, which entered Fayetteville, was the cavalry of Curtis, 



IN MISSOURI. QQl 

which, after a brief stay, returned north to the main body. The 
rebel army being largely reinforced south of the town, again passed 
through it, a few days later, to attack Curtis, when occurred the Bat- 
tle of Pea Ridge, which we thus outline. 

The 5th of March was cold and blustering, and the ground became whitened 
with the falling snow, when intelligence came to the headquarters of General 
Curtis, near Sugar Creek, that the enemy were approaching to give battle. The 

§eneral sent orders to his various divisions to concentrate at Sugar Creek hollow, 
igel tarried at Bentonville, a point ten miles distant, with a German regiment and 
battery, until nine o'clock the next morning, when he was attacked by a large ad- 
vance of the enemy. Having a large baggage train to guard, Sigel retreated 
slowly along the road. He fought his way, most gallantly, until within three or 
four miles of the main body, when part of the first division came to his relief, 
opening upon the enemy with artillery and infantry and checked the pursuit, 
which closed the fight for the day. 

At eleven o'clock the next morning the rebels attacked the right of the union 
line. The fight was heavy here during the day and the losses severe. General 
McCulloch, commanding the rebel forces, fell shot through the heart. The next 
morning, at sunrise the battle was again renewed. Sigel moved steadily forward, 
with the left, and driving the enemy from the hills, when General Curtis ordered 
the right, under General E. A. Carr, and the center, under General Jefl"prson C. 
Davis, to advance. In the final position, thus obtained, the rebels were inclosed 
in a segment of a circle. A charge of infantry was then made, extending through- 
out the whole line, which completely routed the rebels, and they fled in great 
confusion. 

The total union loss was 1301; that of the enemy far greater — among these 
were four of their generals : McCulloch, Mcintosh, Herbert, and Slack^ while 
our highest officer killed was the brave Lieutenant-Colonel Hendricks, of the 22d 
Indiana. 

In his official report. General Curtis said : " Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, and 
Missouri may proudly share the honor of victory which their gallant heroes won, 
over the combined forces of VanDorn, Price, and McCulloch, at Pea Ridge, in the 
Ozark Mountains of Arkansas." 

A vivid description of the flight of the routed army is given in 
Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove, from which the following is extracted : 

The living tide, which had swept through our town to the Boston Mountains, 
began to flow back. VanDorn had arrived to take the command of all the forces 
in that region. We heard the salutes which welcomed his arrival, and about the 
same time there came the first news from Fort Donelson ; but how difi"erent from 
the reality : it was represented as an unmitigated disaster to the union cause ; 
twenty thousand prisoners had been taken, and the confederate cavalry was in hot 
pursuit of the remnant of the fleeing host. Bulletins to this eS"ect were circulated 
through the camp, and all felt certain that a similar fate soon awaited the little 
army of General Curtis, then encamped in the vicinity of the now famous field of 
Pea Ridge ; and, though much has been said concerning this — one of the most 
important and stoutly contested battles of the war — yet I am bold to say that the 
story of that field has not yet been told. In the official reports of General Curtis 
and his division commanders, the occurrences of the three eventful days are 
clearly and modestly set forth ; but neither he nor they were aware of the utter 
rout of the enemy, from the fact that they had no large body of cavalry to follow 
up the victory. 

General Curtis estimated the forces he met and vanquished at about 30,000 — 
three times the number of his own little but brave band ; but the southern men 
themselves claimed a much larger force : by most it was placed at from 40,000 to 
45,000; and from the number of the regiments, nearly all of them full, and from 
the appearance of the troops, and the time it took them to pass, I think 40,000 
rather inside than beyond the real number. In Price's army were the divisions 
of Rains, Slack, and Frost. McCulloch had a large army before the retreat from 



QQ2 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

Cross Hollows, and many newly-raised regiments were said to have joined him at 
Boston Mountain; and to these must be added the Indian brigade, under (Jeneral 
Pike. Most of these troops passed through our town on the 3d and 4th of March. 

The quiet which reigned after the army bad passed northward was soon broken 
by the roar of artillery, which told that the battle had begun ; this firing took phice 
near Bentonville, where VanDorn, in his report of the battle, says that he found 
Sigel posted with a force of 7000 strong. 'J'he truth is that Sigel was there, but 
with not quite as many hundreds as he was reputed to have thousands. With this 
small yet determined band he kept fighting and retreating; and the severe loss 
inflicted upon the enemy during that well-conducted retreat, was well calculated 
to create and keep up the impression that Sigel had 7000 instead of but 600 men. 

This falling back, in the face of an overwhelming force, was called a retreat of 
all the federal forces: and we soon got news that the invading army was in full 
flight in Missouri; and then that it had been overtaken and surrounded. At this 
juncture our feelings were not of the most agreeable character. Our news, be it 
remembered, however, was from the southern side alone; we knew nothing of the 
splendid strategy of Sigel, the truly chivalrous deeds of Asboth, the unflagging 
courage and endurance of Carr, Davis, and, indeed, of every man in those terrible 
three days, for every man there did his duty. How cheering to us would have 
been the knowledge of the calm self-reliance of Curtis, who, though surrounded, 
as he knew, by a vastly-superior foe, abated neither heart nor hope; having come 
to fight, not to surrender ! Thus passed Thursday and Friday. On Saturday morn- 
ing the news was not so favorable for the exultant expectants of a triumph before 
which all others were to pale ; the contest was said to be fearful, the slaughter, on 
both sides, immense ; still the advantage was with the south. Then the report 
came that a carriage was coming containing a wounded officer; and one of those 
who had just returned from th^- battle-field said: "It is true, gentlemen, that a 
carriage is coming, but the officer in it, be he whom he may, is dead, for I helped 
to lift him into it ; his face was covered, I did not know him, but that he is dead 
I know." Soon the carriage came in sight; and we learned that it contained the 
body of the famous Ben McCulIoch. 

This was unexpected and startling; matters began to wear a serious aspect; 
and, just after nightfjill, hearing a wagon from the direction of the battle-ground 
passing my door, 1 went out to make some inquiries, and found that it contained 
the body of General James Mcintosh, who fell nearly at the same time with 
McCuUoch. The body was taken into the house of an acquaintance of mine ; I 
entered, and there he lay, cold and stark, just as he was taken from the spot where 
he fell; a military overcoat covering his person, and the dead forest leaves still 
clinging to it. His wound had not been examined; I aided in opening his vest 
and under-garments, and soon found that the ball had passed through his body, 
near, if not through the heart. 

Returning home from the sad scene I heard the sound of a horse's feet coming 
down the road from the battle-field ; soon horse and rider came into view, both 
evidently much jaded. 1 hailed him, and asked the news from the fight; he re- 
plied by calling me by name, and I soon found it to be one of our citizens, we 1 
known to me, an oflScer in the confederate army, but just before the breaking out 
of the war a strong union man, who, like many others, was forced, by public sen- 
ment, into the army. " How is the contest going?" said I. He replied : "We 
had them all surrounded; but just before I left a movement was made by our 
troops to let them get away if they wished to do so. Orders were given to our 
regiment for every man to take care of himself. Our friend Wilson's son, a lad 
of fourteen, had his leg shot off, and I thought T would come and let the father 
know the condition of the son. A terrible time it was, I tell you ; their men 
were vastly better drilled than ours; an4 when under fire they moved with as 
much precision as on the parade-ground, but our's broke ranks often." 

A few officers came in during the night, and a confederate surgeon, when I met 
him the next morning, said that they were badly beaten. "The very earth trem- 
bled," said he, "when their infantry opened fire upon us." 

About ten o'clock on Sunday morning, the army, which a few days before had 



IN MISSOURI. 



603 



passed my house so exultant and confident of an easy and complete victory, came 
back ; but it was an army no longer. 

When Price went by a quick march on his way to Boston Mountain, he was 
only falling back to lay a trap for his enemies; but now the army was a confused 
mob, not a regiment, not a company in rank, save two regiments of cavalry, which 
as a rear guard, passed through near sun-down ; the rest were a rabble-rout, not 
four or five abreast, but the whole road, about fifty feet wide, filled with men 
every one seemingly animated with the same desire — to get away. Few, very few 
had guns, knapsacks, or blankets ; every thing calculated to impede their flight had 
been abandoned ; many were hatless, arid the few who had any thing to carry were 
those who had been fortunate enough to pick up a chicken, goose or pig; if the 
latter, it was hastily divided so as not to be burdensome, and the usual formalities 
of butchering and taking of the bristles were dispensed with. Very few words 
were spoken ; few of them had taken any food for two or three days ; they had lost 
MoCulloch, Mcintosh, Slack, Reeves, and other oflicers of note, and, in a word, 
they were thoroughly dispirited. And thus, for hours, the human tide swept by, 
a broken, drifting, disorganized mass, not an officer, that I could see, to give an 
order; and had there been, he could not have reduced the formless mass to dis- 
cipline or order. Many called in, with piteous stories of sufi'ering from hunger, 
and were relieved, as far as our means would permit; but these soon failed, and 
all we could furnish was pure water, i^owr members of the 3d Lousiana stopped 
at one time to get water, and one of them looking round, said : " This is the largest 
number of our regiment that I have seen since we left the battle-field." Of an- 
other I inquired: "What has become of the 3d Louisiana?" He replied: 
"There is no 3d Louisiana." 

An old friend of mine — John Mays, a true union man — who had three sons in 
the confederate army, as I am fully assured, contrary to their wishes and prin- 
ciples, when he heard the sounds of battle, started for the field to see what waa 
the fate of his boys, and was returning with one of them when I asked him, 
'• How went the day ? " He replied : '' It was a perfect stampede ; whole regiments 
threw down their arms and fled." Indeed, after the fall of McCulloch and Mcin- 
tosh, and the capture of Colonel Hebert, there was no one to take command of 
tliiit portion of the army; the necessary result was the hurried and disorderly 
flight 1 have attempted to describe. The victors had no cavalry to keep up the 
pursuit; and, indeed, constant watching and fighting for three days had left them 
in such a condition that they were unable to reap all the advantages of their val- 
or. Still it was a most decisive victory ; much of the routed army never was got 
together again; and no portion of it made a stand, but only to be again 
sorely beaten, until it had traversed the state from north to south, and crossed the 
Mississippi ; escaping Curtis only to fall into the hands of Rosecrans and Grant. 

In a few days scouting parties from the battle-field came to our town ; several 
of the soldiers came to my house ; some of them had been down with General 
Asboth, and knew me, and of course were friendly. One of them claimed to 
have killed Ben McCulloch. Being familiar with the appearance of the rebel 
chief, I vyas curious to know whether he, who had sent the bitterest foe to union 
men to his account, was really before me. I asked him to describe the persou he 
had killed, and he described McCulloch with as much precision as I could have 
done myself; every peculiarity of his dress, his white hat, black velvet or velvet- 
een suit, with long stockings drawn over boots and pantaloons up to his knees, 
were all mentioned ; and as there was probably not another man in either army 
dressed like the Texan chief, I felt no doubt that his statement was correct. He 
said McCulloch was sitting on his horse, with his glass to his eye, when he dis- 
covered him ; he took deliberate aim, fired and he fell. Southern men, who were 
near him when he was killed, state that he was observing the moA'ements of the 
enemy through his field glass when he received the fatal shot; thus corroborating 
the story of the federal sharp-shooter. 1 did not ask him his name, but saw after- 
ward, in the report of the battle, that it was Peter Pelican. 

General Htilleck, upon succeeding Fremont, immediately adopted 
stringent measures against rebels and those who sympathized with 



504 TIMES OF THE KKBELLION 

them. This commanding oflficer was dir«^cted to arrest and imprison 
all persons found in arms against the government, and all who, in any 
way, aided them. Success attended his plans. The campaign of Gen- 
eral Curtis, in the south-west, resulted in driving the rebels out of 
two states and across the Mississippi ; and the expedition against 
Island No. 10, under General Pope and Commodore Foote, w^as one of 
the most brilliant operations of the war, as the most splendid results 
were obtained by strategy rather than fighting— all the advantages 
usually attendant on a bloody and decisive victory, without loss 
of life. 

ISLAND NO. TEN. 

Upon the evacuation of Columbus, on the 3d of March, the enemy fell back 
upon and fortified Island No. Ten, a place of remarkable strength, situated in the 
Mississippi, just opposite the boundary line of Kentucky and Tennessee. The 
general course of the river is south, but at the island it makes a sharp bend to the 
north for several miles, and then, timing south in a semi-circle, forms a^ tongue 
of land, opposite the northern point of which, on the Missouri side, is New Ma- 
drid which last is two or three miles below the island. On the 3d of March the 
corps of Gen. Pope, which had been disciplined by severe service in Missouri, ar- 
rived before New Madrid, which was strongly garrisoned. He took possession of 
Point Pleasant, eight miles below the town, with a body of troops, and planted 
sunken batteries and rifle pits, so that the enemy's gunboats could not pass up 
the river. The enemy erected batteries on the east side the of stream, and in con- 
junction with six gunboats, in vain attempted to shell Pope from his position. 
isew Madrid was well defended by redoubts and intrenchments, and the land be- 
ing low the gunboats commanded the country for some distance. 

Gen. Pope took up a position below the town, cutting off supplies, and pushing 
forward works to command the place. On the 13th he opened fire most vigor- 
ously, disabling several of the gunboats. In the night a severe thunder storm 
ensued. Under cover of the darkness, the enemy having been severely handled, 
secretly abandoned their works, and in panic rushed aboard of their gunboats and 
transports. . 

When the morning of the 14th dawned, their departure became known, i heir 
flight had been so hasty, that they left their dead unburied, their suppers un- 
touched, standing on their tables, candles burning in their tents and every other 
evidence of a disgraceful panic. Nothing except the men escaped, and they only 
with what they wore. They landed on the opposite side of the river, and scattered 
in the wide bottoms. Immense supplies of property, even the oflicers' private 
baiJ-t^ao-e, all their artillery, amounting to 33 pieces, thousands of stands of arms, 
tents for ten thousand men, were among the spoils. ^ Our whole loss during these 
operations was 51 killed and wounded. The enemy's loss was unknown; beside 
his dead unburied, more than one hundred new graves attested that he had suf- 
fered severely. 

The investment of the Island was begun on the 16th, by the fleet of Commo- 
dore Foote, from above it. Although a continuous bombardment was kept up dur- 
ing the seige, little harm was thus done to the enemy. When Gen. Pope got pos- 
session of New Madrid his troops lined the Missouri bank, below the Island, and 
their batteries were vigorously replied to by those of the enemy on the Tennessee 
shore, and the Island. There were, however, no means for Gen. Pope to cross 
the river while the enemy's gunboats occupied below the Island, and all the union 
boats were above it. It was necessary to cross to successfully assail the enemy's 
batteries there. Gen. Schuyler Hamilton suggested a plan, which was adopted, 
to cut a canal, on the Missouri side, from above the Island to New Madrid below, 
and through it bring steamboats to enable them to transport their troops across 
the river "^ The cutting of the canal was performed by Col. Bissel and his regi- 
ment of engineers, and was a work of great diSiculty. The idea of cutting a 
canal large enough for good sized steamboats, for four miles, and then to saw off; 



IN MISSOURI. 



605 



four feet under water, at least one thousand trees, ranging from six inches to 
three feet in diameter, beside removing unnumbered snsigs for a distance of eight 
miles, was something novel in warfare. Napoleon's drawing his cannon over the 
icy crags of the Alps, was nothing in comparison. These trees were cut oif by 
hand by means of long saws worked by twenty men. After digging the canal 
the water cam« through with such a current that the boats had to })e dropped by 
lines over nearly the whole distance of twelve miles. For nineteen days the work 
was prosecuted with untiring energy and determination, under exposures and pri- 
vations very unusual, even in the history of warfare. It was completed on the 
4th of April, and will long remain a monument of enterprise and ikill. 

On the 5th of April the steamers and barges were brought near to the mouth of the 
bayou which discharges into the Mississippi at New Madrid, but were kept care- 
fully out of sight from the river, while our floating batteries were being completed. 
The enemy, as was afterward learned, had received positive adrices of the con- 
Btruction of the canal, but were unable to believe that such a work was practica- 
ble. The first assurance they had of its completion, was the appearance of the 
four steamers loaded with troops, on the morning of the 7th of April, the day of 
the defeat and surrender of the rebels. 

In the meanwhile Commodore Foote, above the Island, had accomplished some 
important points. The first of those was the spiking of a battery at the head of the 
Island, a daring and most gallant act, which was performed on the night of the 
1st of April by Col. Roberts, of the 42d Illinois. Each gunboat furnished a yawl 
manned by six oarsmen. Selecting forty men picked from Company A, each 
armed with a revolver, they started on their perilous errand, and just as a severe 
thunder storm was approaching. 

With muffled oars the boats advanced cautiously along the edge of the bank. 
Owing to the violence of the storm and darkness, they got within a few rods of 
the battery, when a blinding flash of lightning glared across the water, revealing 
to the rebel sentinels dark objects approaching. The next instant impenetrable 
darkness closed in. The sentinels fired wildly, and then fled in terror. Our boats 
made no reply. In two or three minutes they touched the slope of the earthworks. 
The men sprang over the parapet, sledges and files were busy, and with a few 
vigorous strokes all the guns were spiked. They were six in number, one of them 
a splendid nine inch pivot gun, received the personal attention of Col. Robert's 
brawny arm. In an inconceivably short time the boats were on their way back, 
and all arrived safely and exultant. 

On the night of the 4th, the gunboat Carondolet, and on that of the 6th, the 
Pittsburg succeeded in running past the Island. On the 7th, these boats attacked 
and silenced the batteries on the Tennessee shore, at the point destined for cross- 
ing. Meanwhile the division of Gen. Paine embarked in the boats that had come 
through the bayou, and was followed by the other corps over the river, where 
they attacked the enemy and drove them to the impassable swamps in their rear, 
where they were compelled to surrender. While these events transpired, the 
Island surrendered to Commodore Foote ; but most of the troops had before aban- 
doned it. About 7000 prisoners 'were captured in all, with 123 pieces of heavy 
artillery, 30 field guns, beside an immense amount of munitions, and seven steam- 
boats. It was a great success, reflecting lasting credit to the general in command. 

An officer of the 39th Ohio, present, gives us an amusing descrip- 
tion of the scenes of the flight and surrender. He first alludes to the 
famous canal. 

All this done, and forthwith, to the astonished eyes of rebels, came slowly 
steaming out of the woods four fine steamers, able to carry easily three thousand 
men ! This last was the unkindest cut of all. They felt sore that General Pope 
should have out-generaled them out of New Madrid, but the idea, so sacriligious 
in its character, of bringing, in opposition to all the laws of nature, " steamboats 
overland" was too much. 

Our troops landed at twelve, yesterday, and commenced the pursuit — down 
across the Kentucky line into the swamps of Tennessee. Now the rebels are 



606 



TIMES OF THE REBELLION 



lonsr-wimied and run well, if they do not fij^iht. Tliis fact our hoys can testify to. 
Here they went — Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississip))i, Alabama, Louisiana — puffin::, 
blowinii and swearing at the " unchivalrous" treatment— as Ohio, Illinois, Indiana 
and Iowa stepped on tlieir heels, and occasionally pulled at the coat tails that 
stuQk out so invitingly. Once in a while they would get mad and shoot, and have 
the compliment returned — but it was the old song, "nobody hurt." When the 
poor fellows found our battery planted below, and the two gunboats, with the 
stars and stripes ahead of them, and their half dozen cowardly gunboats, taken 
good care to leave them, they appeared to resign themselves to their fate, 'i'hey 
eat down on logs, crawled into tree tops, dodged into houses, and went promiscu- 
ously loose. Guns and cartridge boxes were thrown away — clothing and blankets, 
ammunition, lumber of all kinds, from the favorite eighteen inch tooth-pick to a 
thirty-two pounder, lay along their line of march — even the march of the chivalry, 
one of whom "at any time whips five Yankees." But one division of our little 
army reach the enemy, until they were all made prisoners. 

Gen. McCall was first in command, and had formally surrendered his force. He 
marched it in about nine at night. I almost felt sorry, the poor fellows looked so 
chop fallen. Gen. Pope had just two regiments to receive them, while the force 
surrendered was seven regiments from Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama 
and Louisiana. 

It was nothing strange to see half a dozen of our soldiers bringing in fifty 
armed men. Now, it may seem strange, but it is true. I never yet saw men so 
completely humiliated. Some of their officers were as dashing and bloviating as 
ever. One says, "well, I have been fighting all my life, but its over with me now. 
I am a prisoner, but gentlemen, you can not subdue the South — just as sure as 
you live in the next great battle we will whale you to death. You can't whip the 
South." 

Some beautiful farms, in fine cultivation, rise up out of the marshes here, very 
productive. But such a pale, cadaverous people are the inhabitants, that one 
could almost be persuaded that they are a mixed race. Of this " poor white trash," 
there is a large portion in the Southern army. Their white masters have made 
them believe, in their ignorance, that we are a set of demons. One poor woman, 
where the 39th boys arrested a dozen rebels to-day, raised her voice in prayer and 
fervently blessed God that Major Noyes did not have her and her children all 
murdered at once. She must have confidently expected that we would adorn our- 
selves with the scalps of her little white headed urchins. One whole family floated 
down on a raft the other day — man, woman and tow-headed urchins, all were 
towed a shore by one of our boats. The good lady was a voluble talker, and told 
us all her wrongs. She says. "I has jist got this one dress and no skeerts. I 
wears it till its slick and dirty and has to go to bed till its washed." I believed all 
the story but the last part. I should like to take a few such families home with 
me, on exhibition, to show the beautiful workings of the system of slavery upon 
the laboring white man. 

After Gen. Halleck was appointed commander-in-chief of the forces 
of the United States, Gen. Curtis succeeded him in the Department 
of the South-West, and Gen. Schofield assumed command of the army 
of the frontier, the operations of which were mainly confined to 
South -Western Missouri. 

The next matter of moment to the people of Missouri, after the 
surrender of Island No. 10, was the battle of Prairie Grove, December 
7, 1862, over the state line, near Fayetteville, Arkansas. This was 
fought just nine months after the battle of Pea Eidge, within a few 
miles of the same spot, and like that also a signal union victory. It 
is described on page 541. 

Early next year the rebel Marmaduke made two unsuccessful raids 
into Missouri. On the 8th of January, 1863, he attacked Springfield 
with 6000 troops, and was beaten off with severe loss, by the union 



IN MISSOURI. 607 

forces under Gen. E. B. Brown. Being foiled m this attempt, Mar- 
maduke moved his whole force northward, when he was again de- 
feated by a greatly inferior force at Hartsville. Gen. Fitz Henry 
Warren having learned of the approach of the enemy toward Spring- 
field, ordered Col. Merrill, of the 21st Iowa, to make a forced march 
with 700 men to the relief of that place. These troops were the 21st 
Iowa, 99th Illinois infantry, detachments of the 3d Iowa and 3d Mis- 
souri cavalry, and a section of artillery under Lieut. Waldsmidt. _ At 
Hartsville they met the enemy, where the action occurred, and it is 
called the Hartsville fight; but it should be termed the " battle of the 
Wagons,'' for wagons contributed in a large measure to the vic- 
tory. Gen. Warren, for greater speed, had dispatched all the infiin- 
try in wagons. The presence of such an immense train, led Marma- 
duke to believe that the union force was correspondingly large. Hence 
his excessive caution led to his defeat, by one eighth of his own num- 
ber. The details of this remarkable victory are thus given by Warren : 

Our artillery opened fire at eleven o'clock. The position of our troops was : 
one thousand thrown out three and a half miles on the Houston road ; one thou- 
sand held the town approach from Springfield; one thousand rested on the Gas- 
conade, south of town, covered by a high bluff; while twenty-five hundred to three 
thousand men were in the open field in front of our line, and occupying the court 
house, and other buildings in the town. Their artillery (five pieces) was in bat- 
tery on a high bluff east of town, and to occupy it, they used a road cut by my 
order for the same purpose during my former occupancy of Hartsville. The 
ofiicers in command with Generals Marmaduke and McDonald were Colonels 
Porter, Thompson, Burbridge, Shelby, Henkle, Jeffrey and Campbell. The battle 
opened, after the fire of artillery, by a charge of Jeffrey's cavalry (seven hundred) 
on our whole hne. The infantry, lying flat, held themselves with great coolness 
until the line was in easy range, when they fired with great accuracy, and threw 
the whole force into utter confusion. From this time until half past four the firing 
was incessant, but smaller bodies of men were brought out, and although at times 
both flanks and the center were heavily press, no large column moved up. Our 
men held their cover and did fine execution, while the artillery shelled the enemy 
from the court and other houses. At this time (3 o'clock), had we a reserve of five 
hundred men, we could have broken their line, and compelled their retreat in dis- 
order, but every man was required to hold our only avenue of retreat on the Leb- 
anon road, where our communication was constantly threatened. The enemy 
commenced falling back— as 1 am informed by Lieut. Brown, of the 3d Iowa cav- 
alry, taken prisoner, while reconnoitering at Wood's Fork, during the first fight — 
at three o'clock, and the retreat became general at twilight. In the meantime 
our artillery ammunition being nearly spent. Colonel Merrill, ignorant of their 
movements, ordered the detachments to fall back on the Lebanon road, which 
they did in perfect order, with their whole transportation, losing not even a mus- 
ket or cartridge box. Our loss, as by statements appended herewith, is seven killed 
and sixty-four wounded, five prisoners and two missing. Theirs is large in men 
and officers. From subsequent details, I am satisfied it will exceed three hundred 
killed and wounded, besides two lieutenants and twenty-seven privates prisoners. 
Among the killed (whose bodies were recognized at Hartsville) are Brigadier 
General Emmet McDonald, Cols. Thompson and Hinkle, and Major Rubley. At 
the mouth of Indian creek, they paroled and released Lieut. Brown, and the other 
prisoners. Gen. Marmaduke, several times on the march, expressed his wonder 
at the bravery of our troops, repeating, " Why^ Lieutenant, yovr boys fought like 
devils." 

I can not sufficiently express my admiration of their conduct The 21st Iowa 
and 99th Illinois were never before under fire, yet not a single man or officer 
flinched. Nothing could have been finer than their steadiness and discipline. 



008 TIMES OF THE REBELLION. 

The 3d Iowa and 3d Missouri cavalry were equally cool and deteniiined; but they 
have before seen danj^erous service. 

Capt. Black, commanding the 3d Missouri cavalry, made for himself a most en- 
viable reputation; thirteen shot holes in his coat sufficiently indicated where he 
was — in the hottest of the fire. The artillery saved the battle. Lieut. Wald- 
smidt's cunnery was superb, and his coolness astonishino; The enemy's Parrott 
gun got his range and fired with great precision, compelling him to change the 
position of his piece constantly. 

The often defeated, but pertinacious Marmaduke, in the succeed- 
ing April made an assault upon Cape Girardeau and was gallantly- 
repelled by Gen. McNeil. No large body of rebel troops again in- 
vaded Missouri until the spring of 1864, when Kosecrans was military 
commander of the state. Then occurred Price's last campaign. Its 
events have thus been outlined. 

Price chose a time when we were poorly prepared to meet him, Rosecrans not 
having troops enough at command to stop him until a large part of the state had 
been traversed and ravaged. Price, having crossed the Arkansas, reorganized 
his troops at Batesville. There Shelby joined him, leaving Steele, whom he had 
hitherto been threatening, as a cover to Price's advance. At once our troops be- 
gan to callect. Steele rapidly followed Price from Arkansas with a part of his 
ti'oops, reinforced at Duval's BluflF by Mower's infantry division and Winslow's 
cavalry, from Washburne's command, which the latter sent across from Memphis. 
A. J. Smith, who was going to join Sherman, crossed to Brownsville, Ark., and 
thence, by a long march of nineteen days and 312 miles, on short rations, reached 
Cape Girardeau, Mo. Nine days on transports carried him thence to Jeffer- 
son City. 

No sooner did Price commence his march from Batesville, than it was evident 
that Pilot Knob, Rolla, Springfield, and Jefferson City, (all important points), 
would be directly aimed at. Should these be carried St. Louis would be in dan- 
ger. 

Price, with 15,000 men, advanced, without opposition, to Pilot Knob, which wa8 
partially fortified and garrisoned with less than 1000 men, under General Hugh 
Ewing. On the morning of the 26th the attack on the town commenced, and, for 
several hours, the battle raged fiercely outside the works. The fighting continued 
for two days. Ewing finally retired to the fortifications and defended them most 
pertinaciously. The rebels finding that the works could not be carried by assault, 
placed their artillery upon a commanding hill, which at once rendered Ewing's 

f>osition untenable. At three o'clock on the morning of the 28th, Ewing, with his 
ittle band, evacuated the fort, taking the road towards Harrison, on the south- 
west branch of the Pacific Railroad. Although the enemy had troops on all sides 
of the town, it was some time before they learned of his retreat. Pursuit was 
immediately commenced, and for two or three days the federals were sorely 
pressed and compelled to fight at every step. At Harrison, Ewing was reinforced 
by a small force of cavalry, and succeeded in reaching Rolla in safety. The reb- 
els lost 500 men in the attack and retreat ; and Ewing not over 200. 

Price now aimed at Jefferson City, crossing the Osage. Here our troops had 
been concentrated, under General Fisk, from Rolla, Springfield, and elsewhere. 
After some skirmishing at Jefferson City, Price retired to Booneville. Our forces 
remained quiet, and without pursuit, until Pleasantson came up, when the latter 
followed Price to Booneville, and harassed his rear with Sanborn's troops. Mean- 
while Price had captured Harding's new regiment at Glasgow, on its way to Jef- 
ferson City. Most of our cavalry was now concentrated at the Black Water, 
where Winslow, from Washburn's command, joined it. On the 17th, Pleasantson 
moved from Sedalia in pursuit of Price, whom he struck at the Little Blue on the 
22d, and drove thence to the Big Blue. Here Price forced Blunt to retire, and 
awaited Pleasantson's attack. 

On the following day, the 23d, a severe battle was fought near Westport. It 
seems to have been a singular affair. Curtis was first driven from Westport, by 



IN MISSOURI. 609 

the enemy under Shelby, who was in turn attacked and defeated })y Pleasantson. 
The enemy then turned south, on the Fort Scott road, and henceforward occupied 
himself only to get away with the spoils of his caaip.iiiin. Pleasantson and Cur- 
tis, having joined forces, briskly pursued, and at length reached the enemy on the 
25th. Under cover of a dense fog, Pleasantson attacked and routed him, ca|>- 
turing camp equipage, one cannon, twenty wagons lull of plunder, and several 
hundred head of cattle. The enemy retreated, and at length secured a better 
position across Mine Creek, which he guarded with a full battery. 

Marmaduke and Pagan's entire divisions were joined in line of battle, supported 
by seven pieces of artillery. The first brigade, under Colonel Philips, and the 
fourth, under Lieutenant-Colonel Benteen, soon arrived upon the ground, and 
formed their line of battle; and this little force of cavalry, scarcely 3000 men, 
on the order being given to charge, dashed against more than three times their 
number. Across the prairie they went, filling the air with their enthusiastic yells, 
and carrying consternation and death to the rebel ranks. A hand to hand saber- 
fight ensued, which, however, was very brief, as the enemy broke and fled in all 
directions. 

The results of this charge were : seven pieces of artillery, two battle flags, Gen- 
erals Marmaduke and Cabell, five colonels, and about 700 prisoners. 

Once more, at Marias des Cygnes, the enemy attempted a stand, but was forced 
to retreat, destroying a long train of wagons and some ammunition, to prevent its 
recapture. 

Again, on the 2Sth, Price was overtaken at Newtonia, and defeated with a re- 
ported loss of 250 men. More wagons were here destroyed. 

Last of all, at Fayetteville, Ark., Iiis rear guard was again harassed, and one 
more skirmish ensued of a similar character with the preceding. 

REBEL ATROCITIES. 

In addition to the devastation of regular warfare, Missouri suffered 
moi*e, perhaps, from guerrilla bands, than any other state. Manj of 
tliese bandit chiefs were harbored and protected by disloj^al citizens. 
The crimes of these men were such as would have been deemed im- 
possible a few years since ; but now no pen can exaggerate their bar- 
barities. When the rebel armies were driven out of Missouri, most of 
these plundering bands left the northern and interior portions of the 
state, and confined their foul deeds mainly to the south-west. Of 
their deeds in that region, Mr. Baxter, in his work already quoted, 
gives us these facts as coming within his knowledge: 

The leaders of these bands, though in some instances men of ability, were 
mostly intemperate, and when under the influence of drink perpetrated crimes, 
which we fain would hope they would have shrank from in their sober moments. 
On one occasion, about the last of .June, the bands of Coff"ee, Rains, and some 
others came into our town, bringing as prisoners several men whom they had 
taken from their homes while endeavoring to secure their crops. The men were 
accused of no crime, and were engaged in their usual peaceful labors when ar- 
rested. A few days after they were brought in, Coffee, who was seldom sober, 
and some of the other officers, began to talk about shooting those prisoners, in 
retaliation for some men they had lost in an engagement with some federal cavalry 
a few days before. They mutually excited each other while in their cups, and 
even in the hearing of some citizens spoke of shooting their prisoners; tlieir 
friends regarded their threats as due more to the liquor they had taken than any 
serious intention to injure innocent men; but no, the drunken wretches were in 
earnest, and before the dawn of another morning they had executed their murder- 
ous purpose. 

About midnight, without the least form of trial or intimation of the fate that 
awaited them, the prisoners, four in number, were marched southward under a 
strong guard. About a mile from the town they turned into a dim and unfre- 
quented road; and when about a quarter of a mile from the main road were 
39 



610 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

halted. On the lower side of the road was a comparatively clear spot, the under- 
growth havin<r been cleared away; into that space they were ordered; the word 
was iriven ; the report of fifteen or twenty gum was heard; they all fell, and. 
their murderers returned and left them just as they lay. The firing was heard in 
town, but the cause of it was known only to the drunken and brutal Cofi"ee and 
his companions, by whose order this deed, black as the hour at which it took 
place, was done. 

Only three of the poor wretches, however, were dead, the other was shot 
through the body and fell ; and after the departure of the executioners he 
crawled through the bushes and over the rocks, about a quarter of a mile, to the 
nearest house. His wounds were of a horrible character, and no expectation 
was entertained that he could live more than a few hours. In this condition, 
with death, as he felt assured, close at hand, he told his sad story: he said that he 
and his companions had never had arms in their hands on either side; that they 
were taken prisoners at home while at work; that they knew of no reason for 
their arrest, but, without warning and without crime, had been torn from their 
families; thfey had not been tried, and only knew their fate when brouglit to the 
place of the foul murder. He gave his name and that of his fellow-prisoners, 
and desired that their families might be informed of their fate. A few hours 
more would, in all probability, have brought an end to his sufferings; but the next 
day the news got out that one of the victims was still alive; some of the band rode 
out to see him, and one of them gave him some drug which soon resulted in a 
sleep from which he never woke again. The shooting at midnight was doubtless 
consummated by deliberate poisoning in open day. 

The bodies of the other three were found, weltering in their blood, by some of 
the neighbors the next morning, whose fears and suspicions had been aroused by 
the firing in such an unfrequented place at an hour so unusual, and who imme- 
diately set about giving them a burial, hasty it is true, but decent as circumstances 
would permit. 

They were proceeding in their pious task, preparing a grave large and deep 
enough for three; but before the task was half accomplished, the murderers of 
the previous night came upon them, made them throw the bodies into the half- 
dug grave, and would not permit them to hide, with earth, the corpses of the poor 
victims from the light of day and the reach of dogs and vultures. One of the 
burial party, however, an old man, and a union man, after their departure, ca:ue 
back and built a wall of loose stones around the place of the dead, and then pro- 
tected it with brush that the bodies might rest unmolested by either brute or foul 
bird. 

Noble old man! hard didst thou toil in thy labor of love in the heat of that 
summer day; no human eye saw thy sweat and toil, or knew the thoughts of thy 
"heart as thou didst labor at the grave of the murdered ones; but the honest and 
noble purpose of thy heart, and the pious labor of thy hands, were not unnoted 
of God ; and the little mound thou didst raise over these strangers in that solitude 
will seem, to thy fellows, like a mountain-peak raising thee nearer to heaven than 
thou ever didst stand before. 

Another murder, darker, and more unprovoked, if possible, than the foul mid- 
night deed just narrated, took place a few miles from town; and, as the subject 
of~it was well known for miles around, it struck a strange and undefinable terror 
into nearly every household ; for, if such persons as the victim in this instance 
were not safe, there were none who could feel secure. 

He was a man bv the name of Neal, a leading member of the Methodist 
Church, of simple manners and a pure life, well and widely known, and univer- 
sally regarded as a good man. He was a union man, as nearly all of his type of 
character were, and yet he was not offensively so; he did not boast of his attach- 
ment to the old government, nor did he speak harshly or bitterly of his neighbors 
who favored the rebellion. He was too old and of too pacific a spirit to take up 
arms, and was ready, at all times, to relieve the wants of the sick and suffering 
without reference to their position on the great questions of the day. 

No intemperate language, no unfriendly act was charged against him; his only 



IN MISSOURI. 611 



crime he had never wavered in his attachment to the government, he never had 
approved of the mad act of secession; yet yielding to the violence of a Btorm thnt 
he was powerless to resist, he retained his principles in a day of great defe.t.un. 
and for this, at last, be became one of the noble army of martyrs for the im.on. 
whose graves are to be found all over the seceding states, whom generations to 

come will yet honor. „ . ,. „ j 4. i • 

One afternoon several mounted men, friendly to all appearance, rode up to h.s 
ffate asking food for themselves and animals ; they were invited to alight and re- 
main till provision could be made for their wants; they entered the house an<l 
found two or three men there, relatives of the family, and entered freely into con- 
versation with them, but not giving the slightest intimation as to which party they 
were attached. Supper was served; they all sat down and partook; at its close, 
the strangers said that General Curtis, whose army was encamped some twenty or 
thirty miles northward, had heard that he, Neal, had been giving information t<. 
the southern army, and that he must go with them to the federal camp to answer 
to this charcre The old man, with all the fearlessness of innocence, e^xpressed 
his willingness to go; but his wife was fearful, she hardly knew why; the stran- 
gers however, insisted that he and the men who were in the house should go with 
them instantly to the camp, tied their hands behind them, and they, riding, with 
the captives on foot before them, set off. , , ,. i ^u • • 

They had only proceeded a few hundred yards, when they halted their prison- 
ers fofmed them in a line, and informed them that if they had any Players to 
offer they had better begin, as they had only five minutes fo live. Appalled by 
this intelligence, they began to plead for their lives. '1 he old man prayed them to 
spare himfbut they were deaf to his entreaties. Suddenly one of the younger 
prisoners, seeing death inevitable, by a violent effort broke the ropes which con- 
fined his hands, and ran for the woods and escaped; upon th.s the murderers fired 
upon the rest, killing the old man and wounding the others and then hasti y 
abandoned the scene of blood. They were confederates and had endeavored to 
palm themselves off as union soldiers, had been hospitably entertained and rode 
off Avith the blood of their innocent and unsuspecting host upon their heads. 

This was the first killing of a private and unarmed citizen that had taken place, 
and the sensation it produced was imuiense. As soon as it was known those who 
jrathered around the evening fire, in nearly every house and cabin, looked anx- 
iously into each other's faces, and spoke in low tones of the dead and their own 
probable future. If a straneer or two rode up to a dwel ing, wives and mothers 
became fearful, and children turned ghastly pale; none knew who would be the 
next victim, and a shadow seemed to have fallen upon every household. 

One, writint^ from St. Louis, says : 

All the south-western portions of Missouri has been depopulated; houses have 
been sacked and burnt; horses, swine, sheep, and cattle have been stolen; their 
brave defenders have often been shot down, and women and children have been 
robbed of the clothes they wore. There are now in this city widows, whose hus- 
bands have been murdered before their eyes; their houses have been stripped ot 
everything valuable, and even the very shoes have been taken from their teet. 

One woman saw her husband driven away by the bayonets of a gang ot ma- 
rauders, she knew not where. She afterward learned, from rumor, that he had 
been murdered and left about ten miles from his home. She went on toot to the 
place and was guided to the decaying body of her husband by the offensive odor 
which the wind wafted from it. How terrible to a solitary, helpless woman must 

have been that awful scene ! , r -.l • i ** ^ ,, 

One respectable woman came into St. Louis barefoot, with a single cotton dress 
to shield her from "chill November's surly blast." 

We see every day, enterina: our city creaking and rickety carts, drawn by lean 
and hungry oxen, laden with half-clad women and children, with the remains ot 
their furniture and bedding Sometimes girls with old quilts wrapped around 
them are riding upon lean horses or shriveled or gaunt mules. 



612 



TIMES OP THE REBELLION 



Many suffered, as did the author of the following aflSdavit : 

1, Franklin Wood, was born in the State of Maryland, and raised in Washing- 
ton county, O.; have resided in the State of Missouri for the last fourteen years, 
prior to the 25th of March, 1862, and was living in the town of Independence, 
Jackson county, Mo., at the time of the breaking out of the present rebellion, 
working at my trade (stone-cutting) when President Lincoln called upon Missouri 
by requisition, last April, for four regiments of soldiers to protect Washington 
City. Claib. Jackson, governor of said state, refused to fill the requisition, when 
it was proposed, by some loyal union men, to raise companies and go to Washing- 
ton City. 1 made the same proposition to raise a company in Jackson county, 
but failed. After speaking frequently in favor of the union, in opposition to 
abuse, 1 was arrested by a band of guerrillas under Jack Harris, late member of 
the legislature. I was working in my shop at the time when Jack Harris ordered 
his men to demolish my work: consisting of monuments, a number of headstones, 
table-tops, etc., valued at $1000 — all of which they wantonly destroyed because J 
refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Southern Confederacy. As an induce- 
ment to do this, I was offered a command in the rebel army. Still refusing, they 
took me over to the courthouse square, and, after placing a rope around my neck, 
proceeded to hang me, when I was rescued by the timely assistance of Mr. Sam- 
uel D. Lucas, County clerk, who appealed to them in my behalf. I was then taken 
by William Botts (ex-sheriff of the county, who was second in command.) to the 
jail-yard, when, upon again refusing to take the rebel oath, 1 was tied to the "ne- 
gro whipping-post" — a place of punishment for slaves — my coat was cut and torn 
from my back, and I received twenty-five lashes from a cowhide it the hands of 
said Botts. 

While this was going on, Jack Harris ordered a body of men to set fire to my 
house and shop, which was done, destroying the buildings and all their contents. 
I was thrown into the county jail, and confined in a room fourteen feet square, in 
company with twenty one others — fourteen white men and seven negroes. Two 
of the white men died, during the winter, from hardship and exposure. Our ra- 
tions, per day, for each prisoner, was about three ounces of pork and six ounces 
of cold corn bread, with Mater. We were compelled to lie upon the hard oak 
floor with no covering or fire during the inclemency of the winter season. 

There were about seventy-five persons in Harris' band at the time I was taken 
prisoner; and 1 am personally acquainted with about sixty of them, who were 
residents of Jackson county. I lost betwean $4000 and $5000 worth of stock and 
outstanding accounts. I have a disease contracted through ill-treatment and ex- 
posure during my confinement, which may shorten my days; yet what are my 
troubles compared with those of thousands of others, who have lost their all in 
the cause of the constitution and the union ? 

On the 2Xth of February last, a detachment of General Pope's division came 
into, and took possession of, indei>endence, and I was released with the others. 1 
was so afflicted with rheumatism that I was unable to walk, but had to be carried 
to the transport and conveyed to the general hospital. There, under the kind 
treatment of Surgeon R. Wells, I so far recovered as to be able to make my way 
here ; and by the blessing of God I may yet live to see the day when my enemies 
and the enemies of my country may tremble and the rebellion be crushed. 

Franklin Wood. 

Subscribed and sworn to, before me, this 26th day of April, 1862, at Marietta, 
Ohio. Manly Warren, Notary Public. 

A correspondent of the New York Times, who writes from Spring- 
field, Mo., tells the following sad tale : 

'i'he tender mercies of secession are cruel. I have just heard the sad story of 
a widow who has buried two sons and a daughter since the outbreak of the rebel- 
lion. Her three children all fell by the hand of violence. 

She lived in the White River country — a land of hills and of ignorance. Tn 
that country she and her family stood almost alone on the side of the national 
union. Her neighbors were advocates of rebellion, and even before the arrival 



IN MISSOURI. 613 



of our army in Springfield, all loyal citizens were warned that they must leave 
their homes or die. It was little that the poor widow had to leave— a iiiit,eralMe 
lo^r-oabin and a small patch of hillside— but such us it was, she was prepiuin-; i.. 
ab'andon it, when her son Harvey left her, in search of employment, ^lie p;ickt d 
his bundle with a heavy heart; took a silk handkerchief from her neck, i:.ve it 
to him, and kissed him good-bye, never expecting to see him again. 

He had not been gone many days when her persecution began. Her little bdv 
was one evening bringing in wood for the lire, when a shot was heard— a bullet 
Btruck the log under his arm, and he dropped it with a scream. The ball li:id 
just missed his heart. Joy at his escape from death was henceforth mingled with 
gloomy apprehension. Next she heard of the death of Harvey. He had iuund a 
home, and fancied himself secure: was alone at work in the field. The family 
with whom he lived was absent. When they returned at noon they found his 
dead body, in the house, pierced with a bullet. His torn cap, and other signs, wit- 
nessed the' severity of his struggle before he yielded to his murderer. 

From this time the family of Mrs. Willis lived in constant fear. One day a 
trun was fired at them as they sat at dinner. Often they saw men prowling about 
with tfuns, looking for the young men. One man was bold enough to come into 
the cabin'in search of them. At night they all hid in the woods, and slept. The 
poor woman was one day gathering corn in the garden, and William was sitting 
upon the fence. 

"Don't sit there, William," said his mother, "you are too fair a mark tor a 
shot." William went to the door, and sat upon the step. " William," said his 
sister, "you are not safe there. Come into the house." He obeyed. He was 
sitting between two beds, when suddenly another shot rang upon the air, and the 
widow's second son, Samuel, whom she had not noticed sitting by another door, 
rose to his feet, staggered a few steps toward his mother, and fell a corpse before 
her. " I never wished any one in torment before," she said, " but 1 did wish the 
man that killed him was there." 

Her three eldest sons at once left the cabin and fled over the hills. They are all 
in the national army to-day. Samuel's sister washed the cold clay and dressed it 
for the grave. After two days the secession neighbors came to bury him. At 
first the frantic mother refused to let them touch his body; but after a time she 
consented. The clods were falling upon the coffin, each sound awakening an 
echo in her heart, when a whip-poor-will fluttered down, with its wild, melancholy 
cry and settled in the open grave. The notes so terrified the conscience-stricken, 
superstitious wretches that, for a moment, they fled in dismay. 

Two of her children were now in the tomb. Three had fled for their lives. 
The unhappy woman was left, with her two daughters and three small children, 
helpless and alone. She was compelled to go thirty miles, on horseback, to mill 
for food, and afterward to return on foot, leading her horse by the bridle, with the 
sack of meal upon his back. On her return she met her children about a mile 
and a half from her own house. In her neighbor's yard, her two eldest boys, aged 
ten and twelve years, were digging another grave — the grave of an old man, mur- 
dered, in her absence, for the crime of loyalty to the union. Together with a 
white-headed patriot, who tottered with age, they placed the corpse upon a board, 
rolled it, unprepared for burial and uncoffined, into the shallow pit, and then cov- 
ered it with earth. 

The widow now escaped, for refuge, to this city. And here, to crown her sor- 
rows, in the absence of her three oldest remaining sons, a drunken soldier of the 
5th Kansas regiment shot her daughter, Mary, as she was standing in the door of 
her house. Is it any wonder that this woman's hair is gray, her forehead full of 
wrinkles, or that she should say, with tremulous tones : " 1 feel that 1 shall not 
live long. The only thing which sustains me is the love of Christ." 

Another writes : The stories of barbarities committed upon union 
men, at the south, have been so horrid that we have been almost dis- 
posed to discredit them. 

Take this as an instance: I met a lady, who, with her husband, was from Mas- 



g-[^4 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

gachusetts — herself a Presbyterian — who told uie that in a nei<rhl)orhooJ wlipre 
they had resided, nine of their neighbors were murdered hy the butibw barkers, 
who came in with a list of the names of the doomed men, and went from hoiLse 
to house on their hellish errand. Finding; one man, they would compel him to es- 
cort them to the house of the nest, and when within sight of the house of the new 
victim, they would dispatch the man in hand. No begging would suffice, 'flie 
reply was, "You are radicals, and we are sent to kill you." After shooting, 
they cut the throats of each from ear to ear. They cut off the ears and nose of 
one man, and then cut out his heart. One man, after they had wounded him, they 
shot while his wife was bathing the wound. Another, shot in three places, yet 
alive, begged for the chance of his life. "No; we don't do our business in that 
way," was the reply ; and the captain put his revolver to the head of the poor 
man and killed him. 

The St. Louis News of May 1st, 1862, gives this account of the mur- 
der of eleven men in Cedar county: one of whom was Obediah vSmith, 
a member of the state legishiture : 

The scene of the atrocities was the neighborhood of Bear creek post oflRce, in 
the eastern part of Cedar county. On Sunday, the 19th of April, a band of guer- 
rillas, thirty-one in number, came into the neighborhood from Calhoun, in Henry 
county. They first captured seven soldiers of the State Militia, three of whom 
were of Col. Gravelly's regiment, and four of Capt. McCabes company, who were 
on their return from guarding the Paymaster to Springfield. After being cap- 
tured, they were stripped of all their clothing but their shirts and drawers, formed 
in a line, and shot from behind, the charges entering the back of their heads. 
All seven were killed, and fell to the ground in a heap. Having perpetrated this 
butchery, the villains went to the north of Stockton, in the same county, and cap- 
tured Robert Williams and Powell, taking them up to the house of a seces- 
sionist to feed. Finding no corn at this house, they asked Mr. Williams for di- 
rections to a place where they could get feed; but while he was standing before 
them, giving the requested information, they shot him in the head, killing him in- 
stantly. They then turned to Powell and fired at him, wounding him. Neverthe- 
less, lie sprang up and ran three quarters of a mile before they overtook him. He 
fell on his knees and plead for his life, but the pitiless murderers gave him a 
second shot, which finished him. They then took his gun and went to Powell's 
house, where they were met by the women, who told them they had ruined them. 
The scoundrels replied : " We have killed them, and you can not help yourselves." 

They next went to the house of Obediah Smith, and pretended to be Kansas 
troops. Mr. Smith, believing them to be such, went out to the fence to speak 
with them, carrying with him, however, his Sharpe's rifle and a pistol. The cap- 
tain of the band remarked to him: "You have a gun just like mine ; let me see 
it." Smith unsuspectingly handed the weapon to him, which the bushwhacker 
had no sooner received than be said ; " 1 will give you the contents of this gun," 
and fired at him. The ball missed its aim, but the muzzle was so close to Mr. 
S.'s person, that the powder burned his face. He, however, fired his pistol 
twice, knocking two of the scoundrels from their horses. He then ran toward 
his house, his brave wife keeping between them for about forty yards, when, as 
he was trying to escape through the orchard, they fired and broujiht him down. 
Coming up to where he lay, they shot him again and again in the back, and 
then, turning him over, shot him the face. He had thirty-eight bullet wounds 
on his body. The murderers then robbed him of his money, $700 or $800 and 
threw the empty purse in his wife's face. 

Among the horrible acts was one perpetrated hj the rebel fiends on 
the night of the 3d of November, 1861. The passenger express train 
bound west, on the Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad, when it had 
reach Little Platte river bridge, nine miles east of St. Joseph, was pre- 
cipitated into the river, the whole train going down with a terri'ole 



IN MISSOURI. 



615 



crash, hurling nearly 100 men, women, and children, into the chasm. 
The following account of the aftair is from a St. Louis paper : 

The bridiie waa a substantial work of 100 feet span, and al»()Ut 35 feet above 
the river. The timbers of the bridge had been burned by these horrible wretches 
underneath the track, until they would sustain but little more than their own 
weisht, and the fire was then extinguished, leaving the bridge a merf sliell. 
The train, bringing from 85 to 100 passenger, including women and children, 
reached the river at 11 o'clock at night, and, the bridge looking secure, pHssed in ; 
but no sooner Jiad the locomotive measured its length upon the bridge than 
some 40 or 50 yards of the .structure gave way. precipitating the entire train 
into the abyss below. All the seats in the passenger coaches were torn and 
shoved in front, carrying men, women and children in a promiscuous heap down 
the declivity, and burying them beneath the crushed timber, or throwing tliem 
out of the cars through the broken sides. Some were mangled liy the iriachinery 
tearing through the timbers ; several were caught between planks, pressing to- 
;;ether like a vice. Others were struck by parts of the roof as it came down with 
iniirhty hrt'.e, and still others were cut with pieces of glass. In the midst of thisi 

ionfusion the two last cars of the train went down, pitching the passengers into 

he wreck, or throwing them into the water, which at this point is aliout a foot and 

k half in depth. 
Only three persons — J. W. Parker, superintendent of the United States Express, 

nlr. Mars, mail agent, and Mr. Hager — were able to afford assistance to the suffer- 
ing — the remainder of'those who were not killed outright being so disabled as to 
be helpless. After doing all that was possible for those requiring immediate at- 
tention, Mr. Hager, at midnight, left the wreck to go to' St Joseph for medical and 
other assistance. He walked five miles of the way, when he found a hand cai-, 
upon which he proceeded the remainder of the journey. Two hundred yards 
west of the bridge he discovered a heavy oak railroad tie strongly strapped across 
the track, and two miles further on he found the trestle work over a small stream 
on fire, which, however, had not as yet been so badly burned that trains could 
not pass over or could not be easily extinguished. 

Arriving at St. Joseph, the alarm was soon spread throughout the city, and. al- 
though it was one o'clock at night, 75 men, including ail the physicians in the 
neighborhood, a train fully equipped, supplied with medical stores and other neces- 
saries, went to the scene of the disaster. 

The wounded had emerged from the wreck, and were Iving on the banks and upon 
a sand bar in the river. Seventeen dead bodies were recovered, and it is bnlieved 
that this number embraced all who were killed up to that time. Two are so' 
badly mangled that it was not expected they would survive till morning, while 
many others were dangerously wounded, and would have to be well taken cave of 
to recover. Many who will escape with their lives, will be maimed and crippled. 

The annals of atrocity furnish nothing more fiendish than the " Sam 
Gaiy Butchery,'' in the spring of 1863,. as related by the St. Joseph 

Herald : 

The steamboat Sam Oaty had arrived at Sibley's Landing where the channel 
was close to shore, and was hailed bv some men on the bank, followed by the 
cracking of a dozon or more guns. The pilot put her in shore, and George Todd 
and about twRuty-five of his gang of guerrillas cam* aboard. It was almost morn- 
iniT, and there was no moon. The rebels were dressed in' butternut, having a pair 
of Colt's navy revolvers each (and some as many a» three and four), and shot-guns 
and rifles. Todd wore a large cloth coat, with an ample cape and flowinir sleeves, 
and had also a slouched hat, which he soon exchanged with a passenjjer (or a 
new light-colored beaver. He gave the command, and the work of murder com- 
menced. The passengers were mostly ladies, and the few gentlemen were un- 
armed. 

They first killed George Meyer, by shooting him in the hack. Meyer was for- 
merly in this city, and when Col. Peabody was here after the seige of L&xingtoa, 



616 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

he was in Major Berry's cavalry command, acting as Quartermaster For a time 
he was Serjeant-Major of the 5th Cavalry, Col. Penick. Durin<r the last winter 
he was frequently eno;aged, with Assistant-Secretary Rodman, in the Senate at 
Jefferson City, in writing up the journal. He was a young man of the most gen- 
erous impulses, and will be mourned by a large number of men, who will avenge 
his death. 

The cowardly butchers next blew out the brains of William Henry, a member 
of Capt. Wakerlin's company. He, too, was a St. Joseph boy, and was formerly 
engaged in a stall in our city market, and at one time, we think, labored for John 
P. Hax, a meat dealer. He leaves a wife and four children in our city wholly 
unprovided for. They next led out to slaughter young Schuttner, of this town, 
whom they first robbed of $200, then shot. He revived the next morning, and 
will probably recover. 

The most revolting act in the bloody drama was the ordering ashore of twenty 
negroes, drawing them up in line, one man holding a lantern up by the side of 
their faces, while the murderers shot them, one by one, through the head. This 
inhuman butchery was within three yards of the boat. One negro alone of all 
that were shot is alive. 

Christ. Habacher, who lives near Hamilton's Mill, in this city, was aboard, but 
managed to hide his money, and got off scot free. Charley, formerly bar-keeper 
for christian Wagner, in Jefferson City, was robbed of every dollar he had, some 
$450. George Schriver of this city was led out to be shot, and a watchman on the 
boat halloed, " hold on there, he is one of my deck hands," and they led him back, 
taking $72 from him, being all he had except $20, which he had secreted on the 
boat. George Morenstecker, a grocer, on the corner of Tenth street and Frede- 
rick avenue, in this city, and a captain in the 33d Missouri, was robbed of $1060 
and his gold watch. The affair ended by the gang going aboard the boat and 
compelling the passengers to throw overboard fifty wagon-beds, 100 sacks of flour, 
and a large amount of other stores, including sugar, coffee, etc. Wearing apparel 
of ladies and gentlemen was indiscriminately plundered. 

There were about 80 contrabands aboard, sent on their way to Kansas by Gen. 
Curtis. Sixty jumped off and ran away, and are now under Col. Penick, whose 
men are scouring the country for these murderers. When the guerrillas drew 
their revolvers on the negroes as they stood in line, the women on the boat 
screamed and cried, and begged them not to kill them, but the work of death 
went on. 

Speedy vengeance followed this act of diabolism. These guerrillas 
were pursued into Jackson county by Major Eansora of the 6th Kansas, 
seventeen of them shot, and two hung. Indeed, retribution swift and 
terrible often overtook the perpetrators of these cruel wrongs. The 
Palmyra Courier describes a tragic scene of this nature, which occurred 
in the fall of 1863. 

Saturday last, the 18th instant, witnessed the pertormance of a tragedy in this 
once quiet and beautiful city of Palmyra, which in ordinarily peaceful times 
would have created a profound sensation throughout the entire country, but which 
now scarcely produces a distinct ripple upon the surface of our turbulent social 
tide. 

It will be remembered by our readers that on the occasion of Porter's descent 
upon Palmyra, he captured, among other person, an old and highly respected res- 
ident of this city, by name, Andrew Allsman. This person formerly belonged to 
the 3d Missouri Cavalry, though too old to endure all the hardships of very active 
duty. He was, therefore, detailed as a kind of special or extra Provost Marshal's 
guard or cicerone — making himself generally useful in a variety of ways to the 
military of the place. Being an old resident and widely acquainted with the 
people of the pi ice and vicinity, he was frequently called upon for inform^jtion 
touching the loyalty of men, which he always gave to the extent of his ability, 
though acting, we believe, in all such cases, with great candor, and actuated solely 



IN MISSOUKl. 617 

by a conscientious desire to discharge his whole duty to his government. His 
knowled^je of the surrounding country was the reason of his being frequently 
called upon to act as a guide to scouting parties sent out to arrest disloyal per- 
sons. So efficiently and successfully did he act in these various capacities, that 
he won the bitter hatred of all the rebels in this city and vicinity, and they only 
awaited the coming of a favorable opportunity to gratify their desire for revenge. 
The opportunity came at last, when Porter took Palmyra. That the villains, with 
Porter's assent, satiated their thirst for his blood by the deliberate and predeter- 
mined murder of their helpless victim, no truly loyal man doubts. When tliey 
killed him, or how, or where, are items of the act not yet revealed to the public. 
Whether he was stabbed at midnight by the dagger of the assassin, or shot at 
midday by the rifle of the guerrilla; whether he was hung, and his body hidden 
beneath the scanty soil of some oaken thicket, or left as food for hogs to fatten 
upon; or whether, like the ill-fated Wheat, his throat was severed from ear to ear, 
and his body sunk beneath the wave — we know not. But that he was foully, cause- 
lessly murdered, it is useless to attempt to deny. 

When General McNeil returned to Palmyra, after that event, and ascertained 
the circnmstances under which Allsman had been abducted, he caused to be is- 
sued, after due deliberation, the following notice : 

"Palmyra, Mo., October 8. 

" Joseph C. Porter — Sir : Andrew Allsman, an aged citizen of Palmyra, and 
non-combatant, having been carried from his home by a band of persons unlaw- 
fully arrayed against the peace and good order of the State of Missouri, and 
which band was under your control this is to notify you that unless said Andrew 
Allsman is returned, unharmed, to his family within ten days from date, ten men 
who have belonged to your band unlawfully sworn by you to carry arms against 
the Government of the United States, and who are now in custody, will be shot, 
as a meet reward for their crimes, among which is the illegal restraining of said 
Allsman of his liberty, and, if not returned, presumptively aiding in his murder. 

"Your prompt attention to this will save much suffering. 

" Yours, etc. W. R. Strachan. 

" Provost Marshal General, District N. E. Ma 
" Per order of Brigadier General commanding McNeil's column." 

A written duplicate of this notice he caused to be placed in the hands of the 
wife of Joseph C. Porter, at her residence in Lewis county, who, it was well- 
known, was in frequent communication with her husband. The notice was pub- 
lished widely, and as Porter was in northeast Missouri during the whole of the 
ten days subsequent to the date of this notice, it is impossible that, with all hia 
varied channels of information, he remained unappraised of General McNeil's 
determination in the premises. 

Many rebels believed the whole thing was simply intended as a scare — declar- 
ing that McNeil did not da7'e (!) to carry out the threat. 

The ten days elapsed, and no tidings came of the murdered Allsman. It is not 
our intention to dwell upon the details of this transaction. The tenth day ex- 
pired with last Friday. On that day ten rebel prisoners, already in custody, were 
selected to pay, with the lives, the penalty demanded. The names of the men so 
selected were as follows : 

Willis Baker, Lewis county; Thomas Humston, Lewis county; Morgan Bixler, 
Lewis county; John Y. McPheeters, Lewis county; Herbert Hudson, Kails 
county; Captain Thomas A. Snider, Monroe county; Eleazer Lake, Scotland 
county; Hiram Smith, Knox county. 

These parties were informed Friday evening, that unless Mr. Allsman was re- 
turned to his family by one o'clock on the following day, they would be shot at 
that hour. 

Most of them received the announcement with composure or indifference. The 
Rev. James S. Green, of this city, remained with them during that night, as their 
spiritual adviser, endeavoring to prepare them for their sudden entrance into the 
presence of their Maker. 

A littlo after 11 o'clock a. m., the next day, three government wagons drove to 



g;[g TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

the jail. One contained four, and each of the others three rough board coffins. 
The condemned mere conducted from the prison and seated in the wa^oiiw — one 
upon each coffin. A sufficient guard of soldiers accompanied them, and tiie cav- 
alcade started for the fatal grounds. Proceeding east to Main-street, the cortege 
turned and moved slowly as far as Malone's livery-stable; thence turning east, it 
entered the Hannibal road, pursuing it nearly to the residence of Colonel James 
Culbertson; there, throwing down the fence, they turned northward, entering the 
fair-grounds (half a mile east of town) on the west side, and driving within the 
circular amphitheater, paused for the final consummation of the scene. 

The ten cofiins were removed i'rom the wagons, and placed in a row, six or 
eight feet apart, forming a line, north and south, about fifteen paces east of the 
central pagoda or music stand in the center of the ring. Each coffin was placed 
on the ground with its head toward the east. Thirty soldiers, of the Missouri 
state-militia, were drawn up, in a single line, facing the row of coffins. This line 
of executioners extended directly from the east base of the pagoda, leaving a 
space between them and the coffins of twelve or thirteen paces. Keserves were 
drawn up in line upon either flank of these executioners. 

The arrangements completed, the doomed men knelt on the grass between their 
coffins and the soldiers, and while the Rev. R. M. Rhodes oBered up a prayer. 
At the conclusion of this each prisoner took his seat upon the foot of his coffin, 
facing the muskets which, in a few moments, were to launch them into eternity. 
They were nearly all firm and undaunted. Two or three only showed signs of 
trepidation. 

The most noted of the ten was Captain Thomas A. Snider, of Monroe county, 
who was captured, at Shelbyville, disguised aa a woman. He was now elegantly 
attired in a coat and pantaloons of black broadcloth and a white vest. A luxu- 
rious growth of beautiful hair rolled down his shoulders, which, with his fine 
{»er8onal appearance, could not but bring to mind the handsome but vicious Abso- 
om. 'J'here was nothing especially worthy of note in the appearance of the others. 
One of them, Willis Baker, of Lewis county, was proven to be the man who, some 
time before, shot and killed Mr. Ezekiel Pratte, his union neighbor, near Wil- 
liamstown, in that county. All the others were rebels of lesser note, the particu- 
lars of whose crimes we are not familiar with. 

A few minutes after one o'clock, Colonel Strachan, provost-marshal-general, and 
Kev. Mr. Rhodes, shook hands with the prisoners. Two of them accepted band- 
ages for their eyes — all the rest refused. A hundred spectators had gathered 
around the amphitheater to witness the impressive scene. The stillness of death 
pervaded the place. 

The officer in command now stepped forward, and gave the word of command : 
"Ready — aim — fire! " The discharges, however, were not made simultaneously, 
probably through want of a perfect understanding of the orders and of the time 
at which to fire. Two of the rebels fell backward upon their coffins and died in- 
stantly. Captain Snider sprang forward and fell with his head toward the soldiers, 
his face upward, his hands clasped upon his breast, and the left leg drawn half 
way up. He did not move again, but died immediately. He had requested the 
soldiers to aim at his heart, and they had obeyed but too implicitly. The other 
seven were not killed outright; so the reserves were called in, who dispatched 
them with their revolvers. 

The lifeless remains were then placed in the coffins ; the lids, upon which the 
name of each man was written, were screwed on, and the solemn procession re- 
turned to town by the same route it had pursued in going; but the souls of ten 
men that went out came not back. 

Friends came and took seven of the corpses; three were buried by the military 
in the public cemetery ; and the tragedy was over. 

Retaliation of the same character occurred at St. Louis, on the 29th 
of October, 1864, for the murder of Major Wilson, of the 3d Missouri, 
and six of his men, by the guerrilla chief, Sim Reeves. The major 
and his comrades had been taken i)risoners at Pilot Knob, and were 



IN MISSOURI. fil9 

killed after their surrender. Their bodies were accidentally discov- 
ered in the woods by young men out gathering persimmons. Three 
of them were horrible mutilated by the hogs. The others had on 
United States uniforms, one being that of a major of cavalry. From 
papers and orders in his pocket, and other circumstances, it was 
identified as that of the unfortunate Wilson. Upon this, six rebel 
prisoners, of the Arkansas and Missouri cavalry, were selected to be 
shot in retaliation. The names of these doomed men were : James 
W. Gates, Grco. T. Bunch, Hervey H. Blackburn, John Nichols, Chas. 
W. Minnekin, and Asa V. Ladd. The circumstances of their execu- 
tion were thus detailed at the time : 

The men were told of their fate, last night, and were allowed every opportunity 
for preparation that could, under the circumstances, be given. They were placed 
to'rether in a separate ward, and it is said that the scene beggared description. 
They were cut to the soul with horror, and gave expression to their terrible agony 
with such wailings as can not be repeated. 

In the mean time Lieutenant-Colonel Heinrichs chose the place of execution, 
at Fort No. 4, the same place where Barney Gibbons, the deserter, was shot sev- 
eral weeks ago, and made such necessary preparations as he could. Six stakes 
were sunk in the ground, eight feet apart, each stake having a little seat attached 
for the men to sit upon, and the name, rank, regiment, etc., of each man was in- 
scribed on a label tacked overhead. _ <■ u -^ 

The place was well adapted for the purpose, because it was clear ot the city, 
yet sufficiently near ; the space was large and open, and the parapet of the fort 
would receive any bullets that might miss their mark. , , , , ^ . 

At half past two, the prisoners, under a strong guard, left the dratiot-street 
prison, and were marched out to the fort, where the troops of the post were al- 
ready under arms and forming a hollow square, with the six stakes at the upper, 
open side. Upon arriving on' the ground, the six men were placed, each beside 
his stake and ordered to take his seat, alter which their arms were pinioned to the 
stakes behind, to prevent the bodies falling forward on the ground. Fifty-lour 
men forty-four of the 10th Kansas (dead shots,) and ten of the 41st Missouri, 
were detailed as the Hring-party. Thirty-six men stood, six before each stake, 
with three in reserve, behind each six, in case the first volley should not be et- 

fective. _ ... ^ j ^ v 

The wretched men were allowed to speak. They said it was hard to be com- 
pelled to die that way, and all praved to God to have mercy upon their souls. It 
was a dreadful sight, and made the stoutest heart quail. The wailing voices ot 
the six mingled together in the clear autumnal air, and were wafted up to heayea 
to the Great Father, who looked down in pity on his poor, helpless, and imploring 
creatures. A chaplain knelt down and prayed, and after taking a pious leave ot 
each the ghastly white caps were produced and drawn over their faces. Ihe 
scene then presented was thrilling, and may be represented as follows : 

GATES. BUNCH. BLACKBURN. NICHOLS. MINNEKIN. LADD. 

t coffin. t coffin. f coffin. f coffin. f coffin. f coffin. 
Fifteen paces. 

I t I I I I 

fulfil 

i t t X t t 

Six men with loaded muskets (five with bullets,) before each stake. 
Three men with loaded muskets (two with bullets,) behind each six, as reserve. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Heinrichs gave the word " Ready— aim— fire." The thirty- 
six muskets flashed as one, and each of the doomed men died almost instantly. 
Five out of the six received two bullets through the heart; the sixth died even 
sooner than those thus shot. 

We conclude these narratives of horror by an account of the Cen- 



g20 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

tralia Biifehery, which took place on the 27th of Septcnibo!-, 1S64. 
The only sutisfactoiy reflection connected with the affair is, that a 
few days after, Anderson, the guerrilla leader, was killed, and his 
band routed, near Albany, by a force sent out in pursuit, under Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel S. P. Cox, 32d Eegiment E. M. M. The particulars of 
the butchery were thus given in the St. Joseph Morning Hentld : 

Bill Anderson and his body of bushwhacking!; fiends, numbering from 250 to 300 
men, rode into the town of Centralia, on the North-Missouri Railroad, and there 
waited for the passenger-train coiuin<r; north to Macon, fie had his pickets sta- 
tioned a mile from town, on a prominent place in the prairie. Passengers on the 
train saw them and believed they were rebels; but the conductor, supposing all 
was right, and anticipating no danger, ran the train into Centralia. 

As it approached the station, Anderson had his men drawn up near it, and 
mounted, ready to run in case there was any force on the train ; but finding there 
was none, he gave orders to dismount and surround the train, which his men did 
with their revolvers in their hands. Then commenced a scene of consternation: 
men, women, and children, frightened and crying, imploring for their lives, money, 
and the clothing they had on their persons — ah were in the greatest state of alarm 
and confusion. Anderson's men walked through the cars with pistol in hand. 

They would point their pistols at the passengers' faces, ready to fire if they did 
not hand over their money and valuables. Some passengers, who were fright- 
ened, at once handed over every thing they had which was of any account. 
Others, having more presence of mind, threw their money to the ladies, who were 
not molested by the bushwhackers, as Anderson told his men, in the train, not to 
trouble women or children. After they had robbed the passengers, they ordered 
them out into a line and marched them around the blufi' and kept them thei-e a 
short time. 

There being twenty-four unarmed soldiers aboard, they were ordered into a 
line, marched out a few paces from the train and shot. After they had killed the 
soldiers, one of Anderson's men said he recognized a German Jew, in the crowd 
of citizens, who had tried to have him hung, when a prisoner among the federals, 
and, as soon as he had finished talking, fired at the Jew. He was then ordered 
out of the line, when a number of Anderson's men tired at him, killing him in- 
stantly. While some of the bushwhackers were guarding the passengers others 
were rifling the baggage-car and taking what they wanted. 

After possessing themselves of the plunder, they set fire to the passenger-train, 
and it was soon in ashes. In the mean time a freight-train had arrived. It was 
also captured and burnt. The engine of the passenger-train was all that was 
saved. They all then left, going in the direction of the Missouri River. Some 
of the passengers came to Sturgeon, some went below, and some remained at 
Centralia One passenger was robbed of $2,000, and others of smaller amounts. 
If a passenger did not give up his money he was threatened with being shot. An 
©flicer and a soldier saved their lives by being dressed in citizen's clothes. 

Among the brave and noble soldiers who were shot were some from Atlanta, 
on furlough and discharged. A lieutenant, who was a cripple, was with them, 
and was walking on crutches. He was ordered to take off his coat and vest. 
They then killed him. Two hours after they had burnt the train, a detach- 
ment, numbering 150 men, of Colonel Keutzner's regiment of twelve-months' 
men, and under the command of Major Johnson, arrived at Centralia, and imme- 
diately formed in line of battle. Anderson also drew up in line of battle and 
ordered his men forward. They came on with a yell; making a dash on the fed- 
erals, causing their horses to stampede and scatter in all directions, his men after 
tiiem, and shooting them down. Some fifteen made their way into Sturgeon; 
and it is thought, from the information of those who escaped, that fifty or seventy- 
five soldiers were killed. They were new recruits; had seen no service; their 
horses were wild and unmanageable, and they were forced to retreat. 

An eye-witness, a gentleman from Indiana, gave these additional 
incidents of the slaughter: 



IN MISSOURI. 



621 



The engineer of the northern-bound train said the steam in the ])oilpr was 
quite low, and that, after he discovered the character of the troops in Centralia, 
it was an utter impossibility to back the train out of danger. This mny be true, 
but many people will ask why that train was suffered to run into a l)and of bush- 
whackers, when the conducior and passengers saw them a mile distant, and it 
was well known that Bill Anderson's gang had, that morning, been at that 
station. 

As soon as the train stopped, Anderson walked to the platform and ordered the 
passengers to march out. Our informant said Anderson appeared to be a niiin 
about live feet ten inches high, rather slim, black beard, long black hair inclined 
to curl, and altogether a promising looking man of about thirty-two years of age. 
He was dressed in a federal soldiers' coat, black pantaloons, and cavalry hat. He 
ordered the citizens — men, women, and children — to march in one direction, and 
those dressed in soldiers' clothes in the other. In getting off the platform two of 
the soldiers hung back, and talked against obeying orders. They were shot by 
Anderson, and fell off between the cars. This had the effect of causing a 
stampede of the passengers, who rushed off the cars in great confusion. There 
were twenty-four soldiers on board the train, belonging to the 23d, 24th, and the 
old' 25th Missouri infantry. Some were wounded and sick, returning home on 
furlough, and some were discharged. One was wounded in the leg and hobbled 
on crutches. All the soldiers were formed in line, and Anderson walked up to 
them and thus .addressed them : 

"You federals have just killed six of my soldiers; scalped them and left them 
on the prairie. 1 am too honorable a man to permit any body to be scalped; 
but 1 will show you that I can kill men with as much skill and rapidity as any 
body. From this time forward I ask no quarter and give none. Every federal 
soldier on whom I can put my finger shall die like a dog. Jf I get into your 
clutches I shall expect death. You are all to be killed and sent to hell. That ia 
the way every d — d soldier shall be served who falls into my hands." 

Some of the soldiers remonstrated, declaring that they were just from Sher- 
man's army, and had nothing whatever to do with killing and scalping any of his 
men. Anderson replied : " I treat you all as one. You are federals; and federals 
scalped my men, and carry their scalps at their saddle-bows." A line of bush- 
whackers, with revolvers, were then drawn up before the soldiers, who cried and 
begged for their lives ; but every man was shot. 

All fell but one, who was shot through the shoulder. He dashed through the 
guerrillas, ran through the line of citizens chased and fired at by the fiends, 
crawled under the cars, and thence under the depot-building. The building was 
fired and he was soon forced to come out. He emerged from the smoke and flame, 
and with a club knocked down two of Anderson's men before they killed him. 
He fell, pierced with twenty bullets. The passengers were then robbed of their 
watches, jewelry, and money. 

One young man was on his way to St. Joseph with his mother. He slipped a 
hundred dollars in greenbacks into his boot-leg, and, on demand, handed over the 
balance. A guerrilla asked him if he had secreted any money and he denied that 
he had. He was told that he would be searched, and that if any funds were 
found on him he would be killed. He then acknowledged that he had secreted 
one hundred dollars in his boot, which was drawn off by the guerrilla, the money 
obtained, and the young man shot dead. A gold watch was found in the boot of a 
German and he was instantly killed. 

When the war began, Missouri was a slave-state ; but, before it 
ended, by her own act, there is not a slave on her soil. This terrible 
incubus being removed, she is prepared to advance rapidly in the 
path of happiness and prosperity. 



KANSAS. 




Kansas prior to 1854, was included within the limits of the "Indian 
Territory "' lyin*- west of Missouri, and the adjoining states. It was thus 
•" called from the circumstance of its 

being the territory on which several 
tribes of Indians, mainly from east 
of the Mississippi, were located un- 
der the direction of the general gov- 
ernment. The principal tribes thus 
placed within the present limits of 
Kansas, were the Delawares, who 
were estimated at upward of 800 in 
number ; the Kickapoos, at about 
900, the Shawnees, at about 1,300 : 
the Kansas, one of the original 
tribes of this region, were located 
on the Kansas River, farther west- 
ward, and were supposed to number 
about 2,000. 

The first white man who traversed 
the soil of Kansas seems to have 
been M. Dutisne, a French oflficer, 
sent in 1719, by Bienville, the gov- 
ernor of Louisiana, to explore the territory west of the Mississippi. He 
passed up Osage River, a southern tributary of the Missouri, and visited 
several Indian villages within the present limits of Kansas. 

In 1804, Lewis and Clark, on their celebrated Rocky Mountain expedi- 
tion, passed up the Missouri River, on the eastern boundary of Kansas. 
The oldest fort on this river is Fort Leavenworth, which was established 
in 1827. This, with the missionary establishments among the Indians, were 
the first places occupied by the whites. 

In 1832, the small pox reduced the Pawnee Indians, in Kansas, one 
half Thus, enfeebled, they entered into a treaty with the United States, 
disposing of their Kansas possessions, and agreed to reside wholly north of 
the Nebraska River, and west of Missouri. Here, under the patronage of 
government, they erected dwellings, shops, etc., and commenced agricultural 
improvements. Their young men, however, formed war parties, and com- 
mitted depredations upon the tribes around them. They were severely 

C62o) 



Arms or Kansas. 

Motto.— 4i Astra per Aipera.^lo Prosperity 

through Adversity. 



624 KANSAS. ^ 

chastised by the Comanchcs and Osages; and the Utahs, from their mountain 
fastnesses, avenged themselves of former cruelties. To crown the misery of 
the Pawnees, tlie Blackfeet and Sioux Indians, in the north and west, rav- 
aged their fields, burned their houses, and drove away their horses and iattle. 
Disheartened, they migrated south, and settled near the Ottoes and Omahas, 
where the remnant now exist. 

"The whole Indian population of Kansas," says Mr. Greene, in his His- 
tory of the Kansas region, 1856, "is probably 25,000. The immigrant tribes are 
the Kickapoos, Wyandots, Sacs and Foxes, Munsees, Weas and Plankeshaws, 
Peorias and Kaskaskias, Ottawas, Pottowatamies, Chippewas, Delawares, and 
Shawnees; embracing in all a population of about 5.000, and including within 
their reservations, prior to the treaties of 1853 and '54, almost ten millions 
of acres. A million of aeres^were ceded by the Delawares, Weas and Kick- 
apoos, in May, 1853, to be sold at auction. The Shawnee Reserve embraces 
thirty miles west of the Missouri line and fifteen south of Kansas River. 
The Wyandots have thirty sections in the angle formed by the confluence of 
the Kansas and Missouri. The Delawares retain a tract ten miles wide and 
forty long, extending east from the mouth of Grasshopper Creek. The Pot- 
tawatomies own thirty miles square, cut through the middle by Kansas River. 
The Kickapoos have a small reserve at the head of the Grasshopper. North 
of the river and below Pottawatomie, the Kansas still hold a tract twenty- 
two miles long and one wide." 

In 1820, on the admission of Missouri into the Union, the congress of 
the United States passed the "Missouri Compromise" act, prohibiting slavery 
in all territory of the United States north of 36° 30'. Kansas being north 
of this line was included within the limits of the prohibition. In 1854, on' 
the organization of the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, congress, after 
an exciting discussion, passed the "Kansas and Nebraska bill," which in 
effect rendered nugatory the Compromise Act of 1820. This at once opened 
up a contest between slave-holders and free-soil men for possession. The 
richest part of Missouri, that most densely filled with a slave population, lay 
adjacent to the soil of Kansas. Were Kansas to become free territory the 
people feared that there would be no security in western Missouri for slavery. 
Thoy determined, therefore, to introduce and fasten the institution in 
Kansas. 

The passage of the Kansas Nebraska bill had agitated the whole country, 
and widely spread the information of the fine climate and rich soil of Kan- 
sas: this excited the desire of multitudes of the citizens of the free states 
to emigrate thither, introduce their institutions, open farms on its virgin soil, 
and found new homes for themselves and their children in the beautiful 
prairie land. The conflict which ensued between the pro-slavery and the 
free-soil parties was inevitable. 

Soon as the tidings of the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill reached 
western Missouri, some thousands of the people crossed over the borders and 
selected farms, and for a while they had the control of the political move- 
ments in the territory, ere the van of the free state emigrants could reach it. 

Many of the latter came hither in bodies, neighbors joining together for 
ihat purpose, and in Massachusetts, an Emigrant Aid Society was created, 
for (it was alleged) pecuniary gain, by the means of organized capital in 
forming centers for settlers.* To counteract this, "Blue Lodges" were 

*"The Emigrant Aid Society wks originally formed in Massachusetts, May 4, 1854, just 
before the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill. In the succeeding February a new char- 



KANSAS. 



625 



established in western Missouri to assist pro-slavery emigration. Soon all 
emigrants came armed, for events showed that only by a struggle and blood- 
shed the question of ascendency would be settled. 

A. H. Keeder, the first governor of the territory, and appointed by Presi- 
dent Pierce, arrived at Fort Leavenworth, Oct. 6, 1854, and soon after visited 
Lawrence, where he was met by the citizens, and was welcomed in an address 
by Gen. Pomeroy. The governor stated in his reply that, as far as possible, 
he should maintain law and order, and preserve the freedom of speech. The 
first election of a delegate to congress took place Nov. 29, 1854. The ter- 
ritory was divided into nineteen districts. Gov. Reeder, who resided at 
Fort Leavenworth, appointed election judges, and gave instructions to have 
the vote properly taken. It appears, however, that an organized body of 
Missourians, in some instances, took forcible possession of the polls, and 
elected Gen. "Whitfield as a delegate. In the election for the territorial leg- 
islature, on March 30, 1855, large organized bodies from Missouri controlled 
the polls, appointing their own judges, where those previously appointed 
would not conform to their wishes. In consequence of this, every district 
(with one exception) returned pro-slavery men to the prospective legislature. 

The legislature met on the 2d of July, at Pawnee, according to the pro- 
clamation of the governor, and was organized by the election of D. S. Strin"'- 
fellow as speaker. In the course of the first week they passed an act re- 
moving the seat of government from Pawnee to the Shawnee Manual Labor 
School, to take efi"ect from and after its passage: they also passed an act 
adopting the laws generally of Missouri as the laws of Kansas. On the 6th 
of July, the governor vetoed the act removing the seat of government. It 
was, however, passed over his veto by a two thirds vote, and the two legis- 
lative houses met at the Shawnee Mission on the 16th of July. On July 
25, in a joint session, they elected the various county officers for a term of 
six years. Various other extraordinary and unusual acts were passed.* A 
resolution was carried declaring the incompetency of the governor, and a 
memorial was dispatched to Washington praying for his removal. 

Gov. lloeder a nd Judge Elmer, of the supreme court, having been removed by 
thegeneraigovernment, Wilson Shannon, an ex-governor of Ohio, was appointed 
governor, and Judge Moore,of Alabama, succeeded Judge Elmer. On Sept. 5, 
1855, a free state convention met at Big Springs, which resolved to repudiate 
all the acts passed by the legislature held at the Shawnee Mission. On the 

ter was obtained, in which the objects of the society were declared to be "For the purposes 
of directing emigration westward, and aiding in providing accommodations for the emi- 
grants after arriving at their places of destination." The total capital was about $100,000. 
The plan was to give fixed centers for emigrants, with mills, schools, and churches, and 
thus to benefit the stockholders by the opportunities which the application of associated 
capital would give in the rapid rise of the real estate around these centers. Emigrants 
upder it provided their own expenses; but by going in companies had the advantages of 
traveling at reduced rates. The great bulk of emigration was not, however, from distant 
New England, hut from the hardy population of the north-west, familiar with pioneer life 
and inured to its hardships. 

* "Among their labors were an act to fix the seat of government at Lecompton ; acts mak- 
ing it a capital offense to assist slaves in escaping either into the territory or out of it, and 
felony, punishable with imprisonment at hard labor from two to five years, to Cdnceal or 
aid escaping slaves, to circulate anti-slavery publications, or to deny the right to hold slaves 
in the territory ; an act giving the right to vote to all persons who had paid a poll tax of 
one dollar, whether residents or not; an act requiring all voters, ofBcers, and attorneys, to 
take an oath to support the fugitive slave law and the acts of this legislature ; and an act 
giving the selection of jurors to the sherifi". They also adopted the Missouri Laws in k 
heap." 

40 



f^2fi KANSAS. 

19tli of September, a convention assembled at Topeka, in which it was re- 
solved to take measures to form a state constitution. On the 9th of Octo- 
ber, the free state men held their election, allowing no nonresident to vote: 
2,400 votes were cast, nearly all of which were for Gov. Eeeder as delegate 
to congress. They also elected delegates to assemble at Topeka, on the 
fourth Tuesday of the same month, to form a state constitution. This con- 
vention met, and chose Col. James Lane its president: a constitution was 
formed in which slavery was prohibited. Immediately after the adjourn- 
ment of this convention, the pro-slavery party called a "Law and Order con- 
vention," over which Gov. Shannon and Judges Lecompte and Elmer pre- 
sided, in which the Topeka convention was denounced as a treasonable 
assemblage. 

In Nov., one Coleman, in a quarrel about a land claim, killed a Mr. Dow, 
a free state settler, at Hickory Point, about 12 miles from Lawrence. Cole- 
man then proceeded to Lecompton, to Gov. Shannon, and swore a complaint 
against Branson, at whose house Dow had lodged, that Branson had threat- 
ened his (Coleman's) life. Branson was thereupon arrested by Sheriif Jones, 
but was rescued by his neighbors, and took refuge in Lawrence. These 
transactions caused great excitement. The people of Lawrence armed as 
an attack was threatened. Gov. Shannon issued his proclamation, stat- 
ing an open rebellion had commenced, and calling for assistance to carry out 
the laws : this was circulated through the border counties of Missouri, vol- 
unteer companies were raised, and nearly 1,800 men crossed over from Mis- 
souri, having with them seven pieces of cannon, obtained from the U. S. 
arsenal near Liberty, Mo. This formidable array encamped at Wakerusa, over 
against Lawrence, which was now threatened with destruction. Gov. Shan- 
non, Chief Justice Lecompte and David E.. Atchison accompanied the troops. 
For more than a week the invading force continued encamped, and a deadly 
conflict 'seemed imminent. Fortunately for the peace of the country, a direct 
conflict was avoided by an amicable arrangement. The invading army re- 
tired from Lawrence, Dec. 9, 1855. 

In Dec, 1855, the Topeka constitution wns adopted by a vote of the peo 
pie, and state officers were appointed. On Jan. 4, 1856, in a message. Gov. 
Shannon indorsed the pro-slavery legislature nnd code, and represented th^ 
formation of the Topeka constitution as equivalent to an act of rebellion 
This was followed by a proclamation, on Feb. 4th, directed against the free 
state men, and on the strength of it, indictments ibr treason were I'ount^ 
against Charles Robinson, Geo. W. Brown, ex-Gov. Beeder, Gen. Lane, Geo 
W. Deitzler, and others, connected with the formation of the free state gov- 
ernment. Robinson, Brown, Deitzler, and many others, were arrested and 
imprisoned at Lecompton during the entire summer, guarded by the United 
States' dragoons. 

In March, 1856, the house of representatives, at Washington, having un- 
der consideration the conflicting claims of Gov. Reeder and Gov. Whitfield 
to represent Kansas in congress, appointed a commission to investigate the 
fact. This committee consisted of Howard, of Michigan, Sherman, of Ohio, 
and Oliver, of Missouri, who, being directed to proceed to Kansas, arrived 
at Lawrence on the 17th of April. While in Kansas this "congression.il 
committee of investigation" collected a large mass of testimony which went 
to prove that frauds had been perpetrated by the pro-slavery party at the 
ballot box, also that many outrages had been committed, in which the free 
state settlers were principally the sufi"erers. 



KANSAS. 



627 



Early in April, 1856, two or three hundred pro-slavery men, from Georgia 
and the Carolinas, arrived in the territory, under the command of Maj. Eu- 
ford, of Georgia. On the 24th of April, Sheriff Jones entered Lawrence 
and arrested several free state men. On the 8th of May, Gov. Robinson, 
while descending the Missouri on his way east, was seized and detained at 
Lexington, Mo., and afterward sent back to Kansas on the charge of treason. 
Gov. Reeder and Gen. Lane, being indicted on the same charge, succeeded 
in making their escape out of the territory. On the 21st of May, Slieriii" 
Jones, with a posse of some four or five hundred men, proceeded to Lawrence, 
ostensibly for the purpose of executing the process of the courts. Several 
pieces of artillery and about 200 of Sharp's rifles were taken, two printing 
presses, with a large quantity of material, were destroyed, and the Free 
State Hotel and Dr. Robinson's mansion were burnt as nuisances. On the 
26th, a skirmish occurred at Ossawatoniie, in which three free state and five 
pro-slavery men were killed. The free state men now began to make a con- 
certed and armed resistance to the pro-slavery bands which were spread over 
the country. Parties of free state emigrants coming up the Missouri, were 
turned back, and forbid entering the territory, so that their only ingrest? into 
Kansas was overland through Liwa. For months civil war prevailed, and 
the settlers were distressed by robberies, murders, house burnings, the de- 
struction of crops, and other atrocities. 

The free state legislature, according to the time fixed, met at Topeka, July 
4, 1856. As they were about organiziisg lur business. Col. Sumner (who 
was accompanied by a body of U. S. dragoons), went into the hall, and claim- 
ing to actunder the authority of the president of the United States, dispersed 
the assemblage. On the 5th of Aug., a body of men from Lawrence marched 
against a post, near Ossawatoniie, occupied by a company of marauders, said 
to be Georgians. After a conflict of three hours, the post, a large block- 
house, was carried with a loss of one or two killed, and several wounded on 
both sides. Other conflicts took place in other places, attended with loss of 
life. Gov. Shannon was removed early in August, and acting Gov. Wood- 
son, on the 25th of that month, issued a proclamation declaring the territory 
in a state of rebellion. 

Gov. Geary, the successor of Gov. Shannon, arrived in the territory about 
the 1st of Sept., and by proclamation ordered all the volunteer militia to be 
discharged, and all bodies of men acting without the authority of govern- 
ment, instantly to disband or quit the territory. x\fter this the outrages and 
skirmishes rapidly diminished, and order was gradually restored. 

The next season, the pro-slavery party, at a convention held at Lecomp- 
ton, formed a state constitution, familiarly known as the Lecompton Constitu- 
tion, and in the session of 1857-8, applied to congress for admission into the 
Union. Great opposition was made to it on the ground that the convention 
which formed it was fraudulently elected, and did not represent tlie will of 
the people, as it was favorable to slavery. After a long and memorable 
struggle, the instrument was referred to the people of Kansas, on the 4tli of 
Aug., 1858. They rejected it by a vote of more than six to one — 11,300 
against to 1,788 votes in favor. 

To this period the party lines in Kansas had been divided between tl;<' 
pro-slavery and the free state men. Soon after, these distinctions gave phue 
to the Democratic and Republican parties. The next territorial legislature 
met in Jan., 1859, and the Republicans, having the majority, took measures 
by which a convention met at Wyandot, in the succeeding July, and formed 



V28 



KANSAS 



a state constitution, known an the Wi/andof Consfifufi'ou. which prohibited 
shivery. This constitution, on reference to the people, was adopted by a 
larire majority. The lower house of congress, in the succeeding session, 
1859-60, passed the bill, but the senate failed to act upon it. so it was lost. 
Kansas, therefore, remained in a territorial condition until January 80th, 
18G1, when it was admitted as a free state of the Union. The severe 
contest in regard to the institutions of Kansas was thus closed, only, how- 
ever, to give place to a more terrible struggle, involving the whole nation. 

Kansas is bounded N, by Nebraska, E. by Missouri, S, by the Indian Ter- 
ritory, and W. by Colorado Territory. It extends between the parallels of 
37° 30' and 40*^ N. Lat., and 94° 30' and 102° W. Long. 




South view of Fort Jjeavenworth. 

The view is taken from a point near the resiflence of the Cliaplain. The block -house, whicn appears 
near the central part, is the oldest builJiiiK stamling in Kansas. It is pierced for nmskctrv and cannon ; 
the lower part is constructed of brick, tlie upper of logs, etc. The barrack buildings appear beyond ; the 
Quartermaster's building is seen on the right. 

The eastern part of Kansas is one of the most beautiful and fertile sections 
of country found in the United States. It consists, for the most part, of 
rolling prairies, having a deep, rich and fertile soil. The smooth and grace- 
ful hills, covered with dense vegetation, extend westward from the Missouri 
about 200 miles, having, in many places, the appearance of a vast sea of 
grass and flowers. The timber is principally in the vicinity of the rivers and 
streams, but a remarkable provision exists in the abundance of limestone 
found on the crest of all the elevations, just cropping out from the surface, 
hardly interfering with vegetation. This is admirably adapted for buildings 
and fences. Numerous coal beds are said to abound. 

The Kansas or Kaw is the only stream of importance passing into the in- 
terior. The climate is healthy, the air being pure and dry. The winters are 
usually mild and open, with little snow. Kansas possesses very superior ad- 
vantages for the raising of cattle. Almost all kinds of grain and fruits can 
be produced in great abundance. In March, 1855, the population was esti- 
mated, in round numbers, at 8,000; a year later it was estimated at 60,000; 
in 1860, it was 107,110. 



Fort Leavenworth, formerly the most important military post in the 
United States, is situated on the west side of the Missouri River, 31 miles 



KANSAS. 



629 



above the mouth of Kansas River, and 4 miles below Weston, Mo. This is 
the oldest fort on the Missouri, having been established in 1827 : it re- 
ceived its name from Col. Leavenworth, an officer of distinction in the 
Niagara campaign. It is the great frontier depot for other military posts on 
the Santa Fe, Utah and Oregon routes, and the general rendezvous for troops 
proceeding to the western forts. The fort stands on an elevation of about 
150 feet, and about 150 yards back from the steamboat landing. Several 
thousand acres of fine land in the vi'cinity are reserved for the use of the force 
at this point. 




South-eastern view of Leaveincorth City. 

The view shows the appearance of the city as seen from tlie Missouri side of the river. The Market 
House iiiid Theater biilliiiiig. surmounted by a flag, is shown on the left; and the Planters' House, the 
Steamboat and Steam Ferry Landings on the right. 

On some occasions, as many as 1,000 laborers and artisans have been em- 
ployed here in the government service at one time. The buildings consist 
of the barracks, magazines, the officers' houses, hospital, the quartermasters 
building, and others. General Persifer F. Smith, the commander of the 
Utah expedition, died here on Sunday evening, May 16, 1858: his remains 
were taken east for burial. The government has a small chapel here, in 
which the Rev. Leander Ker, of Scotch descent, officiates as chaplain of the 
post. Mr. Ker likewise has the charge of a school of 30 or 40 children, the 
books, stationery, etc., being furnished by the government. 

During the difficulties with Utah, in 1858, the transportation establish- 
ment of the army, under Russell & Waddell, the contractors, between the 
fort and the city, was the great feature of this vicinity, with its acres of 
wagons, herds of oxen, and regiments of drivers and other employees. This 
firm had millions of dollars invested in the business, employed six thnusmt ! 
teamsters, and worked forty-five thousand oxen. 



Leavenworth City, on the W. bank of Missouri River, the largest town 
and commercial metropolis of Kansas, is 3 miles below the fort, 37 N.K 
from Lawrence. 70 S. from St. Joseph, Mo., and by the Missouri River 495 



630 



KANSAS. 



from St Louis. Several daily and weekly newspapers are publislied liere. 
Leavenworth city was founded in the autumn of 1854. Previous to thi.^ it 
was covered with a heavy growth of forest trees, the huntm- -round for tl,e 
officers of Fort Leavenworth, traversed by wolves, wildcats, wild turkeys, 
•md deer The first building was a frame shanty, erected m 1834, near 
wl ich is an elm tree, under which the first number of the " Kansas Weekly 
Herald " was printed, in September, 1854. The first printer was General 
Lucius Eastin, of Kentucky. The first public house was the Leavenworth 
Hotel • the Planters' House was erected in 1856. llev. Mr. Martin, U. h. 
Presbyterian, was among the first clergymen who preached in the place. 
Population about 15,000. 

Wuamht is situated on the west bank of the Missouri, at the month of 
Kansas River. 37 miles below Leavenworth City, and 35 miles east of Law- 
rence It is a new, beautiful and flourishing place, regularly laid out on 
..round rising gracelully from the water. Being built on the curve of the 
Hver it is in full view of Kansas City, in Missouri, from which by water it 
is about a mile distant, and two miles by land ; a steam ferry-boat plies be- 
tween the two places. It is a busy town, and the outlet between southern 
Kansas and the Missouri River. At Wyandot commences the great Pa- 
cific Railroad. Population about 3,000. 

Afclusov 46 miles above Leavenworth, on the Missouri River, is, next to 
Leavenworth, the largest town in Kansas, with a population estimated in 
1865 at 8,000. Here daily start the overland stages for the Rocky Moun- 
t.ins A railroad has been commenced, leading hence to connect with the 
South Pacific on the Republican Fork. When the grass starts up m the 
spring, the place is so thronged with the teams of overland emigrants one 
can scarcely cross the streets. 

Lawrence, the county seat of Douglas county, is beautifully situated on 
th. itht bank of Kans,as River. 45 miles W. from KansasCity, Mo. and 12 
on Lecompton. The Eldridge House, 100 by 117 feet is at this tonie by 
far the finest building in Kansas. Mount Oread is about half a mile S W. 
of the Eldridge House. On this elevation it is in contemplation to ^uild a 
coUe'-e: the view from this location, embracing ^^^^P^'f .^^ I'-^-^^^O to^O 
uiles^in circumference, is exceedingly beautiful. Population about 5,000 

Lawrence received its name from Amos A. Lawrence, of Boston, Mass. 
In July 1854, a company of 24 persons, principally from New England, 
c-.me up the Missouri River to Kansas City, and from thence traveling by 
1-md located themselves on the site of Lawrence, the spot having been selected 
bv Chas H Branscoml). agent of the Massachusetts Aid Society, i" Sep- 
tember following, a second company of about 70 persons arrived. Thes^e 
two companies of pioneers held their first regular meeting Sept. lb, 1854, 
heinc- called to order by Dr. Robinson. A. H. Mallory was chosen presi- 
;',„t"C S. Pratt, secretary, and a committee of six to manage the afl^airs ot 
■ e company, viz': J. Doy,'j. F. Morgan, A. H. Mallory, J. N. Nace, G. K Os- 
!::.rne and L. P. Lincoln. On Sept. 20, 1854, at a meeting of the "Law- 
rence Association," the following persons were chosen officers^ viz : Dr. Uias. 
lobinson, president; Ferd. Fuller, vice president; Caleb S^ Pratt secretary; 
I evi Gates; ir., treasurer; Erastus D. Ladd, register; A. D. Searl, surveyor; 
John Mailley, Owen Taylor, John Bruce, jr., arbitrators; and Joel Grover, 
marshal. 



KANSAS. 



631 



Very soon after tlieir arrival, the settlers were visiteil by a bo<ly of 150 
Missouri borderers, ordered to strike their tents, and leave the territoi-y (o 
return no more. But this the people declining, the borderers left, and com- 
menced the organization of "Blue Lodges," to foster pro-slavery emigration. 




Northern view of Lawrence. 

The view shows the appearance of Lawrence as seen from the opposite hank of Kansas River, htiviiig 
the eye sliglitly elevated. The Eldridge Hotel, on Massachusetts-street. Is seen on the right. .\ los; 
cabin, the first structui-e in Lawrence, is shown near the bank. The passage down the bank to the fen\, 
with the VVhitney and Waverly Houses above, appear on the left. 

Lawrence and Leavenworth were the first towns located in Kansas. Some 
time in the summer of 1854, Clark Stearns, of Missouri, squatted at this 
place and erected a log cabin, the first structure built here (still standing at 
the head of Massachusetts-street). It is st.ited that the Lawrence Company 
intended to have passed on to the Big Blue River, at Manhattan, some (J!! 
miles above. Having arrived near this spot, some of the company rode 
their horses to the summit of Mount Oread, to find a suitable place to en- 
camp during the night. Discovering Stearns' cabin, and being charmed with 
the appearance of the covmtry, they determined to stop here, and accord- 
ingly encamped on the present site of the Eldridge Hotel. 

The first meetintr for public worship was held in a building construrte 1 
of long poles united at the top, intertwined with sticks, twigs, hay, etc. and 
then sodded over. This was on the first Sunday after the arrival of the emu- 
pany. Erastus D. Ladd, of New England origin, read a sermon on the 
occasion. The first school was kept by Edward P. Fitch, of Massachusetts. 
The first framed building was erected by Rev. S. Y. Lum, of New Jersey, 
the first regular preacher and agent of the Home Missionary Society. The 
Free State Hotel (afterward burnt), the first in the place, was built by the 



gg2 KANSAS. 

Emigrant Aid Society, and was kept by Col. Eldridge. The first newspaper, 
''The Herald of Freedom,'' was issued in the fall of 1854, by G. W. Brown, 
from Pennsylvania. The first merchants' shops were opened by C. L. Pratt 
and Norman Allen, on Massachusetts street. The first ferryman was Wm. 
N. Baldwin. 

Lawrence will ever be a memorable spot as having been the head-quarters 
of the free state settlers during the "Kansas War:" it was particularly ob- 
noxious to the contrary party, on account of the free soil sentiments of the. 
inhabitants. On the 11th of May, 1856, Marshal Donaldson, in order to 
arrest several obnoxious free state men, summoned a posse, took the Georgia 
emigrants, under Maj. Buford, under pay, together with several hundred 
others. Having proceeded to Lawrence, he announced his determination to 
make arrests. The citizens, in a public meeting, denied the charge of hav- 
ing resisted the authorities of the territory. On the morning of the 21st of 
May, a body of about 500 men came from the camp, near Lecompton, and 
halted on Mount Oread, in Lawrence, near the residence of Gov. Robinson. 
They were headed by the U. S. Marshal Donaldson, who claimed the assem- 
bled force as his posse, they having responded to his late proclamation. They 
formed in line facing the north-east, and planted two cannon in range with 
the Free State Hotel and other large buildings in Massachusetts-street. 
About noon, the marshal, with a posse of ten men, arrested G. \Y. Deitzler, 
Col. Jenkins, Judge Smith, and some others, taking them as prisoners to 
their camp. About 3 o'clock, P. M., Sheriif Jones, accompanied by about 
twenty-five armed horsemen, rode up to the door of the Free State Hotel and 
stopped. Gen Pomeroy, and several others, went out to meet him. The 
sheritf demanded that all the arms be given up to him, and said he would 
give them one hour for this purpose. Pomeroy then, after some consultation 
with the committee, delivered up several pieces of artillery. The U. S. Mar- 
shal Donaldson having dismissed his posse, they moved their two field pieces 
into Massachusetts-street, and were immediately summoned to the spot to act 
;as the sheriff"'s posse. The sherifi" then gave information that the Free State 
Hotel had been presented by the grand jury of Douglas county as a nuisance, 
together with the two newspapers, the Herald of Freedom and Free State, 
ynd that Judge Lecompte wished them removed. A lone star flag having 
for a motto ''Southern Rights," was thereupon raised over these oflices, the 
presses destroyed, and the type thrown into the river. An attempt was next 
made to batter down the hotel by cannon shot, but not succeeding, it was set 
on tire and reduced to ashes. After this, several private houses were robbed, 
and money, clothing, and other articles were pillaged. During the night fol- 
lowing, the house of Gov. Robinson, on Mount Oread, having a valuable 
library, was set on fire and consumed. The total damage to property in 
Lawrence was estimated at $150,000. 

During the summer, until late in the fall, civil war raged in the territory, 
many murders and other atrocities being committed. On the 1-lth of Sept., 
an army of 2,500 Missourians, arranged in three regiments, with five pieces 
ut artillery, appeared before Lawrence, with threats of destruction to the 
town. The people threw up breastworks, and made hasty preparations for 
defense, but they must have been overwhelmed in case of attack. This was 
averted by the interference of Gov. Geary, with a body of U. S. dragoons, 
wlio threw himself between the conflicting parties, and prevailed upon the 
Misiiu.uriaus to retire to their homes. 



KANSAS. 



633 



Lbcompton is a village of about 600 inhabitants: it has a Methodist 
church and several laud offices, and is some twelve miles westward of Law- 
rence, and 35 from Leavenworth. The capital was located here in August, 
185.5, by the territorial legislature. A fine cupitol building has been com- 
menced, the foundations laid and part of the first story reared, but owing to 
the fiiilure of obtaining the necessary appropriations, the building has been 
suspended. 




Northern view at Lecomptnn. 

The long bnildins sepn in the centnil part of the view is the Masoiil- Hall, in the upper story of which 
the noted Lecompton Constitution was firmed. The lower story, and most of the oth r buildings repre- 
sented, are used fur land offices. 

The site of this place was taken up by Thomas Simmons and his son Wil- 
liam, in the fiill of 1854; in the spring of 1855, it was purchased of them 
by a company, consisting of Jud^e Lecompte, of Maryland, Daniel Wood- 
son, secretary, from Virginia, C. B. Donaldson, from Illinois, John A. Haider- 
man, from Kentucky, private secretary of Gov. Reeder, Samuel J. Jones, 
sheriff, from Virginia, and Dr. Aristedes Rodrique, from Pennsylvania. The 
town was then laid out, on the grounds rising from the river, covered with 
forest trees, many of which still remain. 

The first structure erected here was Simmons' log cabin, still standing 
about one fourth of a mile back from the river; the next was a log cabin 
built on the river bank, under the direction of Sheriff Jones. ^ The first 
framed house here was put up by Samuel J. Cramer, from Virginia. Rev. 
Mr. Prichard, of the Methodist Episcopal Church South,^ delivered the first 
sermon in this place, over a grocery store, while, it is said, a company were 
playing cards below. Dr. Rodrique was the first physician. The first house 
of entertainment was kept on the bank of the river by a Mrs. Sipes. Part 
of the building now fitted up as a hotel, by Maj. Barnes, was used as a place 
of confinement for the free state prisoners arrested after the battle of Hick- 
ory Point, in the fall of 1856, by the United States dragoons. One hundred 
and one of the.se were confined here nearly three months, guarded by two 
companies of militia, under Col. Titus, being occasionally relieved by the U. 



g34 KANSAS. 

S. troops. Of these prisoners, 33 were from states east of Ohio; G from 
]Missouri ; and 77 from the free states of the north-west. Twenty of them 
were convicted, in Judge Lecompte's court, of manslaughter. They were 
subsequently removed to Tecumseh, and after a tedious confinement in prison 
liberated. 

The first legislative assembly, in accordance with the proclamation of Gov. 
I'lfeder, met at Pawnee, near Fort Riley, but having to camp out, they ad- 
journed to the Shawnee Mission. This act was vetoed by the governor, but 
the assembly passed it over his head. The next legislative assembly met in 
the Masonic Hall, in Lecompton, and it was in this building that the cele- 
brated Lecompton Constitution, the subject of so much political discussion, 
was formed. The council sat in the building later occupied by Gov. Denver, 
on the opposite side of the street. 



ToPEKA, for a time the free state capital of Kansas, is on the S. side of 
Kansas River, 25 miles westward from Lawrence, and 55 in a direct line 
from Leavenworth City. It contains two or three churches, the Constitu- 
tional Hall, etc., and about 1,000 inhabitants. A bridge was built, at an ex- 
pense of about $15,000, over the Kansas River, at this place, and finished in 
May, 1858. It was, however, soon after swept down by the great freshet of 
that year. 

"Topeka" is an Indian word, signifying '■'■wild potato^'' or "potato bottom," 
the place where they grow. This root, which is about as large as a man's 
thumb, is found along the bottom lands of Kansas River, and is used by the 
Indians as food. The foundation of Topeka was laid Dec. 4, 1854, by a num- 
ber of settlers, who came here from Lawrence. The company consisted of 
C. K. Halliday. from Pennsylvania; M. C. Dickey, New Hampshire; Enoch 
Chase, Jacob B. Chase, and Geo. Davis, from Massachusetts; L. G. Cleve- 
land, from Iowa; Frye W. Giles, from Illinois; D. H. Home and S. A. 
Clark. Having formed themselves into the "Topeka Association," C. K. 
Halliday was chosen president. 

The first building raised here was a log cabin now standing near the ferry 
or bridge, 13 by 11 feet inside. The earth inside was covered by prairie 
grass or hay, when twenty -four persons lodged within, lying on the ground: 
while the twenty-fifth man stretched himself on a load of hay on the 
outside. The firsJt building was burnt on the first evening of its occu- 
pancy. The company, during the winter of 1854-5, slept in their clothes, 
boots, etc. Their food was principally mush, on which they were kept in a 
healthy condition. Rev. S. Y. Lum, a congregationalist minister, preached 
the first sermon in Topeka, in the log cabin. The second place of public 
worship was in a small building constructed of clapboards, now standing on 
the premises of Col. Halliday. The first school was under Miss Harlan, now 
Mrs. J. F. Cummings, in a "shake" building, a few yards from Col. Halli- 
day's house. The first regular house of entertainment was kept by Mrs. A. 
W. Moore, near the first log cabin. In Nov., 1855, W. W. Ross, of Ohio, 
established the first newspaper here, called the "Kansas Tribune," some 30 
numbers of which had been previously issued in Lawrence. 

On the 4th of July, 1856, the state assembly, under the Topeka constitu- 
tion, consisting of representatives fi'om all parts of the territory, met at the 
Constitutional Hall, in Topeka. Free state men, to the number of some 
1,000 or 1,500, assembled here at the time, and were encamped about the 



KANSAS. 



635 



town. Some 600 or 800 were considered as regular militia volunteers, and 
wore under the command of Col. C. K. Halliday. At this period, such was 
the state of the times, that most of the settlers went armed, even about 
their daily avocations. The U. S. force at this time, under the command 
of Colonel Sumner, consisted of some seven hundred dragoons and flying 
Ltrtillcry, from Forts Leavenworth and_ Eiley. In addition to this, it is stated 
that about 2.000 armed men, ostensibly gathered in various places to cele- 
brate the 4th of July, were ready to march and ^'wipe out'' Topeka, should 
there be any resistance made to the United Sates authorities. 




Northern view nf the Bridge, etc., at Topeka. 

Tlie view was taken a short time after thi- coinpletion of the bridge, the first ever built over Ka iisas Rirer. 
Part of the village of Topeka is seen in the disl^ince on the right. The log cabin near the bridge is the 
first bnilding trected in the place. 

The state assembly met at 12 o'clock at noon, at the Constitutional Hall, 
the lower story of which was occupied by the house of representatives, the 
upper by the senate. Col. Sumner, with a body of about 200 dragoons and 
a company of artillery, now came into the place, and having planted two 
cannon at the head of the avenue, with lighted matches in hand, rode up to 
the hall, arranging his troops in a semi-circular line in front. At this time 
a company of free state volunteers were assembled, and were in the act of 
receiving a silk banner from a collection of young ladies, one of whom was 
then standing at the door of the Constitutional Hall, making the presenta- 
tion address. The dragoons having rather overridden the volunteers, the 
assemblage was broken up.^= Col. Sumner, dismounting, entering the repre- 
sentative hall, accompanied by Marshal Donaldson. At this time, the speaker 
being temporarily absent, S. F. Tappan, the clerk, was calling the roll. Col. 
Sumner advanced, took possession of the speaker's chair, and stated that he 
was obliged to perform the most painful duty of his life, that he had rather 
spend the whole of it in opposing the enemies of his country, than to per- 
form that singje act, which was, "by authority vested in him by the presi- 



■ Col. S. afterward made an apology to the company assembled on the occasion. 



63(3 KANSAS. 

dent of the United States, now to command the body here assembled, calling 
itself the legislature of Kansas, to disperse." Judge Schuyler, addressing 
the colonel, asked, "Are we to understand that we are to be driven out at 
the point of the hayonetf" "I give you to understand," replied Sumner, 
"that all the force under my command will be put under requisition to carry 
out my orders; I again command i/ou to disperse." The house then dispersed. 
As Sumner was passing out, he was informed that the senate was in session 
in the chamber above. Just as he entered, the chair was taken by Thomas 
G. Thornton, president ^ro tern., with the view of calling the senate to order. 
Col. S. then informed them of what he had done below, and that he wished 
to know their intentions. Mr. Thornton replied that the senate not being 
organized, he could give no answer, but if he would wait until they were so, 
one would be given. Col. S. rejoined, that his object was to prevent an or- 
ganization. After some desultory conversation, the assemblage dispersed. 



Ossaivafomie is on the Osage, at its confluence with Pottawatomie Creek, 
42 miles S.E. from Lawrence, and 28 from the Missouri line. The most 
severe conflict in the Kansas War took place here, on the 31st of August, 
1856. About 300 pro-slavery men, under Capt. Reid, of Missouri, marched 
with a field piece upon the town, their line extending, in battle order, from 
river to river, across the prairie westward of the place. The inhabitants 
mustered about 40 men in defense, under Capt. John Brown, who took to 
the timber, and fighting Indian fashion, from the shelter of the trees, kept 
their enemy on the open plain for some time at bay, until their ammunition 
failing, most of them eff'ected their retreat across the river. Their women 
and children escaped to the woods on the south. Their village, consisting 
of about 30 houses, was plundered and then laid in ashes, being the second 
time it had been thus destroyed by the pro-slavery forces. " Old Brown," 
the free soil leader, sometimes called "Ossawatomie Brown," lost one of his 
sons on this occasion. Becoming fanatical on the subject of slavery, he after 
this engaged in running ofi" slaves from Missouri to Canada, and finally be- 
came a historical character by a conviction for treason, and a termination of 
his career on the gallows, at Harpers Ferry. 

Grasshopper Falls is about 30 miles N.W. of Lawrence. It has several 
mills and the best water power north of Kansas Biver. Fort Riley is a mil- 
itary post at the junction of the two main branches of the Kansas, which, in 
high water, is navigable for small steamers to this point. Manhattan and 
Wanhoasce are two thriving towns in that vicinity. The latter was colonized 
from New Haven, Conn.; and by the identical party to whom Sharp's rifles 
were subscribed at a meeting in a church. One of them was a deacon in 
the church, and among the donors were clergymen, professors of science, 
lady principals of feniiile seminaries, and others of quiet callings and anti- 
pugnacious tendencies. 

St. Mari/s, on Kansas River, 51 miles below Fort Riley, is an important 
and flourishing Catholic missionary establishment among the Pottawatomies, 
and the mission buildings, the trading houses, with the Indian improvements, 
give it quite the appearance of a town. 

The Catholic Osage Mission, on the Neosho River, 45 miles from Fort 
Scott, is one of the lariicst missions and schools in Kansas. It was com- 



KANSAS. ^3y 

raenced in 1847 ; Rev. John Schoenmaker was the first superior of this mis- 
sion. Sermons are preached in Osage and English. Attached to this mis- 
sion is a manual labor school for boys, under the direction of the fathers. 
There are ten missionary stations at as many Indian villages, within sixty 
miles, attended mostly from this mission. In 1853, the Quapaw school, by 
the direction of the IJ. S. government, was transferred to this mission. 

The Shawnee Mission, under the direction of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church South, is about 8 miles from the mouth of Kansas River, and 3 from 
Westport, Mo. It has very superior bnildings, and a manual labor school. 
The Friends' Shaicnee Labor School is 3 miles W. from the Methodist mis- 
sion. It has been in operation more than fifty years, including the period 
before their arrival. The Baptist Shaionee Mission is 2 miles N.W. from the 
Methodist School. The Kickapoo Mission is on Missouri River, 4 miles 
above Fort Leavenworth; the Iowa and Sac Mission School is just south of 
the northern line of Kansas, about 26 miles N.W. ol St. Joseph. It is said 
to have been established as early as 1837. 

Council Grove is a noted stopping place on the Santa Fe road, S. from Fort 
Riley, containing several trading houses and shops, and a missionary estab- 
lishment and school. 

Council City, a tract nine miles square, recently laid out on a branch of 
the Osage, is in a S.W. course from Lawrence. 



MISCELLANIES. 



The following narrative of a visit to the Kansas Indians, is from the work 

of P. J. De 
Smet, a Catho- 
lic missionary, 
who was sent 
by the bishop 
of St. Louis, in 
1840, on an ex- 
ploring expedi- 
tion to the 
Rocky Moun- 
tains, to ascer- 
tain the spirit- 
u a 1 condition 
of the Indians, 
etc.: 

W e started 
from Westport 




Kansas Village. 
Engraved from a view in De Smet's Sketches. 



on the 10th of May, and after having passed by the lands of the Shawnees and 
Delaware?, where we saw nothing remarkable but the college of the Methodists, 
built, it is easy to divine for what, where the soil is richest; we arrived after five 
days' march on the banks of the Kansas River, where we found those of our com- 
panions, who had traveled by water, with a part of our baggage. Two of tlie rela- 
tives of the grand chief had come twenty miles from that place to meet us, ono of 
whom helped our horses to pass the river in safety, by swimming before them, and 
tlie other announced our arrival to the principal men of the tribe who waitcil for 
us on the opposite bank. Our baggage, wagons and men crossed in a pirogue, 
which, at a distance, looked like one of those gondolas that glide through tha 



638 KAWSAS 

streets of Venice. As soon as the Kansas understood that we were jioinij to i-n- 
camp on the banks of the Soldier's River, which is only six miles from the villisi:^', 
tliey galloped rapidly away from our caravan, disappL-arinji; in a cloud (if dust, t-o 
that we had scarcely pitched our tents when the great chief presented himselT, 
with six of his bravest warrioi'S, to bid us welcome. After having made mo sit 
down on a mat spread on the ground, he, with much solemnity, took from his pocket 
a portfolio containing the honorable titles that gave him a right to our friendship, 
and placed them in my hands. I read them, and having, with the tact of a man 
accustomed to the etiquette of savage life, furnished him with the means of smok- 
ing the calumet, he made us accept for our guard the two braves who had come 
to meet us. Both were armed like warriors, one carrying a lance and a buckler, 
and the other a bow and arrows, with a naked sword and a collar made of the 
claws of four bears which he had killed with his own hand. These two braves re- 
mained faithful at their post during the three days and three nights that wc had to 
wait the coming up of the stragglers of the caravan. A small present, which we 
made them at our departure, secured us their friendship. 

On the 19th we continued our journey to the number of seventy souls, fifty of 
whom were capable of managing the rifle — a force more than sufficient to under- 
take with prudence the long march we had to make. Whilst the rest of our com- 
pany inclined to the west, Father Point, a young Englishman and myself turned 
to the left, to visit the nearest village of our hosts. At the first sight of their wig- 
wams, we were struck at the resemblance they bore to the large stacks of wheat 
which cover our fields in harvest time. There were of these in all no more than 
about twenty, grouped together without order, but each covering a space of about 
one hundred and twenty feet in circumference, and sufficient to shelter from thirty 
to forty persons. The entire village appeared to us to consist of from seven to 
eight hundred souls — an approximation which is justified by the fact that the total 
population of the tribe is confined to two villages, together numbering 1,900 in- 
habitants. These cabins, however humble they may appear, are solidly built, and 
convenient. From the top of the wall, which is about six feet in hight, rise in- 
clined poles, which terminate round an opening above, serving at once for chimney 
and window. The door of the edifice consists of an undressed hide on the most 
sheltered side, the hearth occupies the center and is in the midst of four upright 
posts destined to support the rohnida; the beds are ranged around the wall and the 
space between the beds and the hearth is occupied by the members of the family, 
some standing, others sitting or lying on skins, or yellow colored mats. It would 
seem that this last named article is regarded as an extra piece of finery, for the 
lodge assigned to us had one of them. 

As for dress, manners, religion, modes of making war, etc,, the Kansas are like 
the savages of their neighborhood, with whom they have preserved peaceful and 
friendly relations from time immemorial. In stature, they are generally tall and 
well made. Their physiognomy is manly, their language is guttural, and remarka- 
ble for the length and strong accentation of the final syllables. Their style of 
singing is monotonous, whence it may be inferred that the enchanting music heard 
on the rivei's of Paraguay, never cheers the voyager on the otherwise beautiful 
streams of the country of the Kansas. 

The Kansas, like all the Indian tribes, never speak upon the subject of religion 
without becoming solemnity. The more they are observed, the more evident does 
it become that the religious sentiment is deeply implanted in their souls, and is, of 
all others, that which is most frequently expressed by their words and actions. 
Thus, for instance, they never take the calumet without first rendering some homage 
to the Great Spirit. In the midst of their most infuriate passions they address 
him certain prayers, and even in assassinating a defenseless child, or a woman, 
they invoke the Master of Life. To be enabled to take many a scalp from their 
enemies, or to rob them of many horses, becomes the object of their most fervid 
prayers, to which they sometimes add fasts, macerations and sacrifices. What did 
they not do last spring, to render the heavens propitious ? And for what? To ob- 
tain the power, in the absence of their warriors, to massacre all the women and 
children of the Pawnees ! And in efi'ect they carried off the scalps of ninety vic- 
tims, and made prisoners of all whom they did not think proper to kill. In their 



KANSAS. ggg 

eyes, revenpie, far from being a horrible vice, is the first of virtues, the distinctive 
mark of great souls, and a complete vindication of the most atrocious cruelty. It 
Avould be time lost to attempt to persuade them that there can be neither merit, nor 
gl(>ry, in the murder of a disarmed and helpless foe. There is but one exception 
to this barbarous code; it is when an enemy voluntarily seeks a refuge in one of 
their villages. As long as he remains in it, his asylum is inviolable — his life ia 
more safe than it would be in his own wigwam. But wo to him if he attempt to 
fly — scarcely has he taken a single step, Ijefore he restores to his hosts all the im- 
aginary rights which the spirit of vengeance had given them to his life! However 
cruel they may be to their foes, the Kansas are no strangers to the tenderest sen- 
timents of piety, friendship and compassion.. They are often inconsolable for the 
death of their relations, and leave nothing undone to give proof of their sorrow. 
'I'hen only do they suffer their hair to grow — long hair being a sign of long mourn- 
ing. The principal chief apologized for the length of his hair, informing us, of 
what we could have divined from the sadness of his countenance, that he had lost 
his son. 1 wish I could represent to you the respect, astonishment and compas- 
sion, expressed on the countenances of three others, when they visited our little 
chapel for the first time. When we showed them an "Ecce Homo" and a statue 
of our Lady of the seven Dolours, and the interpreter explained to them that that 
head crowned with thorns, and that countenance defiled with insults, were the true 
and real image of a God who had died for the love of us, and that the heart they 
saw pierced with seven swords, was the heart of his mother, we beheld an affecting 
illustration of the beautiful thought of Tertullisin, that the soul of man is naturally 
Christian ! On such occasions, it is surely not difficult, after a short instruction on 
true fiith and the love of God, to excite feelings of pity for their fellow creatures 
in the most ferocious bosoms. 

THE SHAWNEE8 IN KANSAS. 

Henry Harvey, late superintendent of the Friends Mission among the ShaMnees, 
in Kansas, gives, in his work on the history of that tribe, an account of their con- 
dition in Kansas, at the time of the passege of "the Kansas-Nebraska bill. Origin- 
ally the Shawnees resided in the Ohio country: the tribe was one of the most pow- 
erful there, and has numbered among its chiefs, Tecumseh, Cornstalk, and other 
men of extraordinary talent and nobility of soul. Mr. Harvey says: 

"The Shawnees, in the year 1854, numbered about nine hundred souls, includ- 
ing the white men who have intermarried into the nation, and are thereby adopted as 
Indians. This nunilier is perhaps not more than twenty. 

This tribe owns about one million six hundred thousand acres of land, or, about 
1,700 acres each. i\Iany of them have good dwelling-houses, well provided with 
useful and respectable furniture, which is kept in good order by the females, and 
they live in t'le same manner as the whites do, and live well too. They have 
smoke-houses, stables, corn cribs, and other outbuildings. They have a good sup- 
ply of horses, cattle, hogs, and some sheep. They have many farm wagons and 
work oxen — some carriages and buggies, and are generally well supplied with fiirra- 
ing implements, and know how to use them. They raise abundance of corn and 
oats, and some wheat. Their houses are generally very neat; luiilt of hewn logs, 
with shingled roofs, stone chimneys, and the inside work very well finished off, and 
mostly d(me by themselves, as there are a number of very good mechanics among 
the younger class. Their fencing is very good, and, taken altogether, their settle- 
ments make a very respectable appearance, and would lose no credit by a compari- 
son with those of their white neighbors in the state adjoining them, leaving out 
now and then, a farm where slaves do the labor, and thus carry on farming on a 
large scale. 

The Shawnees have a large and commodious meeting-house, where they hold a 
religious meeting on the first day of each week, 'fhey have also a graveyard at- 
tached to tlie meeting-house lot. They hold religious meetings often at their own 
houses during the week, generally at niiiht. 'I'hey hold their camp-meetings and 
their other large meetings, in their mecting-luiuse, as well as their public councils, 
and also their temperance meetings; fur they, in imitation of their white brethren, 



640 KANSAS. 

and as a means of arrestini;; the worst evil which ever overtook the Indians, oriran- 
ized a society on this subject, and have their own lecturers, in which thej' arc 
assisted by some of the missionaries. The younger class of them ar \ most inter- 
ested in this work, which is doing much good among them. Many of them have 
united themselves to religious societies, and appear to be very zealous observers of 
the forms and ceremonies of religion, and notwithstanding many of them, like too 
many of their white brethren, appear to have the form of godliness but not the 
power, yet it is apparent, that there are those among them who are endeavoring to 
walk in the just man's path, which, to one who has been acquainted with them for 
a number of years, even when in their wild and savage state, affords great satisfac- 
tion. 

As regards the settlements of the Shawnees in their present situation, they are 
all located on about thirty miles of the east end of their tract; their settlements 
of course, reaching a little short of one third of the distance back from the Mis- 
souri state line. 

In passing along the California and Santa Fe roads, which run on the divide be- 
tween the streams of the Blue and Osage Rivers, and the Kansas River — in cast- 
ing the eye on either side, a handsome view is presented on both hands, of good 
dwellings, handsome farms, bordering on the forest, and fine herds of cattle and 
horses grazing in the rich prairies, as we pass, and beautiful fields of grain sown, 
planted and cultivated by the Indians themselves; and should the weary traveler 
see proper to call, and spend a night with these people, and manifest that interest 
for them, which he will be very sure todo, in viewing them in their present con- 
dition, and comparing it with what it once was, he will be well cared for. The 
Shawnees generally sow a large amount of grain, and often spare a large surplus 
after supplying their own wants. 

There are now in the Shawnee nation four Missions, one under the care of the 
Methodist Church South, one under the care of the Northern Methodist Church, 
one under the care of the Baptist Church, and the other under the care of the So- 
ciety of Friends. They are all conducted on the manual labor system ; about one 
hundred and forty children are generally in attendance at those schools. At the 
first named mission there are large and commodious buildings of brick, and other 
out-buildings, and five or six hundred acres under cultivation; at the other Metho- 
dist Mission, a farm of about one hundred acres is under cultivation, and comfort- 
able log buildings are erected. At the Baptist Mission are good comfortable build- 
ings, and, I suppose, near one hundred acres adjoining to, and at some distance 
from, the farm, where the school is kept ; and at the Friends' Mission are a large 
frame house and barn, and other out-buildings, and about two hundred acres under 
cultivation." 



THE tim:es 

OP 

THE REBELLIOISr 

IN 

KANSAS. 



Though young and weak Kansas has taken an important part in 
the war for the union, and proved her devotion, not only by the hero- 
ism of her sons in the field, but by the sufferings she has endured 
from her unwavering steadfastness. Though not the cause, she may 
be regarded in a certain sense as the occasion of the terrible war 
which has deluged the land with blood. This must be evident to all 
acquainted with her struggles for existence as a state, for out of them 
arose the republican part}', the election of a republican president, and 
the rebellion of the southern states against his rule. 

Though no great battle has been fought on her soil, the valor of her 
sons has been illustrated in many a fierce conflict; and the fiendish 
atrocities which have been enacted within her borders, will forever 
entitle her to the sad, yet truthful, distinction which suffering for 
right ever bestows. At the breaking out of the war, the hatred of 
pro-slavery men in Missouri burst forth upon this weak and unpro- 
tected neighbor with redoubled fury, and a cruelty never surpassed. 

The Kansas volunteers were in the earliest conflicts of the war on 
the borders ; and with such spirit had they entered into them, that, 
when taken prisoners, they were the special victims of the malig- 
nancy of the rebels. The Kansas troops gained great distinction un- 
der the leadership of General James Gr. Bkmt, the hero of many bor- 
der fights, nearly all of them victories. We give a brief account of 
his operations. 

In September, 1862, a body of his cavalry, commanded by Colonel Cloud, went 
in pursuit of a body of rebels under Emmett McDonald. They encountered 
them at Cane Hill, in Arkansas. The latter dashed into the Boston mountains 
with Cloud in swift pursuit. He chased them to within a few miles of the Ar- 
kansas ; but the fleet-footed Emmett escaped with severe loss. On the 7th of De- 
cember following occurred the battle of Prairie Grove, in which the troops under 
Gen. Blunt came in most opportunely, saving Gen. Herron's forces from being 
overwhelmed, and bringing a noble victory to the union arms. The details are 
given on page, 541. 

On the 5th of July, of the next year, Blunt headed his little column and started 
from Fort Scott for the front of his command. He made the march to Arkansas 
(175 miles) in four days ; organized his force, 2,500 strong, of all colors ; crossed 
41 



g42 TIMES OF THE REBELLION 

the Arkansas, and attacked Cooper's combined force of 6,000 men, at Honey 
Springs; fought half a day, totally routed him; rested a couple of days on the 
battle Held, and then fell back to the Arkansas again. This brilliant movement 
efTectually crippled the enemy. 

But this was not enough. The rebels had merely fallen back south of the Ca- 
nadian. They held Fort Smith — an old and historical post of the government, 
in the Indian territory, substantially fortified, and a fine base for operations, 
'i'he government had decided to colonize the Kansas Indians in the Indian terri- 
tory — the Kickapoos, Sacs and Foxes, Delawares, Shawnees, and Osages — few in 
number, but highly civilized; and it was clear that the rebels must be driven out 
before this could be accomplished. General Blunt's call for reinforcements was 
at length partially answered. Colonel Cloud's brigade of Arkansas, Missouri and 
Kansas troops, which had been stationed in southwest Missouri, was ordered to 
move into northwestern Arkansas, and support General Blunt. He ordered them 
to join his immediate command, which they did the 19th of August; and the 22d 
of August he again took the field south of the Arkansas. A ten-days campaign 
ensued, that, in arduous marches, rapidity of movement, and decisive results, has 
been rarely equaled. Every march was a battle — every roadside was lined with 
the enemy's dead — running fights of twenty-five, thirty-five, and one of fifty milea 
in a day, were the characteristics of the movement. In the result. Fort Smith was 
taken. This town, for more than two years, had been a general headquarters of 
rebellion and treason. Few places had suffered as much from the desolation of 
war as this once flourishing town ; and great was the misery brought upon the 
people who had been dragooned into subserviency to treason. 

The amount of territory recovered and occupied by the federal forces, during 
these operations, was great. Not a general had then restored a country so vast to 
the sovereignty of the government. It is true, he had no large armies to encoun- 
ter, but the enemy always outnumbered him three to one, were led by experienced 
officers, and made to believe that their homes, their safety, their all, depended on 
his defeat. With unwavering courage and persistent energy, he pushed them 
from post to post, and from camp to camp, till they abandoned their unrighteous 
conquest, and left it to undergo, without disturbance, the process of a full restora- 
tion of federal sway. 

On the 6th of the ensuing October, his wagon train and escort were surprised 
by a large body of Quantrill and Coff"ey's guerrillas, disguised in federal uniforms, 
when most of them, panic-stricken, fled. Gen. Blunt, who was along, rallied a 
small band of men under Lieut. Pierce, of the 14th Kansas, and drove back their 
advance. About 75 of the union soldiers were killed. This number included 
the wounded, all of whom were massacred. Among these were Major Curtis and 
Mr. O'Neill, artist for Frank Leslie's paper. Gen. Blunt, in his history of th« 
disaster, said : " I was fortunate in escaping, as, in my efforts to halt and rally th< 
men, I frequently got in the rear and became considerably mixed up with th« 
rebels, who did not fail to pay me their compliments. Revolver bullets flew around 
my head thick as hail — but not a scratch. I believe I am not to be killed by a 
rebel bullet." 

THE LAWRENCE MASSACRE. 

The bloodiest tragedy of the war took place just after daylight on 
the morning of the" 20th of August, 1863, when that guerrilla chief, 
Quantrill, and his cutthroat band, numbering about 300, suddenly and 
secretly stole into Lawrence, murdered many of its peaceful and un- 
armed inhabitants, and after satiating their thirst for plunder and 
blood, applied the torch and destroyed a great portion of this young 
and flourishing city. Fram the accounts of various witnesses, we 
give the soul-harrowing details : and yet there are men — many call- 
ing themselves Christians — all through the north, who would like to 
preserve an institution which alone could produce such horrible fiends 



IN KANSAS. (:54f! 

as the Lawrence murderers. One who visited the scene of blood just 
after the occurrence, writes : 

We arrived in Lawrence at 7 o'clock. Flying rumors had painted a terrible 
picture, but the reality exceeded the report. We found Massachusetts-street one 
mass of smoldering ruins and crumbling walls, the light from which cast a sick- 
ening glare upon the little knots of excited men and distracted women, gazing 
upon'^the ruins of their once happy homes and prosperous business. 

Only two business houses were left upon the street, one known as the armory 
and the other as the old "Miller block." And only one or two houses in 
the place escaped being burned or ransacked, and everything valuable being car- 
ried away or destroyed. Six or eight soldiers camped upon the side of the river, 
and who fired across at every rebel who appeared upon the bank, deterred the 
cowards from destroying some of the houses near the ferry and from cutting down 
the flag-pole. 

Their every act during their stay in the city was characterized by the most 
cowardly barbarism. They entered the town' on the gallop firing into every 
house, and when the occupants appeared at the door they were shot down like 
dogs. 

Five bodies burned to a crisp lay near the ruins of the Eldridge house. They 
could not be recognized. Judge Carpenter was wounded in his yard, and fell, 
when his wife and sister threw' themselves upon his body, begging for mercy, but 
to no avail. . 

The fiends dismounted, stuck their pistols between the persons of his protectors 

and fired. 

Gen. CoUamore went into his well to hide, and the bad air killed him. His son 
and Pat Keefe lost their lives trying to get the father out. 

The life of District Attorney Riggs was saved by the heroism of his wife, who 
seized the bridle of the rebel's' horse who attempted to shoot him as he ran. Seve- 
ral cases of remarkable bravery of women were related to us. The wife of Sher- 
iff Brown, three successive times put out the fire kindled to burn the -house — her 
husband was hidden under the floor. 

The offices of the Journal, Tribvne and Republican were, of course, leveled to 
the o-round. John Speer, jr., of the Tribune, started from his home for the office, 
after the rebels came in. Mr. Murdock, a printer in the office, tried to induce him 
to accompany him into a well near by (or safety, but he would do nothing but go 
home to defend the house, which he did and was killed. Murdock went into the 
well and was saved. A younger son of John Speer, sr., killed a rebel and left. 
Guests at the Eldridge were ordered out, their rooms pillaged and some of the 
people shot down. All the hotels were destroyed except the City Hotel. The 
loss in cash is estimated at $250,000, and in property and all, at $2,000,000. 

We have seen battle-fields and scenes of carnage and bloodshed, but have never 
witnessed a spectacle so horrible as tliat seen among the smoldering ruins at Law- 
rence. No fighting, no resistance, but cold-blooded murder was there. The whole 
number killed was over 200. We give below a list of 76 killed and several 
wounded. The fiends finished their murderous work in nearly every case. This 
list contains no names but those of white persons. A few negroes were killed, 
but we did not get their names: 

John Fromley, J. C. Trask, of the State Journal, Gen. G. W. Collamore and son, James 
Eldridge, James Perrine, Joseph Eldridge, Joseph Lowe, Dr. Griswold, druggist, Wm. 
Williamson, deputy marshal, S. M. Thorp, state senator, Judge Lewis Carpenter, John 
Speer, jr., of Kannas Tribune, Nathan-Stone, city hotel, Mr. Brant, Mr. West, Thos. Mur- 
phy, Mr. Twitch, bookbinder at Journal office, E. P. Fitch, bookseller, Chas. Palmer, of 
the 'jownnl, Lemuel Fillmore, James O'Neill, John Dagle, D. C. Allison, firm of Duncan 
& Allison, J. Z. Evans, Levi Gates, George Burt, Samuel Jones, George Coates, John B. 
Gill, Ralph E. Dix, Stephen Dix, Capt. George W. Bell, county clerk, John C. Cornell, A. 
Kridmiller, George Albrecht, S. Dullinski, Robert Martin, Otis Leugley, John W. Lawrie, 
Wm. Lawrie, James Roach, Michael Meekey, Louis Wise and infant, Joseph Bretchel- 
baner, August Ellis, Dennis Murphy, John K. Zimmerman, Carl Enzler, George Range, 
Samuel Range, Jacob Pollock, Fred. Klaus, Fred. Kimball, Dwight Coleman, Mr. Earle, 
Daniel McClellan, Rev. S. S. Snyder, Sami^el Reynolds, Geo. Gerrard, A. W. Griswold^ 



644 



TIMES OF THE REBELLION 



Pat. Keefe, Chas. Allen, James "Wilson, Charles Riggs, A. J. Woods, Chas. Anderson, W. 
B. Griswold, A. J. Cooper, Asbury Markle, David Markle, Lewis Markle, Aaron Haider- 
man and Addison Waugh. 

Wounded. — H. W. Baker, Dennis Berryman, G. H. Sargeant, mortally ; G. Smith, H. 
Hayes, M. Hampson, Mr. Livingston. 

At one house they had entered, the rebels were told there was a negro baby 
Ptill there, but they said, " We will burn the G — d d— d little brat up," and they 
did. We saw its charred remains, burned black as the hearts of its murderers. 

The books of the county and district clerks were burned, but those of the regis- 
ter of deeds were in the safe, and are supposed to have been saved. Every safe 
in the city but two was robbed. In the Eldridge store, James Eldridge and James 
Perrine gave the rebels all the money in the safe, and were immediately shot. 

The last account we have of Quantrill and his men is up to Saturday night, at 
which time he was being pressed closely by Lane, who had been skirmishing with 
him constantly since he left Lawrence. 

Lane's force was being increased rapidly by farmers, who were flocking to him 
with their arms, and it was their determination to follow him into Missouri, and, 
if he disbanded his gang, they would hunt them down, like wolves, and shoot 
them. 

One of their number was captured near Olathe, and he gave the names of fifty 
of Quantrill's gang, who are citizens of Jackson county, Missouri, and are well- 
known here and have always been considered union men. 

The best-informed citizens of Lawrence are of the opinion that Quantrill's 
troops are mainly composed of paroled prisoners from Pemberton's army, and 
some of them from Price's command, from the fact that, they are much sunburned 
and have the appearance of being long in the service. 

After they had accomplished the destruction of Lawrence, some of them be- 
came much intoxicated, but, being strapped to their horses, there was none left 
behind to give information as to who they were or where they were from. 

A resident near the town writes to his brother some- additional par- 
ticulars. 

Dear Brother: You have doubtless heard before this will reach you, of the 
dreadful calamity that has befallen Lawrence and vicinity, by the sacking and 
burning of the town, and other indiscriminate slaughter of its citizens on Frida , 
the 2 1st instant, by Quantrill and his band of incarnate demons. 

Language fails me to depict the scenes enacted on last Friday. May I never 
behold the like again. But I must give you some idea of the raid and its dire re- 
sults. 

About sunrise or a little before, on the 2]8t instant, four men forcibly entered 
the house of a Rev. Mr. Snyder, living about a mile southeast of Lawrence, and 
pierced him through and through with balls from their revolvers, while lying in 
bed by the side of his wife. At the same time, a body of about 300 well-mounted 
beings in the shape of men, armed to the teeth, dashed into town and spread them- 
selves instantly over the whole business part of the place, shooting down every 
man who dared to show himself 

In this dash two small camps of recruits, on Massachusetts-street (one of white, 
and the other colored) were surrounded, and the poor, defenseless fellows, with 
out a gun in camp, and begging most piteously for their lives, were pierced 
through and through with bullets, and all but four of the two unfilled companies 
left nTangled corpses on the ground. One of the poor fellows thus barbarously 
murdered for daring to become a union soldier, was a nephew of mine, the sight 
of whose bleeding, mangled body I shall never forget. 

The armory was cut off from the citizens, pickets stationed around the town, 
and no chance whatever of concentrating even twenty men with arms. The peo- 
ple were completely paralyzed by this sudden and audacious dash; indeed, the 
most of them were still in their beds when the work of murder commenced. 
The banks were robbed, safes broken open, stores ransacked, the best of every- 
thini: taken, and then the buildings fired. Every man that was encountered was 
met with, " Your money or your life; " and, with few exceptions, the poor victim 



IN KANSAS. 



645 



would be shot dead, after handing over his purse, and answering what questions 
they chose to put to him. 

In .several instances, they ordered men to get water for them and wait upon 
them in various ways, pledging themselves, if they would do so, their lives should 
be spared, and as soon as they had done with them, would turn around and shoot 
them down like raad dogs. One little child they shot dead, because it cried. 
There were those with them who, evidently, were well-acquainted with the town, 
as the places and persons of active and prominent union men were made the spe- 
cial marks of vengeance. 

General Lane's fine residence was among the first, and he himself had a narrow 
escape. The editors of the several papers were objects of especial vengeance, 
and two of them were caught and murdered. 1 shall not attempt to give you a 
list of the precious lives taken. I believe, however, that half our business men 
were either shot down or burnt alive in their houses ; and out of the fine blocks 
of stores of every description only two solitary buildings remain, and they were 
sacked. The rest is a mass of blackened ruins, under which lies, 1 fear, many a 
charred body, as many were shot down while attempting to escape from the burn- 
ing buildings. Nearly every house was sacked, and the best ones fired; but, ow- 
ing to the very stillness of the air at the time, the flames were extinguished in 
many, as soon as the rebels would leave, and as they had so large a programme 
before them, they could not repeat any of the performance. The work of mur- 
der, arson and robbery lasted about two iiours and a half, in which time they had 
sent over one hundred innocent men to the eternal world — deprived a large num- 
ber of families of food, raiment, house and home, and destroyed about $2,0UO,()U0 
worth of property. They then took up their line of march due south, detailing 
squads of men on each side of the road to burn every house and murder every 
man. Family after family would slip out into their corn-fields, to watch their 
houses burned up by these invaders, without being able to ofi'er the least resis^t- 
ance ; and woe be to any man who had the hardihood to remain at his house and 
offer remonstrance. 

I live but two miles south of Lawrence, and three men were shot between Law- 
rence and my place, for daring to remain in sight — all of them quiet, peaceable 
men, and two of them too old to be called upon to do military duty. And now 
comes the practical application to my own case. A squad of six men are sent 
from the main body to visit my house. With guns cocked, and eyes glaring more 
ferociously than a tiger's, they dash up to the buildings, apply a match to a large 
stack of [iungarian, then to the outbuildings, the barn and sheds, and while these 
are rolling up their volumes of smoke and flames, the house is visited, trunks 
burst open, drawers and shelves ransacked, all valuables that could be crammed 
into pockets, or strapped on their horses, taken, and the rest enveloped in flames. 

By the time the flames began to recede, the next house south of mine is rolling 
up dense volumes of smoke, and soon the next: and now they visit the house of 
an old gray-headed Dunkard, who, alas, thought that his age and religion would 
protect him, but the infuriated demons thirsted for blood, shot him down, regard- 
less of the poor old man's cries and entreaties to spare his life. The track, by 
fire and sword, of these murderous villains, was made through the valleys and 
over the hills as far as the eye could reach. 

In a little longer than it has taken me to write this, everything inflammable 
was consumed — houses, furniture, bedding, clothing, books, provisions, outbuild- 
ings — all, all utterly destroyed. The work of eight years' hard toil gone in as 
many minutes, and another family thrown out of house and shelter. 

I can not refrain from giving you an instance or two of the savage barbarity 
practiced by these demons. They brought Mr. Trask to the door of his house 
and told him if he would give up his money they would not shoot him, but as soon 
as he had given it up he was instantly shot; he then tried to escape by running, 
but they followed and shot him dead. 

Dr. Griswold was in his house when they attacked him. His wife ran and put 
her arms around him, and begged most piteously for his life, when one o( them 

f)assed his hand, holding a revolver, around her, and shot the doctor through the 
leart. 



C46 



TIMES OF THE REBELLION 



Mr. Fitch was shot in his house, and his wife, while runninic to liis rescue, wiis 
dra-iged ^way, the house tired, and poor Mr. Kitch burned up, it iiiav be aliv.-. 

A^iunsmith, by the name of Palmer, and his son, were burned up in their 
shop before dying of their wounds. 

iMr. Allison, of the firm of Duncan & Allison, crawled out from under tlie 
burning ruins, and they threw him back again into the ruins. 

But the heart sickens. 1 can write no more. Oh, God ! who shall avenge ? 

Your brother, rf. R. 

Incidents.— Mr. Stone was killed by one of a party which remained in town 
after the main body had gone. They remained with the avowed purpose of kill- 
ing Miss Lydia 8tone, her father and brother; and. for that purpose, ordered all 
in the hou.s'e to form a line outside. Hearing this, Mr. Stevens went up stairs and 
informed Miss Stone that she, as well as himself, was marked for a victim, and 
asked if she would not try to escape. The brave girl replied that it would be 
useless; that they would "probably kill some of them, and that she would share 
the danger, " it might as well be her as any of the others." 

During the confusion which ensued in front of the house, Mr. Stevens and Mr. 
Stone, jr.. escaped by a back door and secreted themselves on the bank of the 
river. Finally, the house was cleared, and the citizens formed in a line outside, 
when the villains commenced questioning them, asking their names, where they 
were born, etc. A gentleman answered, " central Ohio," when one of the party 
remarked, "that is worse than Kansas," and shot him, the wound, however, not 
being fatal. A lady in the house was then fired at, when Mr. Stone conunenced 
to remonstrate with them, was immediately shot, the ball entering the left side of 
the head, killing him instantly. 

We are indebted to Mr. Win. Kempf's account for the following facts: 

Citizen^* without arms, who came to the door, in obedience to their call, would 
be shot at sight. Several were shot down on the sidewalk, and vhf>n tiie build- 
ings burned, their bodies would roast. Others could be seen in the ))uvning build- 
inirs. 

One of the first persons out, was Colonel Dietzler. The sight tliat met us when 
comiuL' out, 1 can not describe. I have read of outrages (Nimmitted in the so- 
called dark aties, and horrible as they appeared to me, they sink into insignifi- 
cance in comparison with what 1 was then compelled to witness Well-known 
citizens were lyin<i in front of the spot where there stores or residetices! had been, 
completely roasted. They vere crisped avd nearly black. We t/iovijht, at Jirst, 
that they were all negroes, till xoe recognized some of ih>m. In handling the dead 
bodies piecea of roasted flesh tvou/d remain in our hands. 

Soon our streniith failed us in this horrible and sickening work. Many could 
not help crying like cliildren. Women and little children were all over town 
hunting for'their husband > and fiithers, and sad indeed was the scerie when they 
did finally find them among the corpses laid out for recognition. I can not de- 
scribe the horrors; language fails me, and the recollection of scenes I witnessed 
makes me sick, when 1 am compelled to repeat them. 

Captain Banks surrendered the Eldridge House, by waving a white flag from 
the window, and was promised that the ladies should be treated with respect, and 
that the men should ])e regarded as prisoners. The party was then sent to the 
Whitney House under escort, beinir followed all the way by three or four of the 
gang, crazed with drink, and totally regardless of the decencies of modesty in 
ttiei'r remarks t(^ the prisoners. One man was shot while the prisoners were pass- 
ing toward the Whitney House, but, upon the interposition of Quantrill's author- 
itv, they were not further injured. 

"The Eldridtre House was ransacked form cellar to garret, and plundered of 
everything which could tempt the cupidity of the guerrillas. Trunks were cut 
opeti, clothing taken, ladies' wardrobes seized or ruined, and the house fired, in 
tiie drug store below, whence the flames rapidly spread, and in a short time the 
noble structure was only a heap of ruins — the second destruction upon the site. 

Plunder was carrit^d" off on pack-horses, and each private of the rebel gang 
must have been greatly elated by his share of the pure money, as all the safes in 



IN KANSAS. 



647 



the city were cut open, or blown up by filling the key-holes with powder. In 
some instances the keys were demanded, and a refusal, in every case, was a death- 
warrant, and compliance hardly better. The amount carried away by the ganjj 
will probably exceed $75,000. 

Eighteen soldiers, out of twenty-two, belonging to the 14th regin.ient, were 
killed, with a number of the 2d colored. 

The ladies exhibited, in many instances, the greatest degree of calmness niid 
courage. Among the noble women of the second sacking of Lawrence, Mi.>is 
Lydia Stone will always be remembered as a "ministering angel," moving with 
quiet grace among the throng of sufferers, attending to tlieir wants and sjieaking 
words of comfort and cheer. 

The search was particularly directed for Governor Carney and Genentl Lane, 
the rebels having heard that both were in the city. Lane's lucky star and a 
neighboring corn field saved him, and the governor was in Leavenworth. 

Eev. H. D. Fislier, a well-known minister of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, gives a thrilling description of his escape from death dur- 
ng the massacre. He says : 

Many miraculous escapes from the assassin's hand were made — none, perliaps, 
nore so than in my own case. For the last eighteen months I have been marked 
)y rebels for death, because 1 have been ordered by various generals to provide 
'homes for refugees," and find work for them to do, to support themselves and 
■/amilies. Now, three times I have signally escaped their liands. God has saved 
my life as by fire. When Quantrill and his gang came into our town, almost all 
were yet in their beds. My wife and second boy were up, and I in bed, beciuise I 
had been sick of quinsy. The enemy yelled and fired a signal. . 1 sprang out, and 
my other children, and we clothed ourselves as quickly as possible. 

1 took the two oldest boys and started to run for -the hill, as we were conipletelv 
defenseless and unguarded. I ran a short distance, and felt I would be killed. 1 
returned to my house, where I hsid left my wife with Joel, seven years, and Frank, 
six months old, and thought to hide in our cellar. I told VViUie, twelve years old, 
and Eddie, ten years old, to run for life, and I would hide. I had scarcely found 
a spot in which to secrete myself, when four murderers entered my house and de- 
manded of my wife, with horrid oaths, where that husband of hers was, who was 
hid in the cellar ? She replied, " The cellar is open ; you can go and see for 
yourselves. My husb'and started over the hill with the children.' They de- 
manded a light to search. My wife gave them a lighted lamp, and they came, 
light and revolvers in hand, swearing to kill at first sight. They came within eight 
feet of where I lay, but my wife's self-possession in giving the light had discon- 
certed them, and they left without seeing me. They fired our house in four 
places; but my wife, by almost superhuman efforts, and with bal)y in arms, ex- 
tinguished the tire. Soon after, three others came and asked for me. But she 
said: "Do you think he is such a fool as to stay here ? They have already 
hunted for him, but, thank God! they did not find him." They then completed 
their work of pillage and robbery, and fired the house in five places, threatening 
to kill her if she attempted to extinguish it again. One stood, revolver in hand, 
to execute the threat if it was attempted. The fire burned furiously. The roof 
fell in, then the upper story, and then the lower floor; but a space about six by 
twelve feet was, by great efibrt, kept perfectly deluged by water, by my wife, to 
save me from burning alive. I I'emained thus concealed as long as I could live in 
such peril. At length, and while the murderers were still at my front door and 
all around my lot, watching for their prey, my wife succeeded, thank God, in cov- 
ering me with an old dress and a piece of old carpet, and thus getting me out into 
the garden and to the refuge of a little weeping-willow covered with "morning- 
glory" vines, where 1 was secured from their fiendish gaze and saved from their 
hellish thirst for my blood. I still expected to be discovered and shot dead. Hut 
a neighbor woman who had come to our help aided my wife in throwing a few 
things, saved from the fire, over and around the little tree where 1 lay, so as to 
cover me more securely. Our house and all our clothes — except a few old and 



(;4g TIMES OF THE REBELLION. 

broken garments, (not a full suit of anything for one of us,) and some carpet — 
with beds, books, and everything we had to eat or read, were consumed over us, 
or before our eyes. But what of that? 1 live! Through God's mercy 1 live! 

A few days later, it is stated : 

One hundred and eighty-two buildings were burned, eighty of them were 
brick; sixty-five of them were on Massachusetts-street. There are eighty-five 
widows and two hundred and forty orphans made by Quantrill's raid. Three men 
have subscribed one hundred thousand dollars to rebuild the Free State Hotel, 
known as the Eldridge Hotel. 

Several merchants have commenced rebuilding. All the laboring men in town 
will be set to work immediately to clear ofi" the ruins. In spite of the terrible 
calamity, the people are in good spirits. All the towns in the state have sent in 
large sums of money. Even the men burned out on Quantrill's retreat have sent 
in loads of vegetables and provisions. 

Quantrill. — The infamous monster who perpetrated the inhuman massacre, 
was, it is said, a native of Maryland. He once lived in Cumberland, in that state, 
where he attempted to kill his wife. For this, he was placed in jail, where he 
raged and roared like a wild beast. He, finally, made his es lape to Kansas, 
■where, for a time, he was known as a free state man, and, as such, took part in 
the Kansas war in 1855-G, and also in the border fights in 1861. For some rea- 
son, he became estranged from the union cause, espoused that of the rebellion, 
and became a skillful partisan leader, bold, daring, and as merciless as a hyena. 

Some time in the year previous, he was surprised at night, with a small 

band of followers, by a squad of federal troops, near Independence, Missouri. 
His companions were either killed or captured, but he managed to escape in the 
darkness, by plunging into the Missouri and swimming to the opposite shore, 
stopping at times to heap the savagest curses upon his pursuers. 

It was subsequently ascertained that Quantrill's force was composad of 300 se- 
lected men from the border counties of Missouri. Gen. Ewing in his report 
stated : With one exception, citizens along the route, who cou!d well have given 
the alarm, did not even attempt it. One man excused himself for his neglect on 
the plea that his horses had been working hard the day before. A boy, living 
ten or twelve miles from Lawrence, begged his father to let him mount his pony, 
and, going a by-road, alarm the town, and he was not allowed to go. Mr. J. Keed, 
living in the Hesper neighborhood, near Budora, started ahead of Quantrill from 
that place, to carry the warning to Lawrence; his horse felling he was killed. 

The guerrillas, reaching the town at sunrise, caught most of the inhabitants 
asleep, and scattered to the various houses so promptly as to prevent the concen- 
tration of any considerable number of the men. After the massacre, Gen. Ewing 
ordered all the residents of Jackson, Cass, Bates, and part of Vernon counties. 
Mo., to remove from their residences within fifteen days. The loyal people had 
been previously driven away. As his reason for this, Gen. Ewing said: "None 
remain on their farms but rebel or neutral families; and, practically, the condi- 
tion of their tenure is, that they shall feed, clothe and shelter the guerrillas, fur- 
nish them information and deceive or withhold information from us." 

In the pursuit which was made, but few of the robbers were killed, 
most of them escaping with their blood-bought plunder. 

Nothing more brutally and wantonly bloody was ever perpetrated in any civil- 
ized or uncivilized country. The massacre at Wyoming by the Indians, the mas- 
sacre of (ilencoe by English soldiers, the murder of Mamalukes by Napoleon, the 
massacre of the .Janissaries by Sultan Mohammed, the smothering of the English 
in the Black-hole by Surajah Dowlah, all acts which have left an inefiixceable stain 
on the page of history, and upon the reputations of the nations committing them, 
was less cruel, causeless, and infixmous than the massacre of Lawrence. It will 
go down to future ages as one of those acts which are made memorable solely by 
their monstrous character. 



CALIFOENIA. 



California is said, by some writers, to signify in English, liot furnace^ 
and to be derived from two Spanish words, caliente fornalla, or homo: but 

this is doubtful. If true, however, 
it is properly applied, as the sun 
pours down into the valleys through 
a dry atmosphere with great power. 
Under the Mexicans, California was 
in two divisions. Lower California 
was, as now, the peninsula. Upper 
or New California comprised all of 
Mexico north of that point and the 
Gila River, and east of the Rocky 
Mountains, containing nearly 400,000 
square miles. The greater part of 
New Mexico, and of Utah, and all of 
the state of California, comprised the 
original Upper California. 

" California was discovered in 1548, 
by Cabrillo, a Spanish navigator. In 
1758, Sir Francis Drake visited its 
northern coast, and named the coun- 
try New Albion. The original settlements in California were mission estab- 
lishments, founded by Catholic priests for the conversion of the natives. In 
1769, the mission of San Diego was founded by Padre Junipero Serra. 

The mission establishments were made of adobe, or sun burnt bricks, and 
contained commodious habitations for the .nriests, store houses, offices, me- 
chanic shops, granaries, horse and cattle peiif., and apartments for the instruc- 
tion of Indian youth. Around and attached to each, were, varying in dif- 
ferent missions, from a few hundred to several thousand Indians, who gen- 
erally resided in conical-shaped huts in the vicinity, their place of dwelling 
being generally called the rancheria. Attached to each mission were a few 
soldiers, for protection against hostilities from the Indians. 

The missions extended their possessions from one extreme of the territory 
to that of the other, and bounded the limits of one mission by that of the 
next, and so on. Though they did not require so much land for agriculture, 




Arms of California. 
Motto — Eureka — I have found it. 



■»c-rt CALIFORNIA. 

and the maintenance of their stock, they appropriated the whole ; always 
strongly opposing any individual who might wish to settle on any land be- 
tween them. 

All the missions were under the charge of the priests of the order of Sun Fran- 
cisco. Each mission was under one of the fathei's, who had despotic authority. 
The general products of the missions were large cattle, sheep, horses, Indian corn, 
beans and peas. Those in the southern part of California, produced also the grape 
and olive in abundance. The most lucrative product was the large cattle, their 
hides and tallow affording an active commerce with foreign vessels, and being, in- 
deed, the main support of the inhabitants of the territory. 

From 1800 to 1830, the missions were in the hight of their prosperity. Then, 
each mission was a little principality, with its hundred thousand acres and its 
twenty thousand head of cattle. All the Indian population, except the "Gentiles " 
of the mountains, were the subjects of the padres, cultivating for them their broad 
lands, and reverencing them with devout faith. 

The wealth and power in possession of the missions, excited the jealousy of the 
Mexican authorities. In .1833, the government commenced a series of decrees, 
wliich eventually ruined them. In 1845, the obliteration of the missions was com- 
pleted by their sale at auction, and otherwise. 

Aside from the missions, in California, the inhabitants Avere nearly all gathered 
in tha presidios, or I'orts, and in the villa<j;es, called ^Los Pueblos.' The presidios, 
or fortresses, were occupied by a few troops under the command of a military pre- 
fect or governoi'. The Padre President, or Bishop, was the supreme civil, military 
and religious ruler of the province. There were four presidios in California, each 
of which had under its protection several missions. They were respectively, San 
i>iego, S;int;i Barbara, Monterey, and San Francisco. 

VV^itliin four or five leagues of the presidios, were certain farms, called ranchhs, 
which were assigned for the use of the garrisons, and as depositories of the cattle 
and grain which were furnished as taxes from the missions. 

Los Pueblos, or towns, grew up near the missions. Their first inhabitants con- 
sisted of i-etired soldiers and attaches of the army, many of whom married Indian 
women. Of the villages of this description, there were but three, viz : Los Ange- 
les, San Jose, and Branciforte. In later times, the American emigrants established 
one on the Bay of San Francisco, called Yerlja Buena, i. e. good herb, which be- 
came the nucleus of the flourishing city of San Francisco. Another was estab- 
lished by Capt. Sutter, on the Sacramento, called New Helvetia. The larger pue- 
blos were under the government of an alcalde, or judge, in connection with other 
municipal officers. 

The policy of the Catholic priests, who held absolute sway in California, until 
1833, was to discourage emigration. Hence, up to about the year 1840, the villages 
named comprised all in California, independent of those at the missions; and at 
that time, the free whites and half-breed inhabitants in Calif(.>rnia numbered less 
than six thousand souls. The emigration from the United States first commenced 
in 1838 ; this had so increased from year to year, that, in 1846, Col. Fremont had 
but little difficulty in calling to his aid some five hundred fighting men. Some few 
resided in the towns, but a majority were upon the Sacramento, where they had 
immense droves of cattle and horses, and fine farms, in the working of which they 
were aided by the Indians. They were eminently an enterprising and courageous 
body of people, as none other at that time would brave the perils of an overland 
journey across the mountains. In the ensuing hostilities they rendered important 
services. 

At that period, the trade carried on at the different towns was quite extensive, 
and all kinds of dry goods, groceries and hardware, owing to the heavy duties, 
ranged about five hundred per cent, above the prices in the United States, Me- 
chanics and ordinary hands received from two to five dollars per day. The com- 
merce was quite extensive, fifteen or twenty vessels not unfrequently being seen 
in the various ports at the same time. Most of the merchant vessels were from 
the United States, which arrived in the spring, and engaged in the coasting trade 
until about the beginning of winter, when they departed with cargoes of hides, 



CALIFORNIA. 



651 



tallow or furs, which had been collected during the previous year. Whale ships 
also touched at the ports for supplies and to trade, and vessels from various parts 
of Europe, the .Sandwich Islands, the Russian settlements, and China." 

From 1S26 to 1846, the date of the conquest of California by the United States, 
there had been numerous civil revolutions in California; but Mexican authority 
was oenerally paramount. Of its conquest we give a brief account. 

in July, 1846, at the beginning of the Mexican war, an American naval force, 
under Commodore Sloat, took Monterey and San Francisco. Sloat then dispatched 
a partv to the mission of St. John, who there found that the American flag had 
been raised by Fremont. This officer, on his third exploring expedition, had arrived 
near Monterey in the preceding January, some months prior to the commencement 
of the w.ar. Learning that Gen. De Castro, the military commandant at that place, 
intended to drive him from the country, he took a strong position in the mountains 
Vf'ith his small party of 62 men, raised the American flag, and prepared for resist- 
ance. De Castro relinquished his design, but later prepared an expedition for So- 
noma, to expel all the American settlers from the country. Fremont, on learning 
this, took Sonoma on the 15th of June by surprise, captured Gen. Vallejo and other 
officers, 9 cannon, 250 muskets, and a quantity of military stores. On the 4th of 
July, Fremont assembled the American settlers at Sonoma, and by his advice they 
raised the revolutionary flag, and prepared to fight for their independence. A few 
davs later they learned, through the operations of Commodore Sloat, of the exist- 
ence of war, and the star spangled banner was substituted for the standard of 
revolt. 

Soon after, Fremont united his force of 160 men to the marines of Commodore 
Sto:'kton, and they sailed to San Diego. From thence they marched up and took 
lios Angelos, the seat of government. Stockton established a civil government, 
and proclaimed himself governor. In September, Los Angelos being left with a 
suimII u'arrison, under Capt. Gillespie, was taken by a superior Mexican force led by 
(leiis. Flores and Pico. 

ill N'ovemlitn', the army of Gen. Kearney, having conquered New Mexico, arrived 
i'l tiiiMr overland march across the continent, on the southern borders of Califor- 
lii.i. On tlie 6th of December, an advance party of 12 dragoons and .!>() volunteers 
h id a battle with 160 mounted Mexicans near San Pasqual. The Americans were 
vi.-ti'i'ious. Gen. Kear)i<iy was twice wounded, Capts. Johnson and Moore, Lieut. 
II iiinnnrid and most of Uie other officers, together with nineteen of the men, were 
either killed or wounded. 

Oil the 29th of December, Keai-nev took command of five hundred marines, with the 
land forces, and moved toward Angelos, to co-operate with Col. Fremont in quelling the 
revolt, now backed by a Mexican army of six hundred men, under Gens. Flores and Pico. 
'I'liese forces he met and defeated at San Gabriel on the 8th of January. The next day» 
he again fought and routed tlieni at Mesa. The Mexicans then marched twelve miles 
past Angelos to Coweiiga, whei'e they capitulated to Col. Fremont, who had, after a 
tedious, wintry march from the north, of four hundred miles, arrived at that place. 

On the 16th of January, Com. Stockton commissioned Fremont as governor, the duties 
of which he had discharf,'ed about six weeks, when Gen. Kearney, according to orders re- 
ceived from government, assumed the office and title of governor of California. Com. 
Slnihrick, who was now tlie naval commander, co-operated with Kearney, whose forces 
were aiiuinented about the last of January, by the arrival of Col. Cooke with the Mor- 
nion batt.ilion, which had marched from Council Bluffs to Santa Fe. 

Gen. Kearney, by direction of government, placing Col. Mason in the office of governor, 
on the I6th of June took his way homeward across the northern part of California, and 
from thence crossed the Rocky .Mountains through the South Pass. 

Before the news of peace was received in Calitbrnia, a new era commenced in the dis- 
covery of the gold mines. The peculiar state of affairs brought about by this, with the 
groat rush of population, was such that the people were in a measure compelled to form a 
constitution of state government. The convention, for this purpose, met at Monterey in 
IP 19, and on the I2th of October, formed the constitution, which was adopted by the peo- 
ple. .After much delay, California was admitted into the Union by action of congress, in 
September, I8ii(). 

The first officers elected under the state constitution were, Peter H. Burnett, governor; 
Jolin McDouual, lieut. governor; John C. Fremont. Wm. M. Gwin, U. S. senators; Geo. 
W. Wrisht, Edward Gilbert, U. S. representatives: Wm. Van Vorhies, secretary of state; 



652 CALIFORNIA. 

Richiinl Romiiii, treasurer; J. S. Houston, comptroller; Ed. J. C. Kewen, attorney gen- 
eral; Chiis. J. Whiting, surveyor general; S. C. Hastings, chief justice; and J. A. Lyon 
and Nathaniel Bennett, associates. 



California, one of the Pacific states, is about 750 miles long, with an 
average breadth of about 200 miles, giving an area of 150,000 square 
miles. Its southern boundary approximates in latitude to that of Charles- 
ton, South Carolina: its northern to that of Boston, Massachusetts. This, 
with its variation of surface, gives it a diversity of climate, and consequently 
of productions. Geographically, its position is one of the best in the world, 
lying on the Pacific fronting Asia. 

"Caliroriiia is a country of inDuntains and valleys. The principal mountains are 
the Sierra Nevada, i. e. snowy mountains. This sierra is part of the great moun- 
tain range, which, under diffen^nt names, extends from the peninsula of California 
to Russiiui America. Rising singly, like pyramids, from heavily timbered plateaux, 
to the higlit of fourteen and seventeen thousand feet above the ocean, these snowy 
peaks t'onstitute tiie characterizing feature of the range, and distin<ruish it i'rom 
the Rocky .Mountains and all others on our part of the continent. The iSierra N'o- 
vada is the grandest feature of the scenery of California, and must be well unler- 
stood before the structure of the country and the character of its difl'erent divis- 
ions can be comprehended. Stretching along the coast, and at the general dis- 
tance of one hundred and fifty miles from it, this great mountain wall receives the 
warm winds, charL^ed with vapor, which sweep across the Pacific Ocean, precipi- 
tates tiieir accumulated moisture in fertilizing rains and snows upon its western 
flank, and leaves cold and dry winds to pass on to the east. The region east of the 
sien-a is comparatively barren and cold, and the climates are distinct. Thus, while 
in December the eastern side is winter, the ground being covered with snow and 
the rivers frozen, on the west it is spring, the air being soft, and the grass fresh 
and i!;reen. West of the Sierra Nevada is the inhabitable part of California. 
North and south, this region extends about ten degrees of latitude, from Oreii;on to 
the peninsula of California. East and west it averages, in the middle part, one 
hundred and fifty, and in the northern part, two hundred miles, giving an area of 
about 100,000 square miles. Looking westward from the summit, the maiii feature 
pi*esented is the long, low, broad valley of the Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers — 
the two valleys forming one, five hundred miles long and fifty broad, lying along 
the base of the sierra, and bounded on the west by the low coast range of 
mountains, which separates it from the sea. Side ranges, parallel to the sierra 
and the c(»ast, make the structure of the remainder of California, and break it 
into a surface of valleys and mountains — the valleys a few hundred, and the moun- 
tains two or three thousand feet above the sea. These form great masses, and at 
the north liecome more elevated, where some peaks, as the Shaste — which rises 
fourteen thousand feet, nearly to the hight of Mont Blanc — enter the region of 
perpetual snow. The two rivers, San Joaquin and Sacramento, rising at opposite 
ends of the same great valley, receive their numerous streams, many of them bold 
rivers, unite half way, and enter the Bay of San Francisco together." 

Greeley, in his letters written in 1859, gives a clear view of the resources 
of California. We here copy from them in an abridged form. The first 
quoted from was written at San Jose. 

Tlie state of California may be roughly characterized as two ranges of moun- 
tains — a large and a small one — with a great valley between them, and a narrow, 
irregular counterpart separating the smaller from the Pacific Ocean. If we add 
to these a small strip of arid, but fertile coast, and a broad sandy desert behind it, 
lying south-west of California proper, and likely one day to be politically severed 
from it, Ave have a sufficiently accurate outline of the topography of the Golden 
State. 

Such a region, stretching from N. lat. 32 deg. 30 min. up to lat. 42 deg., and 
rising from the Pacific Ocean up to perpetually snow-covered peaks 15,000 feet 



CALIFORNIA. 



653 



ln,!j:h, can hardly be said to have a climate. Aside from the Alpine crests of the 
sierra, and the sultry deserts below the Mohave and Santa Barbara, California em- 
bodies almost every gradation of climate, from the semi-arctic to the semi-tropical. 
Tliere are green, fertile fields in the sierra which only begin to be well grassed 
when the herbage of the great valley is drying up, and from which the cattle are 
driven by snows as early as the 1st of October — long before grass begins to start 
afresh on the banks of the Sacramento. There are other valleys upon and near 
the sea-coast, wherein frost and snow are strangers, rarely seen, and vanishing with 
the night that gave them being. Generally, however, we may say of the state that 
it has a mild, dry, breezy, healthy climate, better than that of Italy, in that the sultry, 
scorching blasts from African deserts have here no counterpart. Save in the 
higher mountains, or in the extreme north-east, snow never lies, the earth never 
freezes, and winter is but a milder, greener, longer spring, throughout which cattle 
pick up their own living far more easily and safely than in summer. 

The climate of the valleys may be said to be created, as that of the mountains 
is modified, by the influence of the Pacific Ocean. Sea breezes from the south- 
west in winter, from the north-west in summer, maintain an equilibrium of tem- 
perature amazing to New Englanders. San Francisco — situated on the great bay 
formed by the passage of the blended waters of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin 
— the former draining the western slope of the Sierra Nevada from the north, as 
the latter does from the south — is thus, as it were, in the throat of the bellows 
through which the damp gales from the Pacific are constantly rushing to cool the 
parched slopes or warm the snow-clad bights of the interior. I presume there was 
never a day without a breeze at San Francisco — generally a pretty stifi" one. This 
sea breeze is always damp, often chilly, and rolls up clouds which hide the sun for 
a part, at least, of most days. Though ice seldom forms, and snow never lies in 
her streets, San Francisco must be regarded as a cold place by most of her visiters 
and unaeclimated summer denizens. I presume a hot day was never known there, 
and no niirht in which a pair of good woolen blankets were not esteemed a shelter 
and a comfort by all but extremely hot-blooded people. Thick flannels and warm 
woolen outer garments are worn throughout the year by all who have or can get 
them. In short, San PVancisco is in climate what London would be with her sum- 
mer rains transformed into stiff and almost constant breezes. 

The soil of California is almost uniformly good. The valleys and ravines re- 
joice in a generous depth of dark vegetable mold, usually mingled with or resting 
on clay ; while the less precipitous hill sides are covered with a light reddish clayey 
loam of good quality, asking only adequate moisture to render it amply productive. 
Bring a stream of water almost anywhere, save on the naked granite, and you in- 
cite a luxuriant vegetation. 

Yet the traveler who first looks down on the valleys and lower hill-sides of Cali- 
fornia in midsummer is generally disappointed by the all but universal deadness. 
Some hardy weeds, a little sour, coarse grass along the few still living water courses, 
some small, far-between gardens and orchards rendered green and thrifty by irri- 
gation, form striking exceptions to the general paralysis of all annual manifesta- 
tions of vegetable life. 

.... These slopes, these vales, now so dead and cheerless, are but resting from 
their annual and ever successful efforts to contribute bountifully to the sustenance 
and comfirt of man. Summer is their season of torpor, as winter is ours. Dead 
as these wheat fields now appear, the stubble is thick and stout, and its indications 
are Tuore than justified by the harvest they have this year yielded. 

Ciirtle irrowing was the chief employment of the Californians of other days, and 
cattleiirowing, next after mininjr, is the chief business of the Californians of 1S59. 
Tliore are comparatively few fiirms yet established, while ranches abound on every 
siili\ ,\ corral, into which to drive his wild herd when use or security is in ques- 
tion. ;ind a field or two in Avhich to pasture his milch cows and working cattle, are 
oft'^n ;ill of the ra/)c^ethat is inclosed; the herd is simply branded with the owner's 
mark and turned out to range where they will, being looked after occasional!}'- by 
a mounted ranchero, whose horse is trained to dexterity in running among o? 
around tliem. 

Fruit, however, is destined to be the ultimate glory of California Nowhere else 



654 California. 

on earth is it produced so readily or so bountifully. Sucli pears, penclies, apricots, 
ni'ctarines, etc., as load the trees of nearly every valley in the state which has had 
any chance to produce them, would stagger the faith of nine tenths of m^ readers. 
Peach trees only six years set, which have borne four large burdens of fruit wliilo 
growing luxuriantly each year, are quite common. Apple trees, but tliree years 
set, yet showing at least a bushel of large, fair fruit, are abundant. I have seen 
peach trees four or five years from the states which have all the fruit they can 
stagger under, yet have grown three feet of new wood over this load during the 
current season. Dwarf pears, just stuck into the black loam, and nowise fertilized 
or cultivated, but covered with fruit the year after they were set, and thencefor- 
ward bearing larger and larger yields with each succeeding summer, are seen in 
ill most every tolerably cared-for fruit patch. I can not discover an instance in 
which any fruit-tree, having borne largely one year, consults its dignity or its ease 
by standing still or growing wood only the next year, as is common our way. ] 
have seen green gages and other plum-trees so thickly set with fruit that 1 am sure 
the plums would far outweigh the trees, leaves and all. And not one borer, curcu- 
lio, caterpillar, apple-worm, or other nuisance of that large and undelightful f^imily/ 
appears to be known in all this region. Under a hundred fruit-trees, you will not 
see one bulb which has prematurely fallen — a victim to this destructive brood. 

That California is the richest of all the American states in timber, as well as in 
minerals, I consider certain, though the forests of Oregon are doubtless stately and 
vast. Even the Coast Range between San Jose valley and Santa Cruz on the south- 
west, is covered by magnificent redwood — some of the trees sixteen feet through, 
and fifty in circumference. In soil, I can not consider her equal to Illinois, Iowa, 
Kansas, or Minnesota, though the ready markets afforded by her mines to her farms 
probably render this one of the most inviting states to the enterprising, energetic 
husbandman. But it must be considered that not half the soil of California can 
ever be deemed arable; the larger area being covered by mountains, ravines, 
deserts, etc. 

The persistent summer drouth is not an unmixed evil. It is a guaranty against 
many insects, and against rust, even in the heaviest grain. Grain and hay are got 
in at far less cost and in much better average condition here than they can be 
where the summers are not cloudless nor rainless. Weeds are far less persistent 
and pestilent here than at the east; while the air is so uniformly dry and bracing, 
and the days so generally tempered by a fresh lireeze, that the human frame main- 
tains its elasticity in spite of severe and continued exertion. I was never before 
in a region where so much could be accomplished to the hand in summer as just 
here. 

Irrigation is exceptional, even here. All the grains are grown here without irri 
gation; but the small grains are hurried up quite sharply by drouth, and in some 
instances blighted by it, and at best are doubtless much lighter than they would 
be with a good, soaking rain early in June; while Indian corn and most roots and 
vegetables can only in favored localities be grown to perfection without artificial 
watering. I estimate that, if all the arable land in the state, fertile as it undoubt- 
edly is, were seasonably planted to corn and fairly cultivated, without irrigation, 
the average yield would fall below ten bushels per acre. Hence every garden 
throughout the state, save a part of those near the coast and within the immediate 
influence of the damp sea breeze, must have its stream of water or it comes to 
nothing, and various devices are employed to procure the needful fluid. Of these 
I like Artesian wells far best; and they are already numerous, especially in this 
valley. Rut ordinary wells, surmounted by windmills which press every casual 
breeze into the service and are often pumping up a good stream of water while the 
owner and all hands are asleep, are much more common, and are found to answer 
very well; while some keep their little gardens in fair condition by simply draw- 
ing water, bucket after bucket, in the old, hard way. 

In a subsequent letter, written from Marysville, the chief town of north- 
ern California, at the junction of the Yuba and Feather Rivers, Mr. Gree- 
ley gives a description of what he saw of the agricultural riches of that 
fertile region. We again quote : 



CALIFORNIA. 655 

The edifice evecterl hy the public spirit of Marysville for the fairs which are to 
he held here annually, and at which all northern California is invited to compete 
for very liberal preininms, is quite spacious and admirably adapted to its purpose ; 
and herein is collected the finest show of fruits and vegeta})les I ever saw at any- 
thing but a state fair. Indian corn not less than twenty feet hic^h; squashes like 
brass kettles and water-melons of the size of buckets, are but average samples of 
the wonderful productiveness of the Sacramento and Yuba valleys, while the 
peaches, plums, pears, grapes, apples, etc., could hardly be surpassed anywhere. 
The show of animals is not extensive, but is very fine in the departments of horses 
and horned cattle. The most interesting feature of this show was its young stock 
— calves and colts scarcely more than a year old, equal in weight and size, while 
far superior in form and "symmetry, to average horses and bulls of ripe maturity. 
With generous fare and usage, I am confident that steers and heifers two years 
old in'California will equal in size and development those a year older in our north- 
ern states, and California colts of three years be fully equal to eastern colts of like 
blood and breeding a irood vear older — an immense advantage to the breeder on 
the Pacific. 1 am reliably assured that steers a year old, never fed but on wild 
grass, and never sheltered, have here dressed six^ hundred pounds of fine beef 
Undoubtedlv, California is one of the cheapest and best stock growing countries in 
the world-^and will be, after these great, slovenly ranches shall have been broken 
up into neat, modest farms, and when the cattle shall be fed at least three months 
in each year on roots, hav and sorghum, or other green fodder. 

The vallevs of the Yulia and Feather Rivers are exceedingly deep and fertile, 
and their productiveness in this vicinity almost surpasses belief I visited this 
morning, in the suburbs, eardens, vinevards, orchards, of rarely equaled fruitful- 
ness. The orchard of Mr. BriiriTs, for example, covers 160 acres, all in young fruit, 
probablv one half peaches. He has had a squad of thirty or forty men picking 
and boxint: peaches for the last month, vet his fruit by the cartload ripens and rots 
untrathered. The wnt'ons which conveV it to the mines have their regular stations 
and relays of horses like mail stages,'and are thus pulled sixty miles up rough 
mountain passes, per day, where twenty-five miles would be a heavy day's work for 
anv one team. But he is not sending to the mines only, but by steamboat to Sac- 
rainento and San Francisco as well. " His sales last year, I am told, amounted to 
.f',10,000; his net income was not less than $40,000. And this was realized mainly 
from peaches, apricots and nectarines; his apples and pears have barely begun to 
bear ; his cherries will yield their first crop next year. There are of course heavier 
fruit growers in California than Mr. Briggs, but he may be taken as a fair sample 
of the class. Their sales will doubtless' be made at lower and still lower prices; 
they are now a little higher than those realized for similar fruit grown in Jsew 
•Jersey; they were once many times higher than now; but, though their prices 
steadily decrease their incomes do not, because their harvests continued to be aug- 
mented by at least twentv five per cent, per annum. 

Let me'give one other "instance of successful fruit growing in another district: 
Mr. Fallon, the mavor of San Jose, has a fine garden, in which are some ten or 
twelve old pear trees— relics of the Spanish era and of the Jesuit missions. 1 he 
trees beinc thriftv but the fruit indifferent, Mr. F. had them pretty thoroughly 
grafted with the Bartlett varietv, and the second year thereafter gathered from one 
tree one thousand pounds of Bartlett pears, which he sold for $200, or twenty cents 
per pound. The other trees similarly treated bore him six to seven hundred pounds 
each of that large, delicious fruit, which he sold at the same price. And, every 
year since, these trees have borne larce yields of these capital pears. 
* Just a word now on grain. California is still a young state, whose industry and 
enterprise are lar-xelv devoted to mining; yet she grows the bread of her hall a 
million well-fed inhabitants on less than a fortieth part of her arable soil, and will 
this year have some to spare. 1 am confident her wheat crop of 1S.'>9, is over tour 
milli'ons of bushels, and 1 think it exceeds twenty-five bushels for each acre sown. 
To day, its price in San Francisco is below a dollar a bushel, and it is not likely 
to rise verv soon. Thouirh srown, harvested and threshed by the help of labor 
which costs her farmers from thirtv to fortv dollars per month, beside board, it is 
still mainly grown at a profit; and so of a very large breadth of barley, grown 



656 CALIFORNIA. 

here instead of oats as food for working horses and cattle. Thougn wheat is prob- 
ably the fullest, I judge that barley is the surest of any grain crop grown in the 
state. It has never failed to any serious extent. 

Indian corn is not extensively grown; only the Russian River and one or two 
other small valleys are generally supposed well adapted to it. And yet, I never 
saw larger or better corn growing than stands to-day right here on the Vuba — not 
a few acres merely, but hundreds of acres in a body. I judge that nearly all the 
intervales throughout the state would produce good corn, if well treated. On the 
hill-sides, irrigation may be necessary, but not in the vallejs. None has been re- 
sorted to here, yet the yield of shelled grain will range between 75 and 100 bush- 
els per acre. And this is no solitary instance. Back of Oakland, across the bay 
from rfan Francisco, Mr. Hobart, a good farmer from Massachusetts, showed me 
acres of heavy corn which he planted last May, after the rains had ceased and the 
dry season f\xirly set in, since which no hoe nor plow had been put into the field; 
yet the soil remains light and porous, while there are very few weeds. Not one 
drop of water has been applied to this farm ; yet here are not only corn, but pota- 
toes, beets, etc., with any number of young fruit trees, all green and thriving, by 
virtue of subsoiling and repeated plowings last spring. The ground (sward) was 
broken up early in the winter, and cross-plowed whenever weeds showed their 
heads, until planting time; and this discipline, aided by the drouth, has prevented 
their starting during the summer. Such thorough preparation for a crop costs 
something; but, this once made, the crop needs here only to be planted and har- 
vested. Such farming pays. 

The fig tree grows in these valleys side by side with the apple ; ripe figs are now 
gathered daily from nearly all the old Mexican gardens. The olive grows finely 
in southern California, and 1 believe the orange and lemon as well. But the grape 
bids fair to become a staple throughout the state. Almost every farmer who feels 
sure of his foothold on the land he cultivates either has his vineyard already 
planted, or is preparing to plant one, while most of those who have planted are ex- 
tending from year to year. I have looked through many of these vineyards, with- 
out finding one that is not thrifty — one that, if two years planted, is not now loaded 
with fruit. The profusion and weight of the clusters is marvelous to the fresh be- 
holder. I will not attempt to give figures ; but it is my deliberate judgment that 
grapes may be grown here as cheaply as wheat or corn, pound for pound, and that 
wine will ultimately be made herr- at a cost per gallon not exceeding that of whisky 
in Illinois or Ohio. Wine will doubtless constitute a heavy export of California 
within a very few years. So, I think, will choice timber, should the wages of labor 
ever fall here so as to approximate our eastern standards. 

I can not conclude this survey without alluding once more to the deplorable con- 
fusion and uncertainty of land titles which has been and still is the master scourga 
of this state. The vicious Spanish-Mexican system of granting lands by the mere 
will of some provincial governor or municipal chief, without limitation as to area 
or precise delineation of boundaries, here developes and matures its most perni- 
cious fruits. Your title may be ever so good, and yet your farm be taken from 
under you by a new survey, proving that said title does not cover your tract, or 
covers it but partially. Hence many refuse or neglect to improve the lands they 
occupy, lest some title adverse to theirs be established, and they legally ousted or 
compelled to pay heavily for their own improvements. And, in addition to the 
genuine Spanish or Mexican grants, which the government and courts must con- 
firm and uphold, there are fictitious and fi-audulent grants — some of them only 
trumped up to be bought ofi", and often operating to create anarchy and protract 
litigation between settlers and the real owners. Then there are doubtless squat- 
ters who refuse to recognize and respect valid titles, and waste in futile litigation 
the money that might make the lands they occupy indisputably their own. Were 
the titles to lands in California to-day as clear as in Ohio or Iowa, nothing could 
check the impetus with which California would bound forward in a career of un 
paralleled thrift and growth. It were far better for the state and her people that 
those titles were wrongly settled than that they should remain as now. I met to 
day an intelligent farmer who has had three different forms in this state, and has 
lost them successively by adjudications adverse to his title. The present cost of 



CALIFORNIA. gry 

litigation, enormous as it is, is among the lesser evil consequences of this general 
anarchy as to land titles. 

Should these ever be settled, it will be probably found advisable to legislate for 
the speedy breaking up and distribution of the great estates now held under "-ood 
titles by a few individuals. There will never be good common schools on or afiuut 
these great domains, which will mainly be inhabited by needy and thriftless ten- 
ants or dependents of the landlords. An annual tax of a few cents per acre, the 
proceeds to be devoted to the erection of school houses and the opening of roads 
through these princely estates, would go far to effect the desired end. But, whether 
by this or some other means, the beneficent end of making the cultivators of the 
soil their own landlords must somehow be attained — the sooner the better, so that 
it be done justly and legally. In the course of several hundred miles' travel 
through the best settled portions of this state, I remember having seen but two 
school houses outside of the cities and villages, while the churches are still more 
uniformly restricted to the centers of population. Whenever the land titles shall 
have been settled and the arable lands have become legally and fairly the property 
of their cultivators, all this will be speedily and happily changed. 

There are two seasons in California, the dry and the rainy, the latter ex- 
tending from the 1st of November to the 1st of April. During the rainy 
season are intervals of fine weather, in which all the plowing and sowing is 
done. 

" The mining interests of California are vast and inexhaustible. The state 
abounds in mineral wealth, and in great varieties, and there is no knowing 
to what extent these riches may be developed. The gold region embraces a 
district of country extending from the Oregon line on the north to Kern 
River in the south, a distance of nearly five hundred miles in length, and 
from ten to one hundred and fifty miles in width. Mining is successfully 
carried on in some twenty-five counties, and not more than one fifth of this 
gold region is occupied by miners at the present time." From 1849 to 1860, 
it was estimated that gold to the value of 600 millions of dollars had been 
taken out of the mines of California and sent abroad. 

" In a few years California will become a vast empire within herself The peo- 
ple have the use of all the mineral lands without any cost whatever, except the 
tax on their personal property, but no mining claim is taxed. Every vacant piece 
of land in the mines is subject to location by any one who may wish to settle on 
it, and as long as he remains his possessory right is as good a title as he wants. 
"^V'he mineral lands are expressly reserved from sale by act of congress, and the 
tegislation of the state, so far, has been to let them alone, yet recognizing the rules 
of each mining camp as the law under which the miners hold their different kind 
of claims. 

The pre-emption laws of the United States have been extended to California, and 
persons settling upon the public land can have the benefit of them. Of the sur- 
veyed lands the state is entitled to the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections of each 
township, for school purposes. She was granted 500,000 acres by congress for in- 
ternal improvements, but a provision in her constitution diverts them to educa- 
tional purposes. Thus California has over 6,000,000 acres out of which to build 
up her school system. 

She has also 5,000,000 of acres of swamp land, donated her by congress. This 
land is destined to become the most valuable in the state. It is all alluvial and of 
inexhaustible richness. By an act of the state legislature, any person can locate 
640 acres of this at one dollar an acre, by paying one fifth down and the balance 
in five years. She is thus the absolute owner of over eleven millions of acres, and 
constituting a basis of prosperity and usefulness of which perhaps no other state 
can boast." 

The population of California, January 1, 1849, was estimated at 26,000, 
viz: natives of the country, not including Indians, 13,000; United States 
Americans, 8,000; and Europeans, 5,000. The whole number of Indians 
42 



658 CALIFORNIA. 

was probably then about 40,000. In 1852, a state census gave the population 
as 264,435. The census of 1860 gave a population of 384,770. A very large 
proportion of the inhabitants are males and of mixed nationalities. A Cal- 
ifornia writer thus estimates the number of the various classes of the popu- 
lation in 1859: 

"There may now be 125,000 voters in the state, certainly not more. Of alien 
men, there are about 15,000 Frenchmen, 7,000 Spanish Americans, 8,000 Britons 
and Irishmen, 4,000 Italians, 5,000 Germans, and 6,000 miscellaneous Europeans — 
40,000 alien white men in all. We have thus 170,000 white men. There are 
50,000 Chinamen,* as ascertained from the custom house books. This figure is 
more exact than the census returns will be. Thus we have 220,000 men, of whom 
about 88,000 (two fifths reside in the farming districts, including the cities, and 
three fifths in the mining districts. In the former there are, on an average, two 
men to a woman ; in the latter, five men to a woman ; so that, in the farming dis- 
tricts, there will be of men and women, 132,000, and in the mining districts, 
158,400, or 70,400 women in the state. Add 90,000 minors, including school chil- 
dren, and we have 380,400. To these add 5,000 negroes and 9,600 Indians, and we 
have 395,000 as the total population of the state. The mining districts have a 
large majority of the Chinamen and aliens; the farming districts have a majority 
of the citizens, and a large majority of the women and children. Of the nativity 
of the 125,000 voters, 1 make the following estimate, viz: 40,000 native Americans 
from the free states, 30,000 Americans from the slave states, 25,000 Irishmen, 
20 000 Germans, and 10,000 miscellaneous persons of foreign birth, including 
British, Hungarians, Spaniards, etc. If this estimate be correct, you will perceive 
that our population is very much mixed. But the English language prevails every- 
where, and in another generation it will be the mother tongue of all the children 
born of parents now in the state." 

San Francisco, the commercial capital of California, is in the same lati- 
tude with Lisbon, and also with Richmond, Virginia, and distant on an air 
line from the latter 2,500 miles. Its latitude is'^37° 48' and longitude 122° 
25' W. from Greenwich. Her trade is immense, being the fourth commer- 
cial city in the Union. Her situation is unrivaled, fronting the Pacific at 
the head of the magnificent B?y of San Francisco, which has no equal for a 
line of thousands of miles of coast. " The connection of San Francisco 
with the great interior valley of the state being the only water communication 
with it, together with its easy communication with Asia, gives it vast com- 
mercial advantages. Approaching it from the sea, the coast presents a bold 
mountainous outline. The bay is entered by a strait running east and west, 
about a mile broad at its narrowest part, and five miles long from the ocean, 
when it opens to the north and south, in each direction more than thirty 
miles. It is divided by straits and projecting points, into three separate 
bays, the two northern being called San Pablo and Suisun, and the south- 
ern, San Francisco. The strait is called the 'Golden Gate,' on the same prin- 
ciple that the harbor of Constantinople was called the ' Golden Horn,' viz : 
its advantages for commerce." 



' «" Of all this number of 60,000 Chinamen, by the laws of California, not one is allowed 
to vote, not one to give evidence in a court of justice, but kept virtually outlawed, and 
liable to all manner of unlimited abuse, robbery, or personal cruelty, with no possibility of 
redress, except some European happens to be an eye-witness. If some renegade Celt of 
Saxon wishes to plunder a Chinaman, knowing the law and the poor man's defenselessness 
he has but to choose a time when none but Chinese eyes are looking on I A hundred Chi- 
nese may witness a deed of violence, but their ifiiited testimony is worthless and inadmis 
sible against a European or American evil-doer within the limits of the state." 



CALIFORNIA. 



659 



San Francisco, as a town, is of very recent orij^in : but the immediate vi- 
cinity has a history dating back to the year 1776. Then the Mission of San 
Francisco was founded, which stood two and a half miles south-west of the 
cove of Yerba Buena; at the same time was erected a presidio and a fort 




Harbor of Sail Francisco. 

along the margin of the Golden Gate. In 1835, (he first habitation wa.s 
reared on the site of San Franci.«co, by Capt. W. A. Richardson, who, beiiiu' 
appointed harbor master, erected a tent of a ship's foresail, and supporieij it 
by four redwood pos-ts. His business was to mynsige two schooners, wlm h 
brought produce from tlie various mist^ions and farms to the sea going vo- 
sels that came into tlie cove. In May, IHHH, Mr. Jacob l*rimer Lcese arrived 
in the cove, with the intention of eslaldishing a mercantile business in con- 
nection with partners at Monterey. He erected the first frame house, which 
was 60 by 25 feet, placing it alongside of the tent of Kichardson, and on the 



660 



CALIFORNIA. 



site of the St. Francis Hotel, corner of Clay and Dupont-streets. The man. 
eion was finished on the 4th of July, and the day was celebrated by a grand 
banquet. The guests, numbering about 60, consisted of the principal Mex- 
ican families of the neighborhood, together with the officers of two Ameri- 
can and one Mexican vessel in port. Outside of the building the American 
and Mexican flags waved together in amic'&ble proximity, within, toasts were 
drank and good cheer prevailed: half a dozen instruments added their en- 
livening strains to the general enjoyment, two six 'pounders hard-by occa- 
sionally opened their throats and barked forth with an emphasis proper to 
the occasion. Mr. Leese subsequently married a sister of General Vallejo, 
one of his guests on this occasion, and on the 15th of April, 1838, was born 
llosalia Leese, the first born of Yerba Buena, as the place was then called 
from the wild mint growing on the hills. 

A few other houses were soon after built, and the Hudson's Bay Company be- 
came interested in the place ; their agents and people came to form nearly the en- 
tire settlement. Late as 1844, Yerba Buena contained only about a dozen houses. 
In 1846, this company disposed of their property and removed from the place, 
when the progress of the Mexican war threw it into American hands, and it then 
advanced with wonderful rapidity. By the end of April 1848, the era of the gold 
discovery, the town contained 200 dwellings and 1,000 inhabitants, comprised 
almost entirely of American and European emigrants. 

The church, tavern and printing ofiBce are an indispensable adjunct to all Amer- 
ican settlements. In January, 1847, appeared the first newspaper, the California 
Star, published by Samuel Brannan, and edited by Dr. E. P. Jones. In the first 
month of its issue was printed an ordinance, from the alcalde, Mr. Bartlett, chang- 
ing the name of the place from Yerba Buena to San Francisco. 

The first alcalde of San Francisco, under the American flag, was Washington A. 
Bartlett, a lieutenant of the navy, who, being ordered to his ship, was succeeded 
on the 2'2d of February, 1847, by Edwin Bryant. Under Mexican laws an alcalde 
has entire control of municipal afiairs, and administers justice in ordinary matters 
according to his own ideas of right, without regard to written law. On the Amer- 
icans taking possession of the country, they temporarily made use of the existing 
machinery of local government, everywhere appointed alcaldes, and instructed 
them to dispense justice with a general regard to the Mexican laws and the pro- 
vincial customs of California. 

In December, 1847, occurred the event which was so suddenly to trans- 
form California from a wilderness into a great state, and San Francisco from 
a petty village into a great commercial metropolis — the discovery of gold. 
"Early in 1848, the news spread to the four quarters of the globe, and imme- 
diately adventurers from every land came thronging to this new El Dorado. 
The magnificent harbor of San Francisco made this port the great rendez- 
vous for the arriving vessels, and from this period dates the extraordinary 
increase and prosperity of the Californian metropolis. In the first four 
months of the golden age, the quantity of precious dust brought to San 
Francisco was estimated at $850,000. In February, 1849, the population of 
the town was about 2,000 ; in August it was estimated at 5,000. From April 
12, 1849, to the 29th of January, 1850, there arrived by sea 39,888 emi- 
grants, of whom 1,421 only were females. In the year ending April 15, 
1850, there arrived 62,000 passengers. In the first part of 1850, San Fran- 
cisco became a city, with a population of 15,000 to 20,000; and in 1860, it 
had 56,805, together with the largest trade of any city on the Pacific side 
of the American continent. 

The magical effect upon San Francisco of the discovery of gold, is thus 
described in the Annals of the city: 

Early in the spring of this year (1848), occasional intelligence had been received 



CALIFORNIA. 



661 



of the finding of gold in large quantities among the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada. 
Small parcels of the precious metal had also been forwarded to San Francisco, 
while visitors from the mines, and some actual diggers arrived, to tell the wonders 
of the region and the golden gains of those engaged in exploring and working it. 
In consequence of such representations, the inhabitants began gradually, in bunds 
and singly, to desert their previous occupations, and betake themselves to the 
American River and other auriferous parts of the great Sacramento valley. Labor, 
from the deficiency of hands, rose rapidly in value, and soon all business and work, 
except the most urgent, was forced to be stopped. Seamen deserted from their 
ships in the bay and soldiers from the barracks. Over all the country the excite- 
ment was the same. Neither threats, punishment nor money could keep men to 
their most solemn engagements. Gold was the irresistible magnet that drew hu- 
man souls to the place where it lay, rudely snapping asunder the feebler ties of 
afifection and duty. Avarice and the overweening desire to be suddenly rich, from 
whence sprang the hope and moral certainty of being so, grew into a disease, and 
the infection spread on all sides, and led to a general migration of every class of 
the community to the golden quarters. The daily laborer, who had worked for the 
good and at the command of another, for one or two dollars a day, could not be re- 
strained from flying to the happy spot where he could earn six or ten times the amount, 
and might possibly gain a hundred or even a thousand times the sum in one lucky 
day's chance. Then the life, at worst, promised to be one of continual adventure 
and excitement, and the miner was his own master. While this was the case with 
the common laborer, his employer, wanting his services, suddenly found his occu- 
pation at an end ; while shopkeepers and the like, dependent on both, discovered 
themselves in the same predicament. The glowing tales of the successful miners 
all the while reached their ears, and threw their own steady and large gains com- 
paratively in the shade. They therefore could do no better, in a pecuniary sense 
even, for themselves, than to hasten after their old servants, and share in their new 
labor and its extraordinary gains, or pack up their former business stock, and trav- 
eling with it to the mines, open their new shops and stores and stalls, and dispose 
of their old articles to the fortunate diggers, at a rise of five hundred or a thousand 
per cent. 

In the month of May it was computed that at least one hundred and fifty people 
had left San Francisco, and every day since was adding to their number. Some 
were occasionally returning from the auriferous quarter; but they had little time 
to stop and expatiate upon what they had seen. They had hastily come back, as 
they had hastily gone away at first, leaving their household and business to waste 
and ruin, now to fasten more properly their houses, and remove goods, family and 
all, at once to the gold region. Their hurried movements, more even than the 
words they uttered, excited the curiosity and then the eager desire of others to 
accompany them. And so it was. Day after day the bay was covered with 
launches, filled with the inhabitants and their goods, hastening up the Sacramento. 
This state of matters soon came to a head ; and master and man alike hurried to 
the placeres, leaving San Francisco, like a place where the plague reigns, forsaken 
by its old inhabitants, a melancholy solitude. 

On the 29th of May, the " Californian " published a fly-sheet, apologizing for the 
future non-issue of the paper, until better days came, when they might expect to 
retain their servants for some amount of remuneration, which at present was im- 
possible, as all, from the "sm6s" to the '■'■devil" had indignantly rejected every 
offer, and gone off to the diggings. " The whole country," said the last editorial 
of the paper, " from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and from the sea shore to the 
base of the Sierra Nevada, resounds with the sordid cry of gnld ! gold ! ! GOLD ! ! ! 
— while the field is left half planted, the house half built, and everything neglei'tf<I 
but the manufacture of shovels and pick-axes, and the means of transportation to 
the spot where one man obtained one hundred and twenty-eight dollars' worth of 
the real stuff in one day's washing, and the average for all concerned is twenty dol- 
lars per diem .'" 

Within the first eight weeks after the "diggings" had been fairly known, two 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars had reached San Francisco in gold dust, and 
within the next eight weeks, six hundred thousand more. These sums were all to 



QQ2 CALIFORNIA. 

|iui-;*li!iao, at any price, additional supplies for the mines. Coin (jrew scarce, and 
all that was in the country wns insufficient to satisfy the increased Avants of com- 
nu'rce in one town alone. Gold dust, therefore, soon became a circulating medium, 
nui\ after some little demur at first, was readily received by all classes at sixteen 
dollars an ounce. The authorities, however, would only accept it in payment of 
duties at ten dollars per ounce, with the privilege of redemption, by payment of 
coin, within a limited time. 

When sulisequently immigrants began to arrive in numerous bands, any amount 
of labor could be obtained, provided always a most unusually high price was paid 
for it. Returned diggers, and those who cautiously had never went to the mines, 
were then also glad enough to work for rates varying from twelve to thirty dollars 
a day ; at which terms capitalists were somewhat afraid to commence any heavy 
undertaking. The hesitation was only for an instant. Soon all the labor that 
could possibly be procured, was in ample request at whatever rates were demanded. 
The population of a great state was suddenly flocking in upon them, and no prepa- 
rations had hitherto been made for its reception. Building lots had to be surveyed, 
and streets graded and planked — hills leveled — hollows, lagoons, and the bay itself 
piled, capped, filled up and planked — lumber, bricks, and all other building mate- 
rials, provided at most extraordinarily high prices — houses built, finished and fur- 
nished — great warehouses and stores erected — wharves run far out into the sea — 
numberless tuns of goods removed from shipboard, and delivered and shipped anew 
everywhere — and ten thousand other things had all to be done without a moment' *» 
unnecessary delay. Long before these things were completed, the sand hills and 
barren ground around the town were overspread with a multitude of canvas, 
blanket and bough-covered tents — the bay was alive with shipping and small craft 
carrying passengers and goods backward and forward — the unplanked, ungraded, 
unformed streets (at one time moving heaps of dry sand and dust; at another, miry 
abysses, whose treacherous depths sucked in horse and dray, and occasionally man 
himself), were crowded with human beings from every corner of the universe and 
of every tongue — all excited and busy, plotting, speaking, working, buying and 
selling town lots, and beach and water lots, shiploads of every kind of assorted 
merchandise, the ships themselves, if they could — though that was not often — gold 
dust in hundred weights, ranches square leagues in extent, with their thousands 
of cattle — allotments in hundreds of contemplated towns, already prettily designed 
and l:iid out — on paper — and, in short, speculating and gambling in every branch 
of modern commerce, and in many strange things peculiar to the time and place. 
And everybody made money, and was suddenly growing rich* 

The loud voices of the eager seller and as eager buyer — the laugh of reckless 
joy — the bold accents of successful speculation — the stir and hum of active, hur- 
ried labor, as man and brute, horse and bullock, and their guides, struggled and 
man.aged through heaps of loose rubbish, over hills of sand, and among deceiving 
deep mud pools and swamps, filled the amazed newly arrived immigrant with an 
almost appalling sense of the exuberant life, energy and enterprise of the place. 
He breathed quick and faintl}^ — his limbs grew weak as water — and his heart sunk 
within him as he thoughtof the dreadful conflict, when he approached and mingled 
among that confused and terrible business battle. 

Gambling saloons, glittering like fairy palaces, like them suddenly sprang into 
existence, ^studding nearly all sides of the plaza, and every street in its neighbor- 
hood. As if intoxicating drinks from the well plenished and splendid bar they 
each contained were insufficient to gild the scene, music added its loudest, if not 

*Johnson, in his "Sights in the Gold Region," states "Lumber sold as high as $600 per 
thousiinti feet. The merest necessaries of life commanded the most extravagant prices. 
Li) iin dresses received $8 per dozen, and cooks $150 per month : and it was nearly impossi- 
ble to obtain either. The prices of houses and lots were from $10,000 to $75,000", each. A 
lot purchased two years ago for a barrel of aguardievte was sold recently for $18,000. One 
new throe story frame hotel, about forty by si.xty feet, cost $180,000, and rented for an in- 
terest of more than twenty per cent, per annum; small rooms for gambling purposes rent- 
ing for $400 per month. Yet, notwithstanding these enormous incomes, speculation so 
raged that as high as twenty-five per cent, was actually paid for the use of money for o«« 
week." 



CALIFORNIA g^o 

its sweetest charms ; and all was mad, feverish mirth, where fortunes were lost 
and won, upon the green cloth, in the twinkling of an eye. All classes gambled 
in those days, from the starchiest white neck-clothed professor to the veriest black 
rascal that earned a dollar for blacking massa's boots. Nobody had leisure to 
think even for a moment of his occupation, and how it was viewed in Christian 
lands. The heated brain was never allowed to get cool while a bit of coin or dust 
was left. These saloons, therefore, were crowded, night and day, by impatient 
revelers who never could satiate themselves with excitement, nor get rid too soon 
of their golden heaps. 

The very thought of that wondrous time is an electric spark that fires into one 
great flame all our fancies, passions and experiences of the fall of that eventful 
year, 1849. The world had perhaps never before afi"orded such a spectacle; and 
probably nothing of the kind will be witnessed for generations to come. A city 
of twenty or thirty thousand inhabitants improvised — the people nearly all adult 
males, strong in person, clever, bold, sanguine, restless and reckless." 



The proceedings of the famous " Vigilance Committee " of San Francisco 
at the time excited the surprise of the outside world. It was, however, an 
organization that arose from the necessities of the community: its acts were 
justified by the great body of the citizens, while its members comprised the 
first men in business and social standing in the city. 

Up to the beginning of 1851, the emigration to California had been im- 
mense. Nearly a quarter of a million of men, strangers from various parts 
of the world, had been suddenly thrown into this new land, and scattered 
among the newly established towns and over the different mining districts. 
The institutions of law, in but a forming state, failed to give adequate pro- 
tection. Among the inhabitants were a large number of criminals and vile 
men from various countries. The most numerous and daring class of des- 
peradoes were the convicted felons of the English penal colonies, who. having 
"served their time," early contrived to sail for California. These "Sydney 
coves," as they were called, reaped a rich harvest in California, and for a 
while it seemed impossible to check their crimes. 

Around Clark's Point and vicinity, in San Francisco, was the rendezvous of 
these villains. " Low drinking and dancing houses, lodging and gambling houses 
of the same mean class, the constant scenes of lewdness, drunkenness and strife, 
abounded in the quarter mentioned. The daily and nightly occupants of these 
vile abodes had every one, more or less, been addicted to crime ; and many of them 
were at all times ready, for the most trifling consideration, to kill a man or fire a 
town. During the early hours of night, when the Alsatia was in revel, it was dan- 
gerous in the highest degree for a single person to venture within its bounds. Even 
the police hardly dared to enter there ; and if they attempted to apprehend some 
known individuals, it was always in a numerous, strongly-armed company. Seldom, 
however, were arrests made. The lawless inhabitants of the place united to save 
their luckless brothers, and generally managed to drive the assailants away. When 
the different fires took place in San Francisco, bands of plunderers issued from 
this great haunt of dissipation, to help themselves to whatever money or valuables 
lay in their way, or which they could possibly secure. With these they retreated 
to their dens, and defied detection or apprehension. Fire, however, was only one 
means of attaining their ends. The most daring burglaries were committed, and 
houses and persons rifled of their valuables. Where resistance was made, the 
bowie-knife or the revolver settled matters, and left the robber unmolested. Midnight 
assaults, ending in murder, were common. And not only were these deeds perpe- 
trated under the shade of night; but even in daylight, in the highways and byways' 
of tlie country, in the streets of the town, in crowded bars, gambling saloons and 
lodging houses, crimes of an equalh^ glaring character were of constant occurrence 
People at that period generally carried during all hours, and wherever they hap- 



664 



CALIFORNIA. 



pened to be, loaded firearms about their persons; but these weapons availed noth 
Jnir against the sudden stroke of the 'slung shot,' the plunge and rip of the knife, 
or the secret aiming of the pistol. No decent man was in safety to walk the streets 
after dark; while at all hours, both of night and day, his property was jeopardized 
by incendiarism and burglary. 

All this while, the law, whose supposed 'majesty' is so awful in other countries, 
was here only a matter for ridicule. The police were few in number, and poorly 

as well as irregularly paid. 
Some of them were in league 
with the criminals themselves, 
and assisted these at all times 
to elude justice. Subsequent 
confessions of criminals on the 
eve of execution, implicated a 
considerable number of people 
in various high and low de- 
partments of the executive. 
Bail was readily accepted in 
the most serious cases, where 
the security tendered was ab- 
solutely worthless; and where, 
Avhenever necessary, both prin- 
cipal and cautioner quietly dis- 
appeared. The prisons like- 
wise were small and insecure; 
and though tilled to overflow- 
ing, could no longer contain 
the crowds of apprehended 
oflenders. When these were 
ultimately brought to trial, sel- 
dom could a conviction be ob- 
tained. From technical errors 
on the part of the prosecutors, 
laws ill understood and worse 
applied, false swearing of the 
witnesses for the prisoners, ab- 
sence often of the chief evi- 
dence for the prosecution, dis- 
honesty of jurors, incapacity, 
weakness, or venality of the 
judge, and from many other 
causes, the cases generally 
broke down and the prisoners 
were freed. Not one criminal 
had yet been executed. Yet it was notorious, that, at this period, at least one hun 
dred murders had been committed within the space of a few months; while innu- 
merable were the instances of arson, and of theft, robbery, burglary, and assault 
with intent to kill. It was evident that the offenders defied and laughed at all the 
puny efforts of the authorities to control them. The tedious processes of legal 
tribunals had no terrors for them. As yet everything had been pleasant and safe, 
and they saw no reason why it should not always be so. San Francisco had just 
been destroyed, a fifth time, by conflagration. The cities of Stockton and Nevada 
had likewise shared the same fate. That part of it was the doing of incendiaries 
no one doubted ; and too, no one doubted but that this terrible state of things 
would continue, and grow worse until a new and very different executive from the 
legally constituted one should rise up in vengeance against those pests that worried 
and preyed upon the vitals of society. It was at this fearful time that the Vigil- 
ance Committee was organized." 

This was in June, 1851, at which time the association organized " for the protection 
of the lives and property of the citizens and residents of the city of can Fran- 




Hanging of Whittakeb and McKenzie, 
By the San Francisco Vigilance Committee. 



CALIFORNIA. 665 

CISCO." They formed a constitution and selected a room in which to hold their 
meetings, which were entirely secret. The first person they arrested was John 
Jenkins, a notorious " Sydney cove." He was seized for stealing a safe on the 10th 
of June'. About 10 o'clock that night, the signal for calling the members was 
given— the tolling of the bell of the Monumental Engine Company. Shortly after- 
ward about 80 members of the committee hurried to the appointed place, and giv- 
ing the secret password were admitted. For two long hours the committee closely 
examined the evidence and found him guilty. "At midnight the bell was tolled, as 
sentence of death by hanging was passed upon the wretched man. The solemn 
sounds at that unusual hour filled the anxious crowds with awe. The condemned 
at this time was asked if he had anything to say for himself, when he answered: 
' No, I have nothing to say, only 1 wish to have a cigar." This was handed to 
him, and afterward,\at his request, a little brandy and water. He was perfectly 
cool, and seemingly careless, confidently expecting, it was believed, a rescue, up to 
the last moment. 

A little before one o'clock, Mr. S. Brannan came out of the committee rooms, 
and ascending a mound of sand to the east of the Rassette House, addressed the 
people. He had been deputed, he said, by the committee, to inform them that the 
prisoner's case had been fiiirly tried, that he had been proved guilt.y, and was con- 
demned to be hanged; and that the sentence would be executed within one hour 
upon the plaza. He then asked the people if they approved of the action of the 
committee, when great shouts of Ay! Ay I burst forth, mingled with a few cries 
of No ! In the interval a clergyman had been sent for, who administered the last 
consolations of religion to the condemned. 

Shortly before two o'clock, the committee issued from the building, bearing tho 
prisoner (who had his arms tightly pinioned) along with them. The committee 
were all armed, and closely clustered around the culprit to prevent any possible 
chiince of rescue. A procession was formed ; and the whole party, followed by 
the crowd, proceeded to the plaza, to the south end of the adobe building, which 
then stood on the north-west corner. The opposite end of the rope which was 
already about the neck of the victim was hastily thrown over a projecting beam. 
Some of the authorities attempted at this stage of afi"airs to interfere, but their 
efforts were unavailing. They were civilly desired to stand back, and not delay 
what was still to be done. The crowd, which numbered upward of a thousand, 
Avere perfectly quiescent, or only applauded by look, gesture, and subdued voice 
tlie action of the committee. Before the prisoner had reached the building, a score 
of persons seized the loose end of the rope and ran backward, dragging the wretch 
along the ground and raising him to the beam. Thus they held him till he was 
dead. Nor did they let the body go until same hours afterward, new volunteers 
relieving those who were tired holding the rope. Little noise or confusion took 
place. "Muttered whispers among the spectators guided their movements or be- 
traved their feelings. The prisoner had not spoken a word, either upon the march 
or during the rapid preparations for his execution. At the end he was perhaps 
strung up almost before he was aware of what was so immediately coming. He 
was a strong-built, healthy man, and his struggles, when hanging, were very vio- 
lent for a few minutes." 

The next execution which took place was about a month later, that of James 
Stuart. He was an Englishman, who had been transported to Australia for forgery. 
On leaving it, he wandered in various parts of the Facific until he reached Cali- 
fornia, where he was supposed to have committed more murders and other desper- 
ate crimes than any other villain in the country. Before his death he acknowl- 
edged the justice of his punishment. He was hung July 11th, from a derrick at 
the end of Market-street wharf, in the presence of assembled thousands. 

One more month rolled round, and the committee again exercised their duties 
upon the persons of Samuel Whittaker and Robert McKenzie, who were guilty of 
robbery, murder and arson, and on trial confessed these crimes. The sherifi^ and 
his pos'se with a writ of habeas corpus, took these men from the hands of the com- 
mittee and confined them in jail. The latter, fearful that the rascals would escape 
throui'h the quibbles of the law, prepared for the rescue. 

"About half past two o'clock," says the Amnals of San Francisco, on the attei^ 



666 



CALIFORNIA. 



noon of Sunday, the 24th of Auf^ust, an armed party, consisting of thirty-six 
menihevs (»f the Vigilance Committee, forcibly broke into the jail, at a time when 
the Rev. Mr. Williams happened to be engaged at devotional exercises with the 
prisoners, among whom were Whittaker and McKenzie. The slight defense of 
the jailers and guards was of no avail. The persons named were seized, and 
hurried to and placed within a coach, that had been kept in readiness a few steps 
from the prison. The carriage instantly was driven off at full speed, and nearly 
at the same moment the ominous bell of the Monumental Engine Company rapidly 
and loudly tolled for the immediate assemblage of the committee and the knell 
itself of the doomed. The whole population leaped with excitement at the sound; 
and immense crowds from the remotest quarter hurried to Battery-street. 'J'here 
blocks, with the necessary tackle, had been hastily fastened to two beams which 
projected over the windows of the great hall of the committee. Within seventeen 
minutes after the arrival of the prisoners, they were both dangling by the neck 
from these beams. The loose extremities of the halters being taken within the 
building itself and forcibly held by members of the committee. Full six thousand 
people were present, who kept an awful silence during the short time these prepa- 
rations lasted. But so soon as the wretches were swung off, one tremendous shout 
of satisfaction burst from the excited multitude; and then there was silence 
again. 

This was the last time, for years, that the committee took or found occasion to 
exercise their functions. Henceforward the administration of justice might be 
safely left in the hands of the usual officials. The city now was pretty well 
cleansed of crime. The fate of Jenkins, »Stuart, Whittaker and McKenzie showed 
that rogues and roguery, of whatever kind, could no longer expect to find a safe 
lurking-place in San Francisco. Many of the suspected, and such as were warned 
off by tlie committee, had departed, and gone, some to other lands, and some into 
the mining regions and towns of the interior. Those, however, who still clung to 
California, found no refuge anywhere in the state. Previously, different cases of 
Ivnch law had occurred in the gold districts, but these were solitary instances 
which had been caused by the atrocity of particular crimes. When, however, the 
Vigilance Committee of San Francisco had started up, fully organized, and began 
their great work, Sacramento, Stockton, San Jose, as well as other towns and the 
more thickly peopled mining quarters, likewise formed their committees of vigil- 
ance and safety, and pounced upon all the rascals within their bounds. These 
associations interchanged information with each other as to the movements of the 
suspected; and all, with the hundred eyes of an Argus and the hundred arms of 
a Briareus, watched, pursued, harassed, and finally caught the worst desperadoes 
of the country. Like Cain, a murderer and wanderer, as most of them M'ere, they 
bore a mark on the brow, by which they were known. Some were handed at 
various places, some were lashed and branded, but the greater number were simply 
ordered to leave the country, within a limited time, under penalty of immediate 
death if found after a stated period within its limits. Justice was no longer blind 
or leaden-heeled. With the perseverance and speed of a bloodhound, she tracked 
criminals to their lair, and smote them where they lay. For a long time afterward, 
the whole of California remained comparatively free from outrages against person 
and property. 

From all the evidence that can be obtained, it is not supposed that a single in- 
stance occurred in which a really innocent man suffered the extreme penalty of 
death. Those who were executed generally confessed their guilt, and admitted 
the punishment to have been merited." 



San Francisco, in common with all of the American cities in California, 
has suffered terribly from tremendous conflagrations. The towns wlaen first 
founded were composed mostly of frail wooden tenements, intermingled with 
tents, which in the dry season became like tinder, so that when a fire broke out 
and got headway it was impossible to arrest it. San Francisco, Sacramento 
City, Stockton, and other places were several times successively destroyed. 



CALIFORNIA. qq^ 

No sooner, however, was the work of destruction completed, than the inliab- 
itants rushed forth like so many bees, and dashing aside the smoking embers, 
went to work to build new habitations; when lo ! in a twinkling, a fairer 
city would arise, as it were by maaic, on the ashes of the old, called forth 
by the matchless energy and fertility of invention of the most extraordinary, 
wonder-working body of men that had ever been gathered to found a state — ■ 
the adventurous and enterprising of every clime, self-exiles, driven thither 
by the eager thirst for gold. 

Before midsummer of 1851, San Francisco had been visited by six " o;reat ' 
fires, most of them the work of incendiaries. By them nearly all the old land 
marks and buildings of Yerba Buena had been obliterated, and the total value of 
property destroyed amounted to about twenty millions. The most destructive was 
that of the 4th May, 1851, when, in the short space of ten hours, nearly 2,000 
houses were destroyed, many lives, and property to the amount of from ten to 
twelve millions. 

"A considerable number of buildings, which were supposed fire-proof, had been 
erected in the course of the preceding year, the solid walls of which, it was thought, 
would afford protection from the indefinite spreading of the flames, when fire 
should unhappily break out in any particular building. But all calculations and 
hopes on this subject were mocked and broken. The brick walls that had been so 
confidently relied upon, crumbled in pieces before the furious flames; the thick 
iron shutters grew red hot and w.irped, and only increased the danger and insured 
final destruction to everything within them. Men went for shelter into these 
fancied fire-proof brick and iron bound structui-es, and when they sought to come 
forth a<;ain, to escape the heated air that was destroying them as by a close fire, 
they found, O horror! that the metal shutters and doors had expanded by the heat, 
and could not be opened! So, in these huge, sealed furnaces, several perished 

miseraljiy i^an Francisco had never before suffered so severe a blow, 

and doubts were entertained by the ignorant that she could possibly recover from 
its effects. Such doubts were vain. The hay was still there, and the people were 
also there ; the placers of the state were not yet exhausted, and its soil was as 
fertile and inviting as evei-. The frightful calamity, no doubt, would retard the 
triumphant progress of the city — but only for a time. The citizens of San Fran- 
cisco were content only to curse and vow vengeance on the incendiaries that 
kindled the fire, and resolved to be better prepared in future to resist its spreading 
ravages. After the first short burst of sorrow, the ruined inhabitants, many of 
whom had been burnt out time after time by the successive fires, began again, like 
the often persecuted spider with its new web, to create still another town and 
another fortune." 

The city of San Francisco being at first a city of strangers, the post-office, 
on the arrival of the monthly steamer from the Atlantic states was the 
scene of exhibitions of an interesting character from the assembled multi- 
tudes that gathered for letters, most from loved ones at home, thousands of 
miles away. 

At a distance they looked like a mob; but, on approaching, one would find that 
though closely packed together, the people were all in six strings, the head of each 
being at a delivery window, from whence the lines twisted up and doAvn in all di- 
rections, extending along the streets to a great distance, the new comers being at 
the end of the line. So anxious were many to receive their epistles that they 
posted themselves in the evening of one day to be early at the window on the 
morning of the next, standing all night in the mud, often with a heavy rain pour- 
ing on their heads. " Hours always elapsed before one's turn came. To save such 
delay, sometimes people would employ and handsomely pay others to preserve places 
for them, which they would occupy, in room of their assistants, when they were 
approaching the loop-holes where the delivery clerks stood. Ten and twenty tlol- 
lars were often paid for accommodation in this way. Some of these eager appli- 
oants had not heard from their far distant homes for many long months, and their 



668 



CALIFORNIA. 



anxious solicitude was even painful. It was therefore exceedingly distressing to 
mark the despondency with which many would turn away upon hearing from the 
delivery clerks the oft-repeated and much-dreaded sentence, ' there is nothing hero 
for you.' On the other hand, it was equally pleasing to observe the cheerful and 
triumphant smile, not unfrequently accompanied with a loud exclamation of joy, 
that would light up the countenance of the successful applicant, who hastens from 
the window, and as soon as he can force a passage through the crowd, tears open 
and commences to read the more than welcome letter, every word of which awakens 
in his mind some tender reminiscence." 



Sacramento City is the second city in commerce and population in Cal- 
ifornia. It is on the left bank of the Sacramento, a little below the mouth 
of the American, in the midst of a level and fertile country : distance, by 
water, 140 miles N.E. of San Francisco. It has great advantages as a cen- 
ter of commerce, being accessible for sailing vessels and steamers of a large 
size at all seasons : both the Sacramento and its important branch, the 
Feather River, is navigable for small steamers far above into the interior of 
the country. It is the natural trading depot for all the great mining region 
of the north Sacramento valley. The site being low, the city has suffered 
in its early history by disastrous floods in the rainy season : it is now pro- 
tected by levees. Population about 30,000. 

The site of Sacramento City was originally in possession of Capt. John 
A. Sutter, a Swiss gentleman, who established himself in the country in 
1839. and soon after built '"Sutter's Fort," taking possession of the surround- 
ing country under a Mexican grant, giving to it the name of New Helvetia. 
"From this point he cut a road to the junction of Sacramento and Ameri- 
can Elvers, where he established an embarcadero (quay, or landing place), 
on the site of which has since been built the City of Sacramento. Here he 
renained for several years, his settlement being the head-quarters of the 
immigrants, who, following his example, poured into the country from the 
American states." 

Coloma is about 50 miles N.E. of Sacramento City, on the left bank of the 
South Fork of American River. It contains some 4,000 inhabitants. 

In the winter of 1847-48, Capt. Sutter contracted with Mr. James W. 
Marshall, an emigrant from New Jersey, to erect a saw mill on the river near 
the site of Coloma. This accidentally led to the discovery of gold, which at 
once changed the history of California. " Marshall one day in January, 
having allowed the whole body of water to rush through the tail-race of the 
mill for the purpose of making some alterations in it, observed, while walk- 
ing along the banks of the stream early the next morning, numerous glisten- 
ing particles among the sand and gravel, which had been carried off by the 
force of the increased body of water. For a while he paid no particular at- 
tention to them, but seeing one larger and brighter than the rest, he was in- 
duced to examine it, and found it to be a scale of gold. Collecting several, 
he immediately hurried to Sutter, and began his tale in such a hurried man- 
ner, and accompanied it with such extravagant promises of unbounded wealth, 
that the captain thought him demented, and looked to his rifle for protec- 
tion; but when Marshall threw his gold upon the table, he was forced into 
the delightful conviction. They determined to keep the discovery a secret, 
but were observed while examining the river, and soon had immense armies 
around them." 

The neighborhood literally overflowed with the busy gold hunters, and 



CALIFORNIA. 



669 



from thence they rapidly extended to the different gold districts, so that by 
midsummer they amounted to many thousands. At first the general gains 
of the miners, though great, were nothing to what was shortly after col- 
lected. The average was usually from ten to fifteen dollars per day. Some 
met with extraordinary success. 

" Well authenticated accounts described many known persona as averaging from 
one to two hundred dollars a day for a long period. Numerous others were said 

to be earning from five to 
eight hundred dollars a day. 
A piece of four pounds in 
weight was early found. 
If, indeed, in many cases, 
a man with a pick and pan 
did not easily gather some 
thirty or forty dollars worth 
of dust in a single day, he 
just moved off to some 
other place which he sup- 
posed might be richer. 
When the miners knew a 
little better about the busi- 
ness and the mode of turn- 
ing their labor to the most 
profitable account, the re- 
turns were correspondingly 
increased. At what were 
called the 'dry diggings' 
particularly, the yield of 
gold was enormous. One 
piece of pure metal was 
found of thirteen pounds 
weight. The common in- 
strument at first made use 
of was a simple butcher's 
knife ; and as everything 
was valuable in proportion 
to the demand and supply, 
butchers' knives suddenly 
went up to twenty and 
thirty dollars apiece. But 
afterward the pick and 
shovel were employed. The auriferous earth, dug out of ravines and holes in the 
sides of the mountains, was packed on horses, and carried one, two, or three miles, 
to the nearest water, to be washed. An average price of this washing dirt was, at 
this period, so much as four hundred dollars a cart load. In one instance, five 
loads of such earth sold for seven hundred and fifty-two dollars, which yielded, 
after washing, sixteen thousand dollars. Cases occurred where men carried the 
earth in sacks on their backs to the watering places, and collected eight to fifteen 
hundred dollars in a day, as the proceeds of their labor. Individuals made their 
five thousand, ten thousand, and fifteen thousand dollars in the space of only a 
few weeks. One man dug out twelve thousand dollars in six days. Three others 
obtained eight thousand dollars in a single day. But these, of course, were ex- 
treme cases. Still it w<is undoubtedly true, that a large proportion of the miners 
were earning such sums as they had never even seen in their lives before, and 
which, six months earlier, would have appeared a downright fable. 

'i'lie story has a shady as well as a bright side, and would be incomplete unless 
both were shown. There happened to be a 'sickly season' in the autumn at the 
mines; many of the miners sank under fever and diseases of the bowels. A severe 
kind of labor, to which most had been unaccustomed, a complete change of diet 




."^LiTKit's Mill. 
Where Gold was first discovered. 



670 



CALIFORNIA. 



and habits, insufficient shelter, continued mental exciiement, and the excesses in 
personal amusement and dissipation which golden gains induceil, added to the nat- 
ural unhealthiness that might have existed in the district at different periods of 
the year, soon introduced "sore bodily troubles upon many of the mining popula- 
tion. No gains could compensate a dying 
man for the fatal sickness engendered by 
his own avaricious exertions. In the 
wild race for riches, the invalid was neg- 
lected by old comrades still in rude health 
and the riotous enjoyment of all the 
pleasures that gold and the hope of con- 
tinually adding to their store could be- 
stow. When that was the case with old 
companions, it could not be expected that 
strangers should care whether the sick 
man lived or died. Who forsooth among 
the busy throng would trouble himself 
with the feeble miner that had miscalcu- 
lated his energies, and lay dying on the 
earthen floor of his tent or under the pro- 
tecting liranch of a tree ? Many, not so 
3 far reduced, were compelled to return to 
^ their old homes, the living spectres of 
I their former selves, broken in constitu- 
5 tion and wearied in spirit; thoroughly 
I satisfied that the diggings were not lit 
" abiding places for them. 
I The implements at first used in the 
' process of gold seeking, were only the 
J common pick and shovel, and a tin pan 
5 or wooden bowl. The auriferous earth 
5 when (lug out was put into the last, and 
i water being mixed with it, the contents 
J were violently stirred. A peculiar shake 
of the hand or wrist, best understood and 
learned by practice, threw occasionally 
over the edge of the pan or bowl the 
muddv water and earthy particles, while 
the metal, being heavier, sunk to the bot- 
tom. Repeated washings of this nature, 
assisted by breaking the hard pieces of 
earth with the hand or a trowel, soon ex- 
tricated the gold from its covering and 
carried away all the dirt. But if even 
these simple implements were not to be 
had, a sailor's or butcher's knife, or even 
a sharpened hard-pointed stick could pick 
out the larger specimens — the pepiias, 
chunks, or vvggets, of different miners — 
while the finer scales of gold could be 
washed from the covering earth in Indian 
willow-woven baskets, clay cups, old hats, or any rude apology for a dish; or the 
dried sand could be exposed on canvas to the wind, or diligently blown by the 
breath until nothing was left but the particles of pure gold that were too heavy to 
be carried away by these operations. Afterward the rocker or cradle and Long 
Tom were introduced, which required several hands to feed and work them ; and 
the returns by which were correspondingly great. Every machine, however, was 
worked on the same principle, by rocking or washing, of sef.arating by the me- 
chanical means of gravitation, the heavier particles— the gold from stones, and the 
lighter ones of earth. 




CALIFORNIA. 



671 



Provisions and necessaries, as might have been expected, soon rose in price 
enormously. At first the rise was moderate indeed, four hundred per cent, for flour, 
five hundred for beef cattle, while other things were in proportion. But tliese 
were trifles. The time soon came when eggs were sold at one, two, and three dol- 
lars apiece ; inferior sugar, tea, and coffee, at four dollars a pound in small quan- 
tities, or three or four hundred dollars a barrel; medicines — say, for laudanum, a 
dollar a drop (actually forty dollars were paid for a dose of that quantity), and ten 
dollars a pill or purge, without advice, or with it, from thirty, up, aye, to one hun- 
dred dollars. Spirits were sold at various prices, from ten to forty dollars a quart; 
and wines at about as much per bottle." 

Among the modes of mining early adopted was one termed " cayoteing," or drift- 
ing. The word is derived from cayote, the name applied to the prairie wolf, and 
as used, means burrowing, after the manner of that animal. Cayoeting was only 
necessary in those cases where the gold by its superior weight had sunk through 
the surface earth, until it had reached the layer of clay on the bed rock, often 
many fathoms from the top. Having reached by a shaft the "hard pan," the miner 
then ran passages horizontally in search of the gold, taking care to prop up the 
roofs of these passages. Often, however, these have slowly yielded under the im- 
mense masses above, and buried the gold hunter beyond all human resurrection. 
Cayoteing has been superseded by tunneling. Tunnels are run into the sides of 
mountains, following the uneven surface of the bed rock. Some of these are a 
quarter of a mile or more in length and involve an immense labor and expense. 
From them the "pay dirt" is carried out of the mine in carts drawn by mules over 
railroads. 

The old mining localities of California, the flats and bars of rivers, are now 
pretty much exhausted, and there is very little of the old modes of mining fol- 
lowed, excepting by the Chinese, who, content with small earnings, take up the 
abandoned claims. Tunneling, quarts, sluice, and hydraulic mining are now the 
means by which the larger part of the gold is obtained. Through the improvements 
in machinery and contrivances for saving the gold, the yield is constantly aug- 
menting, and as the gold region of California comprises a tract about as large aa 
all New England, it is presumed that the state for 100 years to come will continue 
to yield at least as much as since the first discovery — viz : fifty millions per 
annum. 

The most efficient mode of operation is hydraulic mining. A heavy current of 
water is poured from a hose and pipe, precisely on the principle of a fire engine, 
npon a side hill. For instance, " at North San Juan, near the middle fork of the 
yuba, streams at least three inches in diameter, and probably containing twenty 
measured inches of water, are directed against the remaining half of a high hill, 
which they strike with such force that bowlders of the size of cannon balls are 
started from their beds and hurled five to ten feet in the air. By this process, one 
man will wash away a bank of earth like a haystack sooner than a hundred men 
could do it by old-fashioned sluicing. Earth yielding a bare cent's worth to the 
pan may be profitably washed by this process, paying a reasonable price for the 
water. As much as $100 per day is profitably paid for the water thrown through 
one pipe. The stream thus thrown will knock a man as lifeless as though it were 
a grape-shot. As the bank, over a hundred feet high, is undermined by this bat- 
tery, it frequently caves from the top downward, reaching and burying the careless 
operator. Very long sluices — as long as may be — conduct the discharged water 
away ; and it is no matter how thick with earth the water may run, provided the 
sluice be long enough. It is of course so arranged as to present riffles, crevices, 
etc., to arrest the gold at first borne along by the turbid flood. There are compa- 
nies operating by this method whose gross receipts from a single sluice have 
reached a thousand dollars per day." 

"In California the whole art of placer-mining was revolutionized by this hy- 
draulic process, and the production of gold received a fresh and lasting iinjiulse. 
Square miles of surface on the hills, rich in gold, which have lain untouched, now 
yield up their treasure to the hydraulic miner. In that region, where labor can 
scarcely be obtained, and is so costly, water becomes the great substitute for it, 
and, as we have seen, is more effective and economical in its action that tiie labor 



672 



CALIFORNIA. 




Htsbaulic Mining. 



of men. Every inch of water which can be brought to bear upon a placer is valued 
as the representative, or producer, of a certain amount of gold. Wherever it falls 
upon the auriferous earth it liberates the precious metal, and if the gold is uni- 
formly distributed through the earth, the amount produced is directly as the 

quantity of water used. As a la- 
bor saving process, the results of 
this method compare favorably 
with those obtained by machinery 
in the various departments of hu- 
man industry, where manual la- 
bor has been superseded. 

It is stated that at the close of 
the year 1858 there were 5,726 
miles of artificial water-courses 
for mining purposes in the state 
of California, constructed at a 
cost of over 13 millions of dollars. 
This estimate is exclusive of sev- 
eral hundred miles of new canals 
in course of construction, and of 
the many subordinate branches 
of the canals, the aggregate length 
of which is estimated at over one 
thousand miles. Most of the canals 
have been constructed by individ- 
uals, or small companies of from 
three to ten persons, but the works 
compare in their magnitude and 
cost with the most important pub- 
lic works. 

A vast deal of this canaling is over the most wild, rocky, and precipitous coun- 
try ; jumping over awful chasms, and plunging down fearful abysses; trestle work, 
story piled upon story, and wooden fluming zigzagged at every angle (rough as yet, 
truly, but with strength adequate to its purpose), may be seen winding for miles 
and miles its tortuous course, leading mountain streams far away from their native 
channels, and giving to the driest diggings water superabundant. The waterfall 
at the end is generally very great, and it is turned to curious account. 

Next to the hydraulic process of hose-washing, the most important application 
of water in placer mining is in sluicing. The sluice is a long channel or raceway, 
cut either in the surface of the bed rock or made of boards. The former is known 
as the ground-sluice, and the latter as the hoard-sluice. The ground sluice is cut 
in the softened surface or outcrop of the bed-rocks, which are generally of slate, 
presenting upturned edges like the leaves of a book. In the softened mica slates 
this resemblance is very great, and the surface is highly favorable to the retention 
of particles of gold. It is easily cleaned up, as one or two inches in depth of the 
surface may usually be scraped off with the shovel. The board-sluice is generally 
twelve or fifteen inches in width, and from eight to ten inches deep, and is made in 
convenient lengths, so that one can be added to another, until a length of two or 
three hundred feet or more is obtained. False bottoms of boards are often used 
to facilitate the retention of the gold, while the stones and gravel are swept away 
by the rapid flow of the water. Long bars or rifflers are generally preferred to 
cross cleats or holes. The fall or rate of descent of the bottom of the sluice is 
varied according to circumstances, being arranged to suit the size of the gold and 
the nature of the drift. One or two feet in a rod, or one foot in twelve, is a com- 
mon inclination, and with a good supply of water will cause stones several inches 
in diameter to roll from one end of the sluice to the other. The earth, stones and 
gold as they enter these sluices with the water, are all mingled together, but the 
current soon effects a separation; the lighter portions are swept on in advance, and 
the gold remains behind, moving slowly forward on the bottom until it drops down, 
between the cleats or bars. The larger stones and coarse gravel are swept on by 



CALIFORNIA. 



G73 



the current and after traversing the whole length of the sluice, are thrown c.ut at 
he fower end The operation^as in the hydraulic or hose process, ^ith wh.ch e 

^:^:..,s cou.>iLd, is ^ -tnuL^^oi^Td^^rr irsr^i^cimK 
^srr^;^hVs:^:s.s^^:s^o.e.^ 

vantage in the sluice as uiuler 
pressure. It has this advantage, 
that the auriferous earth may be 
washed as high up as the source 
of supply. The process is a close 
imitation of the operations of na- 
ture in concentrating gold in the 
deposits along the streams." 

Quartz mining is the reduc- 
tion to powder of the vein 
stone, which contains the 
iiold, which is extracted from the 
pdwder by means of water, quick- 
silver, etc. There are so many 
practical difficulties in the way 
that it is very rarely attended with 
success, as the expenses eat up 
tiie profits, the gold not usually 
averaic'iis: more than one cent in 
a pound of rock. The quartz 
works at Allison's Ranche, in 
(Jrass Valley, and those at Fre- 
mont's Ranche, in Bear Valley, 
are worked to great profit. Col. 
Fremont's mines produce gold to 
the value of several hundred thousand dollars per annum, though at an immense 
!i I. rv.;ilV vv.,tPrworks etc His -Teat mine, it is supposed, contains 10 mil- 
ron:'o iXi ;wr:ft.lf above The water level, of the Merced, from near 
Xich it Hses up a pyramid of gold-bearing quartz, inclosed in a mountain of 
slate. 




Fremont's Rancue. 



3Iarysv!Ue, the chief town of northern California, is located at the junc- 
tion of the Yuba and Feather Rivers, just above their union with the bacra- 
mento, about 40 miles north of Sacramento City. It is a well built town 
principally of brick, and at the head of navigation in the direction of the 
northern mines. The country around it is of great fertility, and the town 
itself rapidly growing. Population about 16,000. 

In the vicinity of Marysville, and easterly, toward the slopes of the Sierra 
Nevada, are the important mining towns of ^oada, C^rass VaUey Auburn, 
pTacerviUe, DianJ.J, Mera Springs. North of it, near the north line of the 
state, are the little thriving towns of Shasta City and Fr./ca the former de- 
.ivin<^ its name from Mount Shasta, in its vicinity, at the head of Sacramento 
valley, the highest mountain in California, a vast cone of snow rising to the 
hight'of 15,000 feet into the blue above. 

'^SfocJcfon disputes with Marysville the reputation of being the third city ii: 
importance in the state: and is the depot for the southern mines. It is sit- 
uated on a bayou of Sau Joaquin, at tlie head of regular steamboat navma- 
Umi and is -18 miles south ot' Sacramento City, and by water 12o miles east 
ot San Francisco. The channel is navigable for steamboats and vessels ot 
43 



g74 CALIFORNIA. 

400 tuns, affording at all seasons ready communication with the Pacific, and 
the town has an extensive carrying trade. Here is the State Insane Asylum, 
a cabinet of natural history, and an Artesian well of 1,000 feet in depth. 
Stockton has some fine fruit gardens, and the foliage of these, together with 
an abundance of wide spreading oaks, gives the place a grateful aspect. 
Population about 16,000. 

Sonora, the most important mining town in the southern mines, lies 130 
miles east of San Francisco, and about 60 east of Stockton, and contains 
some 4,000 inhabitants. North-westerly from it are the mining towns of 
Mokehtmne Hill, Cohnnhia, and Miirpheys. At the former is a noted mining 
canal of 40 miles in length. Within 15 miles of the latter, 86 from Stock- 
ton, and 213 from San Francisco, is the fjimous "Mammoth Tree Grove." 
A late visitor gives this description : 

The " Big Tree Grove " occupies a space of about fifty acres, other evergreen treea 
being interspersed among them. The ground is "claimed" by the owners of the 
hotel, to whom it will pi-ove a pretty fortune. It occupies a level plateau in the 
yierra Mountains, and is elevated 4,500 feet above tide water. The mammoth trees 
are of a species unknown except in California. 

The bark is very porous, so that it is used for pincushions. It is on some of the 
trees nearly two feet thick! The foliage is of a deep green, like that of the arbor 
vitae, and the seeds are contained in a small cone. The wood is of a red color, like 
the cedar, and somewhat like the redwood of California. Still the tree differs from 
all these essentially. It is estimated by calculations based on the rings or layers 
which indicate the annual growth, that the largest of these trees are more than 
three thousand years old ! A correspondent of the London Times made one, of the 
wood and bark of Avhich he had a specimen, six thousand four hundred and eight 
years old. They are no doubt " the oldest inhabitants " of the state. A path has 
been made through the grove, leading by the most notable specimens, and each has 
been named, and has a label of wood or tin attached, on which is inscribed its 
name and size. In several cases, beautiful white mai-ble tablets, with raised let- 
ters, have been let into the bark. There are, in all, ninety four of these monster 
trees, with multitudes of others from a foot high and upward. 

Near the house is the stump of a tree that "was felled in 1853 by the vandals. 
The stump is seven feet high, and measures in diameter, at the top, thirty feet. I 
paced it, and counted thirty paces across it. A canvas house has been erected ovei 
and around it, and a floor laid on the same level adjoining, and here dances are 
often had upon the stump, whose top has been smoothed for the purpose. Four 
quadrilles have been performed at once upon it, and the Alleghanians once gave a 
concert to about fifty persons here, performers and audience all occupying the 
stump. A portion of the trunk lies on the ground, divested of bark, and steps, 
twenty-six in number, have been erected, as nearly perpendicular as possible, bv 
which visitors ascend its side as it lies upon the ground. The vandals had a hard 
job when they cut down this giant. It was accomplished by boring a series of 
holes with a large auger to the center and completely round it, the holes being of 
course fifteen feet deep each. Five men worked steadily for 25 days ; and then 
80 plumb was the tree that it would not fall. After trying various means to topple 
it over, at length they cut a large tree near it so that it should fall against it, but 
still it stood. A second attempt with another tree was successful, and it was forced 
over, and fell with a crash which made everything tremble, and which reverberated 
far and near through the mountains and forests. The solid trunk snapped in sev- 
eral places like a pipe-stem. The top of the stump is as large as the space length- 
vise between the walls of two parlors, with folding doors, of fifteen feet each. 
Imagine the side walls spread apart to double their width, and then the stump 
would fill all the space I But at the roots, seven feet lower, it is much larger. 

" Hercules" is the largest perfect standing tree, and it has been computed to 
contain seven hundred and twenty-five thousand feet of lumber, or enough to load 
a large clipper ship. It leans remarkably toward one side, so that the top is from 



CALIFORNIA. 675 

forty to fifty feet out of the perpendicular. It should have been named "The 
i^eaniug Tower." It is thirty-three feet between two roots that enter the ground 
Dear opposite sides of the trunk. 




Mammoth Th-ee Grove, in the Valley of the Calaveras. 

The trees are evergreens and ninety -four of them are yet standing, many of which rise to more tlwir 
300 feet in hight. One, which lias blown down, measured 110 feet in circumference, and was J .nO hipli 
Another, which had fallen and is hollow, is ridden through on horseback for 75 feet. Some of tl^nin ure 
estimated to be more than 3,000 years old. The bark is nearly two feet thick, and being porous is \\^m\ t<.i- 
pincushions. 

"The Husband and Wife" seem very affectionate, leaninf; toward eacli otluT'i^', 
that their tops touch. They are two hundred and fifty feet hidi, and sixty en<h in 
circumference. "The Family Group" consists of two very larfre trees, the father 
and mother, with a family of groifniip children, twenty-four in number, fironnd 
them, all large enough to be of age and to speak for themselves ! The fatlier blew 
down many years ago, having become feeble from old age. The trunk is hollow as 
it lies upon the ground, and would accommodate half a regiment with quarters 



676 CALIFORNIA. 

The circumference is one hundred and ten feet, or upward of thirty-three diame- 
ter! Its hight was four hundred and fifty feet, as great as that of the dome of St. 
Peter's at Kome! Near what was the base of the trunk, and within the cavity, 
there is now a never-failing pond of water, fed by a spring. Nearly half the trunk 
is embedded in the ground. The mother still stands amid her children and little 
grandchildren. She 327 feet high, 91 feet in circumference — a stately old dame ! 

" The Horseback Ride " is an old hollow tree fallen and broken in two. I rode through 
the trunk a distance of 75 feet on horseback, with a good sized horse, as did my wife also. 
" Uncle Tom's Cabin " is hollow for some distance above the base, and 25 persons can 
seat themselves in the space. 

" The Mother of the Forest " is 90 feet round, and 328 feet high. To the hight of 116 
feet the bark has been taken off by some speculators, who carried it in sections to Paris, 
for exhibition. The staging on which they worked is still standing around the trunk. But 
so immense was the size indicated, that the Parisians would not believe it was all from 
one tree, and charged the exhibitor with Yankee trickery, and branded the whole thing a 
humbug, and as the result he lost considerable money in his speculation. The tree is now 
dead. 

In one place we saw a small part of the trunk of what was an enormous tree, which had 
fallen probably centuries ago, and become imbedded in the earth, and so long ago did this 
happen, that three very large trees had grown up over its butt so as to inclose it with their 
roots completely. It was ludicrous to see as we did in one place, near one of the largest 
trees, a little one, about two feet high, growing from the seed of the large one, and evi- 
dently starting with high hopes and youthful ambition in the race of life. What a job, 
thought I, Las that little fellow before him to work himself up 300 or 400 feet to reach the 
altitude of his father and uncles and aunts. But we bid him God speed, and I doubt not, 
if he perseveres, he will one day stand as proudly erect as his ancestors, and three thous- 
and years hence he will be an object of as great curiosity and reverence to those who shall 
come after us as " Hercules " is now to us! What will be the condition and population 
of California and of the United States then? 

But, seriously, I think I never was inspired with greater awe by an object on which I 
looked, than I felt when I walked about among these noble and ancient " sons of the for- 
est," or rather patriarchs of the wood. To think that I stood beside and looked up toward 
the towering heads of trees that were standing, or at least had begun their growth, when 
Solomon's Temple was commenced; that were more than a thousand years old when the 
Savior of men trod the soil of Palestine; were ancients at the period of the Crusades! 
One sees in Europe old castles, and looks with reverence upon them as he thinks of their 
hoary antiquity, but these trees were between one thousand and two thousand years old 
when the foundations of the oldest building now standing in Europe were laid. I can 
think of but one thing more awe inspiring, and that is the group of Egyptian pyramids. 

One must actually look upon these objects, however, to realize the impression they 
make. He must study their proportions, calculate their altitude, compare them with otlier 
large trees or lofty objects, and he must do this repeatedly before he can take in the idea. 
It is a universal remark of visitors that the conception of the reality grows upon them 
every time they examine them, and that, at first sight, as in the case of Niagara Falls, 
there is a feeling of disappointment. 

Seeds have been sent to Europe, and scattered over our Union, and trees are growing 
from them in some parts of the United States, but it is doubtful whether in any other soil 
or climate than that of California, they will ever make such a growth as is seen here. 

One thing is remarkable about these trees, viz: that although of such an immense age, 
many of them, yet where they have been unmolested by man and unscathed by fire, they 
still seem sound to the core and vigorous, the foliage is bright and constantly growing, and 
one can not see why they may not live one thousand or two thousand years more. The 
spot where they stand is beautiful. " We enter a dell," says Dr. Bushnell, " quietly lapped 
in the mountains, where the majestic vegetable minarets are crowded, as in some city of 
pilgrimage, there to locJc up, for the first time, in silent awe of the mere life principle." 
There is another grove as remarkable in Mariposa county, and smaller collections of the 
same species elsewhere, but they are not common all over the state. 

Dr. Bushnell's theory of the enormous growths of California, is that the secret lies in 
these things — " First, a soil too deep and rich for any growth to measure it; second, a 
natural under-supply of water or artificial irrigation; next, the settings of fruit are limited. 
And then, as no time is lost in cloudings and rain, and the sun drives on his work unim- 
peded, month by month, the growth is pushed to its utmost limit. But these [enormous 
occasional specimens] are freaks or extravagances of nature — only such as can be equaled 
nowhere else. The big trees depend, in part, on these same contingencies, and partly on 
the remarkable longevity of their species. A ti-ee that is watered without rain, having a 



CALIFORNIA. 



677 



deep vegetable mold in which to stand, and not so much as one hour's umbrella of cloiul 
to fence off the sun for the whole warm season, and a capacity to live witlial for two 
thousand years or more, may as well grow three hundred and fifty or four hundred feet 
high and twenty-five feet in diameter, and show the very center point or pith still sound 
at the age of thirteen hundred [or three thousand] years, as to make any smaller figure." 



Coulfcrsville and Mariposa are mining towns, south-easterly from Stockton. 
Near Mariposa is Fremont's Vein, and 45 miles east of Coultersville is the 
celebrated "Valley of the Yo-hamite," which is pronounced by travelers one 
of the greatest of curiosities. It is a vast gorge in the Sierra, through which 
flows the Merced, a beautiful crystal stream, which rises high up in the 
mountains. 

. . . " Picture to yourself a perpendicular wall of bare granite nearly or 
quite a mile high ! Yet there are some dozen or score of peaks in all, ran<:ing 
from 3,0U0 to 5,000 feet above the valley, and a biscuit tossed from any of tiieni 
would strike very near its base, and its fragments go bounding and falling still 

further No single wonder of Nature on earth can claim a superiority 

<^ver the Yo-hamite. Just dream yourself for one hour in a chasm nearly ten 
oiles long, with egress for birds and water out at either extremity, and none else- 
vhere save at these points, up the face of precipices from 3,000 to 4,000 feet high, 
,he chasm scarcely more than a mile wide at any point, and tapering to a mere 
^orge or canon at either end, with walls of mainly naked and perpendicular white 
granite, from 3,000 to 5,000 feet high, so that looking up to the sky from it is like 
looking out of an unfathomable profound — and you will have some conception of 
the V oh a mite." 

The highest known cataract on the globe is in this valley, the Yo-hamite Fall, 
which tumbles over a perpendicular ledge, 1,S00 feet at one plunge, then taking a 
second plunge of 400, ends by a third leap of 600, making in ail 2,<S()0 feet, or over 
half a mile in descent. The stream beintc small looks, in the distance, more like 
a white ribbon than a cascade. The Merced enters the valley by more imposing 
cataracts of nearly 1,000 feet fall. How many either wonders exist in this strange 
locality remains for farther exploration to unfold. "The valley varies from a quar- 
ter to a mile in width, the bottom level and covered with a luxuriant growth of 
vegetation, grass interspersed with beautiful flowers, and the finest of pines and 
evergreen shrubs, and the pure, clear, sparkling Merced River winding its ways, 
' at its own sweet will,' throuiih the midst. With its two points of egress guarded, 
no human being, once placed here within its rocky mountain walls, could ever hope 
to escape." 

Beside the mountain ranges, with their summits clad with everlasting 
snow, and the beautiful scenery rendered more attractive by the wonderful 
purity of the atmosphere, California possesses many natural curiosities, 
among which are "The Geysers," or hot sulphur springs, of Napa county, 
and the "natural bridges," of Calaveras. 

"The Geysers are from one to nine feet in diameter, and constantly in a boiling 
state, ejecting water to bights of 10 to 15 feet. Hundreds of fissures in the side 
of the mountain emit strong currents of heated gas, with a noise resembling that 
of vapor escaping from ocean steamers. We condense the following from Silli- 
man's Journal, of Nov., 1851, by Professor Forest Hhepard : ' From a hijih peak we 
saw on the W. the Pacific, on the 8. Mount Diablo and San Francisco Bav, on the 
Fi. tiie Sierra Nevada, and on the N. opened at our feet an immense chasm, from 
which, at the distjince of four or five miles, we distinctl}^ saw dense columns of 
steam rising. Descending, we discovered within half a mile square from 100 to 
200 openings, whence issued dense columns of vapor, to the bight of from 150 to 
200 feet, accompanied by a roar which could be heard for a mile or more. Many 
acted spasmodically, throwing up jets of hot, scalding water to the liiuht of 20 or 
30 feet. Beneath your footsteps you hear the lashing and foaming gyrations : and 
on cutting through the surface, are disclosed streams of angry, boiling water.' 



678 



CALIFORNIA. 



Near Vallccita, on Cayote creek, in Calaveras county, is a sh'ikins; display of 
volcanic action, in the shape of what are called the natural hridiies: two immense 
arches, thrown over the above-named creek, and covered with imitations of clus- 
ters of fruits and flowers, doubtless formed when the mass was first upheaved in 
a molten state. In the same vicinity is 'Cayote Cave,' a deep, semicircular chasm, 
entpred hy a perpendicular descent of 100 feet, aud than proceedin<f by a ;:radual 
slope till it reaches a depth of nearly 200 feet below the surface, where j'ou come 
to a chamber called "The Cathedral," from its containing two stones reseml)ling 
'•ells, which, Avhen struck, produce a cliimin;: sound. Proceeding 100 feet fiinlier, 
;d<.vays on the descent, a lake is reached of great depth, and apparently covering 
many acres; but the exploration has not yet been carried beyond this point. The 
roof of the cave is studded with stalactites, assuming various fantastic forms." 

Bcnect'a is 30 miles from San Francisco, on the Straits of Carquinez. 
Vessel.s of the largest class can reach this point, and here the steamers of 
the Pacific Mail Steamship Line are refitted. Vallejo is a few miles nearer 
San Francisco, on the north side of the same straits. Benecia, Vallejo and 
San Jose have been by turns the seat of government of California. San 
Jose is at the head of the San Francisco Bay, some 50 miles from San Fran- 
cisco. It is at the entrance of a most beautiful and fertile valley, and was 
long the headquarters of the native Californians. many of whom owned im- 
mense estates and herds of wild cattle. The celebrated JSfew Almadeu quick- 
silver mine is 12 miles south of the town. 

On the Pacific coast,south of San Francisco, the first important place is 
Moiifcrn/, 90 miles distant. It was, under Mexican rule, the principal com- 
mercial point in, and capital of California. Next in order on the coast are 
>S'(iifa Barbara, Los Angeles and San Diego, the latter 490 miles from San 
Francisco, tlie southernmost povt in the state, and the termination of the 
branch from Texas of the overland mail route. In the rear of Los An- 
geles, at the distance of 80 miles inland, the snow-capped peak of Mount 
M. lleni.irdino is seen. It marks the site of the beautiful valley in which 
is the Mormon settlement of Bernardino. 

On rlie Pacific coast, north of San Francisco, the points of interest are 
Ifuinioldt Ciiy, Trinidad, Klamath, and Crescent City. The latter is the 
se.i-port of the south part of Oregon, being distant only a few miles from 
the southern boundary line of that state. 

Fitrt Vtima is at the south-eastern angle of the state, at the junction of 
t!;e Colorado and Gila Rivers. It was built about the year 1851, by Major 
S. ]*. Heintzelman, U.S.A. 







m 




liiiSM 



NEVADA. 

Nevada was formed into a territory in February, 1861, and was 
taken from Western Utah. It was admitted into the Union as a State 
in October, 1864. Estimated area eighty thousand square miles. The 
eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, inclusive of the famous 
Carson Valley, is within it. Originally it was called "Washoe, from 
Mt. Washoe, a peak over nine thousand feet high, in the vicinity of 
Virginia City. 

Lying along the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada range, the 
country has a very different climate from that of California. ''The 
gigantic wall of the Sierra Nevada, on the California side, receives the 
hot winds that blow from the Pacific Ocean, and fall there in rain 
and snow, leaving the oj^i^osite or eastern declivity exposed to droughts 
and freezing blasts. Consequently you may find, at the same time, 
in the same latitude, and at the same hight, mildness of climate, fer- 
tility, vegetable riches, in fact, summer rejoicing on one side, while 
sterrility, cold and winter exist, with more or less intensity, on the 
opposite slope of these mountains, whose sublime beauty is perhaps 
unequaled throughout the world." 

With the exception of Carson valley and a few small valleys, the whole country 
for hundreds of miles, north, south and east, is, like most mineral regions, a bar- 
ren desert, and of no value but for its minerals. There is a great scarcity of 
wood and water. Aside from the timber on the slope of the Sierra Nevada range, 
the only wood of the country is a species of scrub pine, fit only for fuel and to 
feed the Pi-Ute Indians, for it bears very nutritious nuts, which constitutes their 
principal staple article of food. This nut pine makes excellent fuel for steam 
works, being exceedingly hard and full of pitch. The whole face of the country 
is mostly covered with sage brush, like garden sage. Grease wood, another shrub, 
is also common. 

Carson Valley was pronounced by Mr. Greeley, who was here in 
1859, as one of the most beautiful he had ever seen. He said: 

This valley, originally a grand meadow, the home of the deer and the antelope, 
is nearly inclosed by high mountains, down which, especially from the north and 
west, come innumerable rivulets, leaping and dancing on their way to join the 
Carson. Easily arrested and controlled, because of the extreme shallowness of 
their beds, these streams have been made to irrigate a large portion of the upper 
valley, producing an abundance of the sweetest grass, and insuring bounteous 
harvests also of vegetables, barley, oats, etc. Wheat seems to do fairly here ; corn 



680 



NEVADA. 



not so well ; in fact, the nights are too cold for it if the water were not. For this 
spring water, leaping suddenly down from its mountain sources, is too cold, too 
pure, to be well adapted to irrigation ; could it be held back even a week, and ex- 
posed in shallow ponds or basins to the hot sunshine, it would be vastly more use- 
ful. When the whole river shall have been made available, twenty to forty miles 
below, it will prove far more nutritious and fertilizing. 

If the new gold mines in this valley shall ultimately justify their present prom- 
ise, a very large demand for vegetable food will speedily spring up, here, which 
can only be satisfied by domestic production. The vast deserts eastward can not 
meet it, the arable region about tSalt Lake is at once too restricted and too distant; 
inland California is a dear country, and the transportation of bulky staples over 
the tSierra a costly operation. The time will ultimately come — it may or may not 
be in our day — when two or three great dams over the Carson will render the 
irrigation of these broad, arid plains on its banks perfectly feasible; and then 
this will be one of the most productive regions on earth. The vegetable food of 
one million people can easily be grown here, while their cattle may be reared and 
fed in the mountain vales north and south of this valley. And when the best 
works shall have been constructed, and all the lights of science and experience 
brought to bear on the subject, it will be found that nearly everything that con- 
tributes to human or brute sustenance can be grown actually cheaper by the aid 
of irrigation than without it. As yet we know little or nothing of the application 
of water to land and crops, and our ignorance causes deplorable waste and blun- 
dering. Every year henceforth will make us wiser on this head. 

Previous to the discovery of the Washoe silver mines, in the sum- 
mer of 1859, there were not one thousand white inhabitants in all of 
Nevada. Virginia City at once sprung up at that point, which is 
about two hundred miles easterly, in an air line from San Francisco. 
The circumstances, as told of its discovery, are somewhat romantic : 

''The Washoe silver mines were first discovered by Mr. Patrick McLaughlin, 
an ' honest miner,' who was working for gold in a gulch or ravine, and where he 
was making $100 a day to the hand. As he and his companions followed up the 
gulch, it paid even better, until, on arriving at a certain point, it gave out alto- 
gether, and they struck a vein of pure sulphuret of silver, which they at first sup- 
posed to be coal, but observing that it was very heavy, they concluded it must be 
valuable, and sent one of their number to iSan Francisco with some of the black 
ore to ascertain its value. It was given to a Mr. Killaley, an old Mexican miner, 
to assay. Killaley took the ore home and assayed it. The result was so astound- 
ing that the old man got terribly excited. 'J"he next morning poor Killaley was 
found dead in his bed. He had long been in bad health, and the excitement 
killed him. 

Immediate search was made for the original deposit, which resulted in the 
since famous Comstock lode. Where first found, this lode has no outcropping or 
other indication to denote its presence. The first assay of the rock taken from 
the lode when first struck gave a return of $265 of gold and silver,' there being a 
larger proportion of gold than silver. Subsequent assays of ore taken from the 
vein, as it was sunk upon, showed a rapid increase in richness, until the enormous 
return was maiie of $7,000 to the tun— $4,000 in gold and $3,000 in silver. Still 
later assays of choice pieces of ore have given a return of $15,000 to the tun." Jn 
this case these ounce assays did not mislead, but a vast difference is to be observed 
between rich ore and a rich mine. A poor mine often yields specimens of rich 
ore, which, through the ounce assay, serves but to delude. The true test of the 
value ot a silver mine is the quantity of the ore, and the average yield of the ore 
in bulk after the establishment of reduction works. 

The changes that grew from this discovery almost vied in the won- 
derful with die transformations of Aladdin and his lamp. The next 
year Virginia City contained over one thousand houses, of brick, stone 
and cloth, and a population of four thousand. In 1864, Virginia City, 



NEVADA. 681 

next to San Francisco, had become the largest and most important 
city on the Pacific coast, and Nevada was a State of the American 
Union with an estimated popuhition of sixty thousand. Her esti- 
mated 'mineral production that year was $30,000,000. Her patriotism 
was illustrated by her sending to the Sanitary Commission silver bricks 
to the value of S51,500. This she could afford, for a single one of 
her silver mines, the Gould & Curry, upon the Comstock lode, m 1864 
produced $5,000,000 in silver, and netted her stockholders the enor- 
mous amount of one million and four hundred and forty thousand 
dollars! A citizen, at the beginning of 1865, gives this glowing 
description of his town, which then contained a population of twen- 
ty-five thousand, American, Mexican, European and Chinamen: 

Yirginia City is situated on the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, 
the site being a sort of shelving tract of table-land, is six thousand two 
hundred and five feet above the level of sea, being among the highest 
cities on the globe. When a stranger arrives in Yirginia City, and 
observes a city containing a population of twenty-five thousand peo- 
ple of both sexes, long blocks and squares of brick and granite struc- 
tures with whole ranges of frame buildings, and ascertains further 
that immense sums are daily being paid for real estate, he naturally 
wonders whether growth in this ratio is likely to continue, and if so, 
whether the mines of Nevada will be sufficient ultimately to pay for 
it all. But if he steps into the leading banking houses in the city, 
and takes a view of the silver "bricks" generally to be seen there, he 
begins to imagine there is something tangible in Washoe after all. 
And if he will next ascertain how many quartz-mills are running in 
the vicinitv of Yirginia City, Gold Hill and Silver City, and how 
much bulliW each returns on an average weekly, he will unquestion- 
ablv be led to the conclusion— which others have come to before him— 
that the rapid growth of Yirginia City is only the outward evidence 
of a profitable development of the mines. 

The streets are Macadamized, well lit with gas, water introduced 
through pipes, and it boasts of three theaters, devoted to dramatic en- 
• tertainments, an opera-house, which seats in its auditorium some two 
thousand people, and where Italian and other operas of the best com- 
posers are produced by artists equal to any which appear before the 
audiences of much older communities. The large amount of wealth 
which the earth so bountifully produces enables the population ol the 
State to provide themselves with every comfort and luxury of civilized 
life. Stores of every character, well supplied with merchandise of all 
descriptions, hotels, and fine market-houses, filled with an abundance 
of game, meats and vegetables, attract the eye on every side. The 
churches of various denominations, and school-houses, attended daily 
by nearly a thousand children, will compare favorably with those m 
the Atlantic States. An excellent volunteer fire department, police 
force, and the working of a good municipal government, are no less 
attractive features of the new city which has so suddenly sprung into 
existence within the short space of five years. The country around 
is cut up with mines, mills, farms and gardens, while in every section 
the topography is dotted with smiling villages, and even palatial 
private residences give unmistakable indications of the thritt and 
wonderful enterprise of its hardy and industrious population. There 



^gO NEVADA, 

has been no difficulty as yet experienced in obtaining labor for mining 
operations. The supply is fully equal to the demand at any and all 
times. Good mining hands receive usually four dollars per diem, 
while the tariff of prices for ordinary laboring men is fixed at from 
three to three and a half dollars per day, payable in gold ; amalga- 
mators and engineers of mills receive from five to eight dollars. 
Wood for milling and hoisting purposes is worth twelve dollars, in 
summer, a cord, and fifteen in winter. Lumber for "timbering" and 
'I shoring" up mines, and building purposes, may be obtained at from 
forty to fifty dollars per thousand feet, in any quantity that may be 
desired for all practical purposes. Fresh meats of the best quality 
can be had from twelve to eighteen cents a pound ; butter, milk, eggs, 
cheese and fruits and vegetables of all kinds raised in the State, are 
as reasonable in price as the same may be procured in the city of 
Kew York on a specie-paying basis. 

The elevation of Virginia City, on the east slope of Mount David- 
son, is about six thousand feet above the level of the sea. There are 
no extremes of heat or cold experienced at any season of the year ; 
but for the reason that the air at this elevation becomes rarefied, 
many people at first find some difficulty in breathing as freely as they 
could in a lower atmosi)here. Porsons afflicted with asthmatic and 
lung complaints find great relief in inhaling the rarefied air of Mount 
Davidson. In the valleys, however, where the .temperature of the 
atmosphere is more moderate, the objections raised by some to the 
former locality for a place of residence is entirely overcome. The 
best test of the general healthiness of the climate is to be found in the 
fact that there are few deaths in proj^ortion to the population, and 
that the climate does not impair the energy of settlers, is proved by 
the enterprise and activity which in Virginia City is evident on all 
sides, and in the rosy, blooming complexions of the people we meet 
on every hand. 

A late visitor in Nevada gives us a picture of the appearance of 
things in Virginia City and the adjacent silver-producing towns 
which he approached from California, passing through Carson City : 

Carson City, in 1858, was a place where the emigrant from the Eastern States, 
on the road to California, stopped to recruit himself and cattle for a start over the 
JSierra Nevada. Carson City of 1864 is quite a large and important place. It has 
a large trade with all parts of the State, has the finest site for a town in the 
whole territory, and is at present the capital. A large quary of stone having 
been discovered by Abraham Curry, the place now boasts of splendid stores, 
court-houses and dwellings, built of this stone; fine hotels, family mansions, 
beautiful cottages, and, indeed, a place for Nevada to be proud of It stands four 
thousand six hundred and fifteen feet above the level of the sea, has a fine cli- 
mate, and the best water of any place in Nevada. 

Let us jog on toward Virginia City, seventeen miles distant. We first reach 
Curry's warm spring, two miles east from the town. This is a great resort for 
drinking the water and bathing; it possesses great medicinal qualities. Here is 
the great territorial prison, an immense stone edifice. It was built for strength, 
although only for Curry's own house. The prisoners work in the quary, which 
is in the yard adjoining. A railroad connects the prison with Carson City, for 
the conveyance of the stone. 

We now start for Empire City (or Dutch Nicks), called after an old settler in 
1860. It originally contained but two houses; now fine mills are erected for saw 
ing lumber and crushing quai-tz — the Mexican mill, a most extensive affair, grind- 



NEVADA. ggg 

ins the rock from their claim in Virginia City. Here you hear, for the first time 
in the Territoiy, the ponderous stamps goina; day and night. Teams are goiu"' 
continually to the mine for rock to be crushed and the precious metals extracted. 
The Winters, Aitchenson and Mead mills, and others, are here, and it is now quite 
a place of importance ; it is situated on Carson river, north-east from Curry's. In 
a northerly direction, you pass over a fine road, to the half-way house toward 
Silver City, through Spring Valley, and begin to ascend what is called the back- 
bone of the range, on which the Comstock lode is found. A fine road has been 
finished all the way. You pass by the Daney Company's lode, and continue 
along till you come to the Canon, on which road we will pass the mills at work — ■ 
Gold Canon being the one that drains Silver City, American Plat and Gold Hill. 
The Canon is full of mills, crushing the quartz from all the above places. The 
great want here is water ; but that is being supplied in greater abundance, as the 
Gold Hill and Virginia Tunnel Company drain the mines. On it is located Silver 
City, about half way between Virginia City and Dayton, on the Carson river. 
Silver City is almost entirely dependent on the surrounding country for her sup- 
port. Some of the finest mills in the country lie within her limits. Havino- a 
great abundance of granite and other building material, fine blocks of buildings 
have been erected, fireproof, and very substantial; the private residences are 
tasty, and many are adorned by both fruit and shade trees. Ail along the Canon, 
to Devil's Gate, are mills at work on quartz from the various districts around. 
French's mill, situate in American Ravine, in Silver City, was built in 1860 — size 
of building, ninety by seventy-five feet. It has twenty stamps and sixteen pans, 
with an engine of sixty-horse power, and reduces twenty to thirty tuns of rock 
per day. There are a great many mills in this vicinity doing well, and a hundred 
others could have plenty of employment. To a person who never saw a quartz 
mill at work, he can have no idea of the noise and clatter it makes ; the deafen- 
ing sound, compelling great exertion to be heard ; and I assure you a person 
needs all his breath here, for the rarefied air makes breathing pretty difficult. 

Well, save your breath, and let us walk on to American City — American Flat — 
a flourishing place, only a few months old, boasting of churches and hotels. 
Residences have been erected as if by magic. Among the hills, west of Ameri- 
can Flat, there is a beautiful cave of alabaster, from the roof of which, when 
first discovered, hung long pendent stalactites of snowy whiteness and rare beauty, 
which visitors have, from time to time carried away. The alabaster in this cave 
is so soft that it can be cut with a pen-knife. 

A short time ago it was predicted that the improvements would be such in this 
region, that there would be a street lined with buildings for a distance of nearly 
eight miles. There is now no complete or dividing space between Virginia and 
Gold Hill, American and Silver City ; and the rapidity with which the intervening 
spaces have been built up is truly astonishing. These facts are remarkably strong 
in support of the opinion that the time is not far distant when the main street of 
Virginia City will present a continuous double row of buildings from the north 
end of the city to Dayton. The next place we reach is Gold Hill in the Canon. 

Gold Hill is emphatically a mining town. The ground underneath Virginia 
City is honey-combed by tunnels, drifts and excavations, which extend in every 
direction. But still there is little to be seen above the surface to give a stranger 
any idea of what is going on below. The streets and houses present the same 
appearance as the streets and houses of any other city, and it is only in a few 
localities in the outskirts of the town, as in the vicinity of the Ophir or Mexican 
lodes, that evidences of mining, carried on to any great extent, are to be seen. 

But Gold Hill presents a far difi"erent aspect. All along the east side of the 
town huge piles of dirt, debris and pulverized quartz are visible, which have been 
raised out of the mines and left upon the ground, while the more valuable rock 
has been taken to the mill for crushing. In the hoisting-houses erected over the 
shafts, machinery is in constant operation night and day, the screaming of steam 
wiiistles is heard, and successive car-loads of ore are run over railroads upon 
trestle-work, and sent down long, narrow shutes into wagons below, with a noise 
perfectly deafening. Leaving there, and passing through the town, the ears of 
the visitor are everywhere assailed by the thunder of stamps crushing in tho 



684 NEVADA. 

mills, and the clatter of machinery, until one would fain believe himself in a 
large manufacturino; village in the New England States. The quartz teams you 
see in Virginia City have tripled in number, and in places the streets are jammed 
with them, carrying loads of rich ore to the mills at Devil's Gate, Silver City and 
Carson Kiver. As night draws on, and a shift of hands takes place, the work- 
men, who, for a number of hours, have been many hundred feet under ground, 
timbering up drifts, or tearing down masses of glittering quartz, which compose 
the ledge, appear, and their conversation is utterly unintelligible to a stranger un- 
acquainted with the locality and condition of the different claims. Remarks coa- 
ceruiug the Sandy Bowers, the Pluto, Uncle Sam, or Bullion, are Chinese to him ; 
and he learns their position and character as he would acquire a knowledge of 
the streets and buildings of a strange city. If Gold Hill presents a singular 
aspect in the day-time, its appearance from the Divide at midnight is absolutely 
startling. Work at the mines, in tlie hoisting-houses and quartz-mills, is carried 
on without intermission or cessation; and the flashing of lights, the noise of 
steam engines and machinery, contrasted witii the silence and gloom of the sur- 
rounding mountains, make up a strange and almost unearthly picture, and puts 
him in mind of what he has read of the residence of the "Gentleman in Black." 

The mines in Gold Hill proper are said to be very rich. We visited some of 
them, and were surprised at the extent of the work done. Everything here looks 
as if fortunes had been spent, but the rich returns have warranted the outlay. 
Here we found banking-houses, refiners, assayers, and every business connected 
with mining; every one attending to his own business. We will now go up the 
Divide, between Gold Hill and Virginia City. 

Viri^inia City, as you see it, coming over the Divide, has a strange look, and 
you are quite startled at the view before you. You are at once astonished at the 
size and importance of the City of the Hills, a place but of yesterday; now sec- 
ond only to San Francisco on the Pacific coast. 

Virginia City only differs from the towns you have passed through, because it 
is so much laro'er. It is built at the foot,- or rather on the side, of Mount David- 
son. All the principal mines are inside the city limits. The Gould & Curry 
tunnel is in the very center of the city (see Evans' iMap of Virginia City Mines), 
although its mill is two miles away. The city, which lies on the side of Mount 
Davidson, is one mass of excavations and tunnels. There is a bluish earth, 
which is obtained from the mines, and this is dumped at the mouth of the tun- 
nels, so that the city, at a distance, seems speckled with these blue spots. The 
city'boasts of fine buildings, stores filled with every luxury— everything that can 
be "procured for money. Day and night the mills are crushing the ore, making a 
deafenino- noise. The silver bricks are carted around, as the people of the East 
do ordinary bricks, literally speaking. 

The Comstock Eange, in which the fine veins above described are 
situated, is the most noted of the silver regions of Nevada, from hav- 
ino- been the earliest discovered and developed. But Nevada has 
other districts equally rich, and every day adds to our knowledge of 
the gigantic wealth hidden in the mineral regions of the Pacific slope. 
Beside gold and silver, coal, quicksilver, iron, copper, lead, antimony 
and every known mineral abound. Wealth enough exists to sponge 
out our huge national debt scores of times. The policy of the Gov- 
ernment in the past, in withholding from the people titles in fee sim- 
ple to her gold and silver bearing districts, has been a great incubus 
upon their development. When^this policy is reversed, and the enter- 
prising emigrant can locate his discovery with the same assurance of 
owner'ship as the pioneer on a prairie ftirm of the Mississippi valley, 
the development of the Pacific country will be rapid beyond all calcu- 
lation. In relation to silver mining, however, it can only be carried 
on by companies, the original outlay for the reduction of ore, in 



NEVADA. 685 



buildings and machinery, surpassing ordinary individual wealth. The 
adage is here in full force, that "it takes a mine to work a mine. 
A late writer gives these facts in regard to silver veins : 

Silver is .renerally found ia veins, and hence the deposits are far more likely to 
be inexhaustible than placer gold. The statistics of si ver mmmg in d.tferent 
countrls clearly establish this fact. For centuries this business has been the 
caXT nterest of Mexico; silver the circulating medium or currency of the 
country • rd-in coin and bars-a chief article of export. H^ce the conques 
of Corte'z the mining interest has been so successfully prosecuted that the most 
?rustwhy statistics nearly startle us with suggestions of -l--^;:;^;;'^ ^^o- 
tunes realized, and with vague conceptions of the vast mineral wealth of that 
country According to Humboldt, the total amount of silver obtained from the 
nque'st to the time^he wrote (1803) was $2,027,952,000. ^ f,"^- -^Ij^-f -?, 3" 
resent the sum as much larger, and amounting to no less than $12000 000,000. 
And yet the w^ole period, since the conquest of 1521-nearly three hundred and 
fifty years-has developed no sign of the possible failure of the silver mines of 
Mexico On the contrary, they were never richer than they are to-day. ihe 
annua?' coinage of the mints of Mexico, at the beginning of the present century, 
WIS not less than $27,000,000. Our statistics for some years past have been less 
rmnlee and trustworthy When a vein of silver is found, it may_ generallybe 
rTced a Ion. distance. The Vela Madre, said to be the richest vein in Mexico, 
hTs been opened at different points along the strata a distance of twelve miles, 
and in many places it is not less than 200 feet wide. One vein in Chih has been 
followernearly one hundred miles, while several of the branches radiating from 
t arrthirty miles long. When a silver vein is sometimes broken abruptly as in 
he mines of Chili, it is quite sure to be found again, if the miner patiently pur- 
sues the same central direction. In one instance, at the mines of Chanarc.Uo, 
he ve n was f<^nd to be thus interrupted by a belt of limestone; but by sinking 
a shaf over two hundred and fifty feet through the stone, the vein was struck 
a4in Not less than seven of these belts have been found to interrupt the same 
mfneral vein, at different points, and yet the niiners have failed of J^fjf^-f^ 
final termination. The fact that silver is generally thus deposited while gold is 
no', musTsu-est to the most thoughtless observer, that of the two, silver mines 
are' far more likely to be permanently profitable. 

We now abridge from a published account a description of some of 
the other prominent mining districts of Nevada, as they were early 
in 1865: 

The Esmeralda District is one hundred and forty miles south-east of Virginia 
City. Many good mines are in the district, and ten mills in operation for the re- 
duct on of thi ores. A large amount of silver bullion is weekly shipped from 
Aurora, the principal town, which has four thousand people, and two daily 

^The' Reese River District is one ^"'^.dred and eighty miles east of Virginia 
City, on the overland stage route. Austin, the principal town, has five thousand 
inlmbitants. Nine mills are in operation, and a daily newspaper published, ihe 
mines of this region extend as far south as prospecters have ever ventured to 
Txplore-some two hundred miles. Some veins, very nch on the surface have 
been found outside of the settlements in various directions, but as Jf "^^ ^^ 
not been improved, the owners being poor men, and ^^e country being too w Id 
for capitalists, to venture into, while perhaps equally good opportunities tor in 
vest'nent are to be found in more civilized localities.. These ores are nH)stly 
chlorids rodids and bromids, while in the Comstock veins the principal are the 

'^Tt HuSrS-iS is situated about one hundred and fifty mHes north.^st 
of Vlr-inia City, on the east side of the Humboldt river, and near the Old h.m- 
^an ?oad, down that river. The mines were first d scovered in ^f 0; t^"* ^ f 
St attract much attention until a year or two afterward. There are four or fave 



QgQ NEVADA. 

larce towns in this regioa, and one or two mills in operation. Wood is vevy 
scarce, and foi* this reason few steam mills have been erected. A c uial, sixty-five 
miles in length, and capable of carrying water sufficient to run forty or fifty water 
mills, is now nearly half completed. As soon as this great work is finished, a 
number of large mills will at once be erected. The principal mine in this rojiion 
is the Sheba, which yields large quantities of very rich ore, much of which is 
sent to England for reduction. This is the oldest and best developed claim in 
that region, but there are doubtless hundreds equally as good, were they as thor- 
oughly opened. An excellent weekly paper is published here, at Unionville, and 
there are some very heavy tunneling enterprises undertaken for the development 
of the veins found in certain mountains. The ores of this district are different 
from those of either Esmeralda or Reese river, being argentiferous, galena itnd 
antimonial ores. Some of the leads of this region are very rich in gold, but in 
this they are not peculiar, as more or less gold is found in every mining district, 
and in nearly all paying veins. It has been said that the Humboldt mountains 
alone doubtless contain precious metals sufficient to purchase the fee simple of 
all the rebel States, with the Union and rebel government debt both thrown in. 

In this direction are several new mining districts. The most promising of 
these are Pine Wood, Mountain Wells and Clan Alpine. Judging from assays 
obtained from rock taken from the croppings of some of these veins, there is no 
doubt but they vyill prove immensely valuable. The district is situated between 
Humboldt and the Reese river mines, is well watered, and the hills are clothed 
with a heavy growth of nut pine. Clan Alpine is quite a new district, there be- 
ing but a dozen or two of miners there, but it contains some most promising 
veins. The district is about one hundred and thirty miles east of Virginia City. 
Mountain Wells district, some eighty miles east of Virginia City, is another 
promising, though but little developed, mining region. Some excellent veins have 
been opened, and quite a village is springing up in the mines. As yet they have 
no mills. There is plenty of wood and water in the district. It is situated on 
the overland mail route. 

No region in the world can surpass Nevada in the abundance and variety of her 
mineral productions. Almost everywhere in the State iron ore, of an excellent 
quality, is abundant, much of it so pure that when broken it presents the ap- 
pearance of cast iron. Two or three deposits of coal have lately been discovered, 
the beds being from nine to twenty feet thick. It burns well, and will doubtless 
prove to be of an excellent quality when the workings are carried to a proper 
depth on the veins. Lead is found in abundance in many parts of the Territory ; 
also large veins of antimony, the ore of which is exceedingly pure. None of 
these are worked unless found to contain silver in paying quantities. Large and 
very rich veins of copper are found in almost every part of the country, but no 
attention is paid to them, except they contain silver. The copper ores are of 
various kinds; the rich black ore as heavy as lead; the blue and green carbon- 
ates, and other varieties; also some veins in which native copper is visible in the 
rock above the surface of the grouad, running in fibers through the vein stone. 

In Peavine District, about eighteen miles north-west of Virginia City, and near 
tlie Truckee river, also quite near the line of the Central Pacific Railroad, are 
many splendid veins of copper. These veins often show beautiful specimens of 
pure gold, and also contain a considerable per cent, of silver. The ores of many 
of these veins contain a sufficient amount of gold to pay for shipping and work- 
ing, could it easily be sepai-ated from the copper. There are in the State numerous 
large beds of plumbago. None of these are claimed or worked, though some 
parties at one time tried to manufacture fire-proof bricks from this material, but 
fire-clay of good quality being discovered, the plumbago was abandoned. Some 
seventy miles east of Virginia City, in the deserts, are immense fields of excel- 
lent salt, much of it being equal to the best table salt. As salt is much used by 
the mills in the vai-ious processes for the reduction of silver ores, hundreds of 
tuns of this salt are brought to Virginia City, being hauled on wagons or packed 
on the backs of mules. In the vicinity of the Humboldt mines is a whole moun- 
tain of brimstone, and in the same vicinity are found extensive beds of pure 



NEVADA. 



C87 



alum. Carbonate of soda is found everywhere in the alkaline deserts in great 
quantities, also many other curious mineral productions. 

In other countries rivers generally empty into seas, the ocean, or other rivers, 
but this is not the case with the Nevada rivers. Nevada rivers start off and run 
till they get tired, then quit and go into the ground. Carson river rises in the 
Sierras, runs off east, and disappears in what is known as Carson Sink. The 
Truckee rises in the Sierras, runs eastward, and sinks in Pyramid Lake. The 
Humboldt comes from the east, and disappears at Humboldt Sink and Walker 
River sinks in Walker Lake. None of these sinks or lakes have any visible out- 
let. What becomes of the waters of these rivers would be about as hard to say 
as to tell where a candle goes to when it goes out. 

An old miner living there, used to swear that here was where the work of the 
creation was finished. He said that "late on Saturday evening the Almighty 
started in to make a tremendous great river. He made the four rivers now in 
Washoe as the four branches thereof, and was leading them along, intending to 
bring them together in one mighty river, which was to empty into the ocean ; but 
of a sudden, before He got the branches together, night came on, and the Lord 
just stuck the ends into the ground and quit, and they have stayed so ever since." 

We conclude this article with an extract from a valuable and in- 
structive paper in Gazley's Pacific Monthly for March, 1865, upon the 
gold and silver mines of California and Nevada : 

When the first " fever " broke out in California, placer-digging was the haven 
where all were bound, and here, with a pan or rocker as the only " machinery," 
millions per month of the precious treasure were gathered. No one dreamed of 
descending into the bowels of the earth by shaft or tunnel ; no one imagined that 
gold must have a matrix, or be imbedded in rock, or could be traced in the quartz, 
in which it was afterward discovered to have come from. 

As the placer-digging gradually gave out, adventurous spirits began to inquire 
for " a cause" and "a wherefore," and on finding on the mountain-sides bowlders 
containing streaks of gold, an immediate conclusion was formed that the yellow 
beauty must have a mother, and that quartz must be the womb. Happy thought! 
Quartz-mining superseded the placer-digging, and in every part of the State a new 
era dawned. Quartz became king. The mighty attractions of the placer-digging 
a short while ago were forgotten. And here, parenthetically, I would observe, 
that though placer-mining has lost interest to a great extent, there are many who 
will agree with me in saying, that these diggings are yet valuable, and that the 
^re has only to be looked for, and it may be found in large quantities and as rich 
is any before worked. 

Gold quartz was the only one known at this time, and in some sections was 
found extremely rich. The Allison Ranch, in Grass Valley, California, for in- 
stance, has ledges which might, perhaps, be classed with any mine in the world 
for richness. Indeed, ledges have been found all over the State, which have 
yielded to the fortunate possessors gigantic fortunes. 

This excitement had its day, and new fields promising greater results were 
sought. Miners, as a class, especially those of California, are impatient and too 
eager. They wander, explore, and run from one place to another. Kern River 
had its attractions, and off they went helter-skelter. Gold River and Frazer River 
carried them off by thousands, to the old tune of follow your leader, and come 
back bootless. Broken in health and penniless, back they came to placer-digging, 
where many made their " piles " out of the very claims that they had, a "little 
while before, given up as worthless. 

And now broke out the Washoe silver-mining mania, and the same results fol- 
lowed as at first. Many returned to placer-digging, in California, again tired and 
weary of life and everything under the sun. But Washoe had a glorious destiny 
awaiting her. She burst with a blaze of glory upon the world; mines richer 
than the famous mines of Peru were found, and the now State of Nevada, the 
youngest of the sisterhood of States, has taken her rank as the first silver-mining 
region in the world. 



688 



NEVADA. 



Virginia City now rears her loftv uhiinneys hi^ih to the clouds, from mills that 
are daily turning her very foundations into bricks of silver and gold, under tlie 
protection of Mount Davidson, nine thousand feet above the level of the sea.. Few 
cities of the Pacific States rank higher, either for the production of wealth or 
moral advancement, than she does at the present moment. And her destiny is 
onward ! upward ! 

To attempt to give the amount taken from the soil of Nevada would be an utter 
impossibility, as most of it is taken to other places by private hands, and never 
reaches the Mint — from which we receive the data to make up our calculations. 
The coinage can give us no information, as most of the precious bricks of silver 
and gold leave San Francisco for India, China, Peru, England, France, and, I may 
say, every portion of the globe, without being counted as the production of Ne- 
vada. 

Now, let us see what effect the wealth of California and Washoe will have on 
the monetary world. Financial calculations have, of late years, taken range and 
scope beyond the experience of former times. As commerce extends, as industry 
becomes more general, as the amount of wealth increases, and as the national 
debt becomes larger and more burdensome, the management of the currency is a 
serious question. The extraordinary production of gold, within the last few years, 
and the probable great increase of silver in the future, have set the financiers of 
the world to work to devise a method to govern and direct the change. 

To find out what changes may be expected in the future, we must look back at 
those which have taken place in the past. We must compare our present stock 
of the precious metals with that which existed at previous epochs, and we must 
compare the present increase with that of previous ages. 

The amount of gold and silver coin in the possession of civilized nations, in 
the year 1500, is estimated at $250,000,000. 

The mines of Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia produced an immense amount of silver 
during the century following, bringing up the amount stated to $750,000,000. In 
1700, the sum in Europe — making all allowances for wear and shipments to India 
— had risen to $1,500,000,000. The production of gold and silver in America 
during the eighteenth century is estimated at $350,000,000. There was, however, 
at the same time, a great export of silver to India, a considerable wear, amount- 
ing to twenty per cent. — in a century — and a great consumption of the precious 
metals in ornaments and table ware. At the commencement of the present cen- 
tury, the whole known amount of coin in the world was estimated at $1,900,000, 
000. From 1800 till 1820, the annual production of the world was about $25,000, 
000, and from 1820 to 1848, about $40,000,000. 

With the discovery of the gold mines of California, began a production 
large beyond all previous example, and almost beyond the conception of former 
times. 

California and Australia each produced $50,000,000 annually for some years 
and Russia produced $20,000,000. 

The present total production of the world may safely be put down at $120,000, 
000 per annum, and the present total stock of coin in existence at $4,000,000,000. 
The average annual export of silver to India and China amounts to about $50,000, 
000. In 1857 it came up to $06,000,000, while in 1864 it may safely be put down 
at $120,000,000. Once exported, very little is ever returned to the circulation of 
Europe or America. While the precious metals were increasing in quantity, civil- 
ization was extending with great rapidity ; and thus we see verified one of nature's 
great laws, that as earth's products develop an increase, so does civilization and 
enlightenment extend. Thus it is that precious metals have fallen to about one- 
eighth of the value which they possessed at the discovery of America. 

The most important gold region of the United States — and perhaps of the 
world — is California; and the richest silver region in the world is Nevada. The 
development of both has added untold millions to the wealth of the world, and 
1865 will, no doubt, add more millions than could be imagined by the most ex- 
perienced calculator or political economist in Europe. 

Gold and silver mines of great richness are found in the range or ranges from 



NEVADA. 689 

the city of Mexico, through the Gila, Washoe, Oregon, FraRer River, to the Arctic 
Ocean; and as they are more explored and opened up, the northern portion will 
prove as rich as the southern, which astonished the world at former periods. 

Since the discovery of the mines of California and Washoe, all the resources 
of modern science have been taxed to find out the best way of working, cheaply 
and thoroughly, the ores of the dififerent ranges and formations. All the Pacific 
States abound in the precious metals held in quartz rock The gold or silver- 
bearino- quartz runs in veins through an entirely different rock, which forms walls 
on both sides as the vein is worked. When a vein, or what is called a ledge, is 
discovered, the discoverer becomes the possessor of so many feet, on which he can 
claim all its dips, spurs, angles, and as many feet on each side as themining laws 
allow He must do a certain amount of work to hold good his claim, as estab- 
lished by the laws of the district in which his claim is located. The recorder 
goes on the ground, and if all is correct, he issues his certificate (miners' laws are 
always respected in California and Nevada). The mines of Nevada have but re- 
cently attracted the attention of the capitalists of the world by their known rich- 
ness extent, and capability of being worked. The western range, on which the 
famed Comstock is located, has many other ledges equally rich on the same range 
of hills (for Virginia has hundreds of ledges situated on Mount Davidson and 
Ophir Hills), all of which have become famous to the world ; and the eastern 
rano-e or Reese River, with its ledges, richer than even the Comstock range, has 
proved to be full of mines, so rich, so extensive, that in a few years these mines 
will occupy, in the eye of the capitalist, a most important spot in which to invest 

his surplus capital. .. . xv. t • -^u- 

The extraordinary developments of mineral deposits in the countries within 
the confines and limits of the ancient Alta California, form one of the grandest 
epochs in the annals of our race. These discoveries of the precious metals have 
not all been of recent date. In 1700 the rich mines of North Sinaloa were 
opened; in 1730 the Planchas de Plata of Arizona, or masses of native silver, 
were found. Then we had in 1770 the great placers of Clenaquilla, to the north 
of Hermosilla, where the immense chispa of seventy pounds was found, and sent 
to the cabinet of the King of Spain, and several millions were picked up in its 
vicinity in a few years. After this came the discoveries further north, on the 
rivers which flow into the Gila from the south, and also the headwaters of the 
Sonora River, and those of the Opasura and Yaqui, which interlock with the tri- 
butaries of the Gila in the country of the Opatas, Terahumaras, Yanos, and 
Apaches, and which, by spasmodic starts, yielded large quantitiesof gold. This 
section of the present Arizona, and as far up north as the Navajos, and east to 
the Camanche range, is known in Mexico as the Apacharia, of which the most 
apparently fabulous stories have been told, from 1770 to 1864, concerning the ex- 
istence of immense mines and deposits of gold, silver, copper, and quicksilver, 
both in veins and pure metal, but which are every day proving the truth of the 
accounts of the old missionaries and Gambusinos. 

After 1800, till 1846, discoveries were made in many places every few years, 
near all the old mission settlements of Sonora. In 1825 Captain Patie mentions 
that rich gold placers were worked near Bacuachi, not far south of Tucson, and 
the price of gold was only eleven and twelve dollars to the ounce. The account 
of Captain Patie, who died at San Diego, in 1829, is the first printed one we have 
of any American, or even other parties, who came by land to California through 
Sonora or New Mexico. He mentions several other places in the Bacuachi, or 
River San Pedro country, where gold was produced in abundance when the 
Apaches were out of the way. Again, from 1838 to 1846, the gold placers of 
San Fernando, near Los Angeles, are of public notoriety as yielding very hand- 
some returns. . v 

From 1848 to 1864 the discoveries of gold, silver, and copper have been con- 
stant and of every-day notoriety. The prospectors have ranged frona the Gila, 
north to the Russian possessions, and from the Pacific Ocean to the interlocking 
branches of the Columbia, Missouri. Colorado, and Rio Grande del Norte. It has 
been of daily record for the last fifteen years that all this immense extent of coun- 

44 



590 NEVADA. 

try, gives to the world the knowledge of exhaustless millions of treasure, awaiting 
but the hand of labor to throw it into the channel of commerce, and the road to 
population and power. 

Not a single precious metal or valuable mineral of trade or science but what is 
found in abundant out-crops, or washings, in all these States and Territories. A 
very singular and unlooked-for exhibition has been going on for the last few years. 
The explorers of Sonora, California and Nevada have been out on prospecting ex- 
peditions in the deserts, mountains, and ranges on the Pacific, while those of Pike's 
Peak and the Rocky Mountains, from the east, have been gradually extending their 
lines and distances till they now meet the mining parties from Oregon, Washington, 
and Nevada, in Cariboo, Idaho, and Utah. This magnificent mineral empire is 
the most wealthy and extended known to the world. It has an advantage superior 
to all other mineral fields, in being in the vicinity of sea navigation, and has a 
climate of unsurpassed salubrity. While in the neighborhood of most of our 
mineral deposits the soil is exceedingly fertile, inviting the husbandman to a rich 
return for his labor, and boundless pastures to the herdsman; and, it may be 
added, that within our metalliferous ranges, valleys exist of the most picturesque 
and beautiful character; views equaled by no country in Europe, will invite the 
pleasure-seeker to travel for health, recreation, or pleasure ; and a few years will 
see the aristocracy of Europe thronging the shores of the Pacific, as they now do 
the Continent. The borders of Lake Tehoe or Bigler will be as famous as the 
Lake of Como, and the Sierra Nevada will be climbed by tourists as are the Alps 
of Switzerland. The Falls of Yo Semite will be a greater wonder than the Falls 
of Niagara, and the shores of the Bay of San Francisco will be dotted with 
princely palaces. 



OREGON. 



Oregon is one of the Pacific states. The name, Oregon^ is from Oregano, 
the Spanish word for wild marjoram; and it is from this word, or some other 

similar, that its name is supposed to 
have arisen. "But little was known 
of even its coast up to the latter part 
of the last century. Immediately 
after the last voyage of the renowned 
navigator, Capt. Cook, the immense 
quantities of sea-otter, beaver and 
other valuable furs to be obtained on 
the north-west coast of America, and 
the enormous prices which they would 
bring in China, was communicated to 
civilized nations, and created as much 
excitement as the discovery of a new 
gold region. Multitudes of people 
rushed at once into this lucrative 
trafiic: so that in the year 1792, it is 
said that there were twenty-one vessels 
under different flags, but principally 
American, plying along the coast of 
Oregon, and trading with the natives. 
On the 7th of May, 1792, Capt. Robert Gray, of the ship Columbia, of Bos- 
ton, discovered and entered the river, which he named from his vessel. He 
was, in reality, the first person who established the fact of the existence of 
this great river, and this gave to the United States the right to the country 
drained by its waters by the virtue of discovery. In 1804-'5, Lewis and 
Clark explored the country, from the mouth of the Missouri to that of the 
Columbia. This exploration of the Columbia, the first ever made, consti- 
tuted another ground of the claim of the United States to the country. 

In 1808, the Missouri Fur Company, through their agent, Mr. Henry, 
established a trading-post on Lewis River, a branch of the Columbia, which 
was the first establishment of civilized people in this section of country. 
An attempt was made that year, by Capt. Smith, of the Albatross, of Bos- 
ton, to found a trading-post on the south bank of the Columbia, forty miles 




Arms of Okegon, 

Motto — Alia voUU propriis — I fly with my own 
wing. 



692 



OREGON. 



from its mouth. It was abandoned the same season, and that of Mr. Henry 
in 1810. 

In the year 1810, tTohn Jacob Aster, a German merchant of New York, who had 
accumulated an immense fortune by commerce in the Pacific and China, formed 
the Pacific Fur Company. His first objects were to concentrate in the company, 
the fur trade in the unsettled parts of America, and also the supj^ly of merbhan- 
dise for the Russian fur-trading establishments in the North Pacific. For these 
purposes, posts were established on the Missouri, and the Columbia, and vicinity. 
These posts were to be supplied with the merchandise required for trading by ships 
from the Atlantic coast, or across the country by way of the Missouri. A factory 
or depot was to be founded on the Pacific, for receiving this merchandise, and dis- 
tributing it to the difi"erent posts, and for receiving in turn furs from them, which 
were to be sent by ships from thence to Canton. Vessels were also to be sent from 
the United States to the factory with merchandise, to be traded for furs, which 
would then be sent to Canton, and there exchanged for teas, silks, etc., to be ir 
turn distributed in Europe and America. 

This stupendous enterprise at the time appeared practicable. The only partj 
from whom any rivalry could be expected, was the British North-west Company, 
and their means were far inferior to those of Astor. From motives of policy, he 
offered them one third interest, which they declined, secretly intending to forestall 
him. Having matured his scheme, Mr. Astor engaged partners, clerks, and voya- 
gems, the majority of whom were Scotchmen and Canadians, previously in the 
service of the North-west Company. "Wilson P. Hunt, of New Jersey, was chosen 
the chief agent of the operations in western America. 

In September, 1810, the ship Tonquin, Capt. Thorn, left New York for the mouth 
of the Columbia, with four of the partners, M'Kay, M'Dougal, and David and 
Robert Stuart, all British subjects, with clerks, voyageurs, and mechanics. In Jan- 
uarv, 1811, the second detachment, with Hunt, M'Clellan, M'Kenzie, and Crooks, 
also left New York to go overland by the Missouri to the same point, and in Octo- 
ber, 1811, the ship Beaver, Capt. Sowles, with several clerks and attaches, left New 
York for the North Pacific. Prior to these, in 1809, Mr. Astor had dispatched the 
Enterprise, Capt. Ebberts, to make observations at the Russian settlements, and to 
prepare the way for settlements in Oregon. He also, in 1811, sent an agent to St. 
Petersburg, who obtained from the Russian American Fur Company, the monopoly 
of supplying their posts in the North Pacific with merchandise, and receiving furs 
in exchange. 

In March, 1811, the Tonquin arrived at the Columbia, and soon after they com- 
menced erecting on the south bank, a few miles inland, their factory or depol 
building: this place they named Astoria. In June, the Tonqidii, with M'Kay 
sailed north to make arrangements for trading with the Russians. In July, th* 
Astorians were surprised by the appearance of a party of the North-west Compa- 
ny., under Mr. Thompson, who had come overland from Canada, to forestall theni 
in the occupation of the mouth of the Columbia; but had been delayed too latt 
for this purpose, in seeking a passage through the Rocky Mountains, and had beer 
obliged to winter there. Mr. Thompson was accompanied on his return by David 
Stuart, who founded the trading post called OJconogan. 

In the beginning of the next year (1812), the detachment of Hunt came into 
Astoria, in parties, and in a wretched condition. They had been over a year in 
comino- from St. Louis ; had undergone extreme suffering from hunger, thirst, and 
cold, in their wanderings that winter, through the dreary wilderness of snow-clad 
mountains, from which, and other causes, numbers of them perished. In May, 
1^12, the Beaver, bringing the third detachment, under Mr. Clark, arrived in As- 
toria. They brought a letter which had been left at the Sandwich Islands by Capt. 
Ebljerts, of the Enterprise, containing the sad intelligence that the Tonquin and 
her crew had been destroyed by the savages, near the Straits of Fuca, the June 
preceding. 

In August, Mr. Hunt, leaving Astoria in the charge of M'Dougal, embarked in 
the Beaver to trade with the Russian posts, which was to have been done by the 
Tonquin. He was successful, and effected a highly advantageous arrangement at 
Sitka, with Baranof, governor of Russian America; took in a rich cargo of furs, 



OREGON. 593 

and dispatched the vessel to Canton, via the Sandwich Islands, where he, in per- 
son, remained, and in 1814, he returned to Astoria in the Peddler, which he had 
chartered, and found that Astoria was in the hands of the North-west Company. 

When Hunt left in the Beaver, a party was dispatched, which established a 
trading post on the Spokan, Messrs. Crooks, M'Cellan, and Robert Stuart about 
this time, set out and crossed overland to New York, with an account of what had 
been done. The trade was in the meantime very prosperous, and a large quantity 
of furs had been collected at Astoria. 

In January, 1813, the Astorians learned from a trading vessel that a war had 
broken out with England. A short time after, M'Tavish and Laroque, partners 
of the North-west Company, arrived at Astoria; M'Dougal and M'Kenzie (both 
Scotchmen) were the only partners there, and they unwisely agreed to dissolve the 
company in July. Messrs. Stuart and Clark, at the Okonogan and Spokan posts, 
both of which are within the limits of Washington Territory, opposed this ; but 
it was finally agreed that if assistance did not soon arrive from the United States, 
they would abandon the enterprise. 

M'Tavish and his followers, of the North-west Company, again visited Astoria, 
where they expected to meet the Isaac Todd, an armed ship from London, which 
had orders 'to take and destroy everything American on the north-west coast,' 
Notwithstanding, they were hospitably received, and held private conferences with 
M'Dougal and M'Kenzie, the result of which was, that they sold out the establish- 
ment, furs, etc., of the Pacific Company in the country, to the North-west Compa- 
ny, for about $58,004 That company were thus enabled to establish themselves 
in the country. 

Thus ended the Astoria enterprise. Had the directing partners on the Colum- 
bia been Americans instead of foreigners, it is believed that they would, notAvith- 
standing the war, have withstood all their difficulties. The sale was considered 
disgraceful, and the conduct of M'Dougal and M'Kenzie in that sale and subse- 
quently, were such as to authorize suspicions against their motives ; yet they 
could not have been expected to engage in hostilities against their countrymen and 
old friends. 

The name of Astoria was changed by the British to that of Fort George. From 
1813 to 1823, few, if any, American citizens entered the countries west of the 
Rocky Mountains. Nearly all the trade of the Upper Mississippi and Missouri, 
was carried on by the Old North American Fur Company, of which Astor was the 
head; and by the Columbian Fur Company, formed in 1822, composed mainly of 
persons who had been in the service of the North-west Company, and were dissat- 
isfied with it. The Columbia Company established posts on the upper waters of 
the Mississippi, the Missouri, and the Yellow Stone, which were transferred, in 
1826, to the North American Company, on the junction of the two bodies. About 
this time, the overland trade with Santa Fe commenced, caravans passing regular- 
ly every summer between St. Louis and that place. In 1824, Ashley, of St. Louis, 
re-established commercial communications with the country west of the Rocky 
Mountains, and built a trading post on Ashley's Lake, in Utah. 

These active proceedings of the Missouri fur traders, stimulated the North 
American Fur Company to send their agents and attaches beyond the Rockv 
Mountains, although they built no posts. In 1827, Mr. Pilcher, of Missouri, went 
through the South Pass with forty-five men, and wintered on the head-waters of 
the Colorado, in what is now the north-east part of Utah. The next year he pro- 
ceeded northwardly, along the base of the Rocky Mountains, to near latitude 47 
deg. There he remained until the spring of 1829, when he descended Clark River 
to Fort Colville, then recently established at the falls, by the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany, which had a few years previous absorbed and united the interests of the 
North-west Company. He returned to the United States, through the long and 
circuitous far northward route of the Upper Columbia, the Athabasca, the Assina- 
boin, Red River, and the Upper Missouri. But little was known of the countries 
through which Pilcher traversed, previous to the publication of his concise narra- 
tive. The account of the rambles of J. O. Pattie, a Missouri fur trader, through 
New Mexico, Chihuahua, Sonora, and California, threw some light on the geogra- 
phy of those countries. In 1832, Capt Bonneville, U.S.A., while on a furlough, 
89 



694 



OREGON". 



led a party of one hundred men from Missouri, over the mountains, where he passed 
more than two years on the Columbia and Colorado, in hunting, trapping, and 
trading. 

About the same time. Captain Wyeth, of Massachusetts, attempted to establish 
commercial relations with the countries on the Columbia, to which the name of 
Oregon then began to be universally applied. His plan was like that of Astor, 
with the additional scheme of transporting the salmon of the Oregon rivers to the 
United States. He made two overland expeditions to Oregon, established Fort 
Hall as a trading post, and another mainly for fishing purposes, near the mouth 
of the Willamette. This scheme failed, owing to the rivalry of the Hudson's Bay 
Company, who founded the counter establishment of Fort Boise, where, offering 
goods to the Indians at lower prices than Wyeth could afford, compelled him to 
desist, and he sold out his interests to them. Meanwhile, a brig he had dispatched 
from I3oston, arrived in the Columbia, and returned with a cargo of salted salmon, 
but the results not being auspicious, the enterprise was abandoned. 

The American traders being excluded by these, and other means from Oregon, 
mainly confined themselves to the regions of the head waters of the Colorado and 
the Utah Lake, where they formed one or two small establishments, and sometimes 
extended their rambles as far west as San Francisco and Monterey. The number 
of American hunters and trappers thus employed west of the Rocky Mountains, 
seldom exceeded two hundred; where, during the greater part of the year, they 
roved through the wilds in search of furs which they conveyed to their places of 
rendezvous in the mountain valleys, and bartered with them to the Missouri 
traders. 

About the time of Wyeth's expeditions, were the earliest emigrations to Oregon 
of settlers from the United States. The first of these was founded in 1834, in the 
Willamette Yalley, by a body of Methodists who went round by sea under the di- 
rection of the Rev. Messrs. Lee and Shepherd. In that valley a few retired ser- 
vants of the Hudson's Bay Company were then residing, and engaged in herding 
cattle. The Congregationalists or Presbyterians planted colonies two or three 
vears after, in the'Walla-walla and Spokan countries, with Messrs. Parker, Spauld- 
ing, Gray, Walker, Eels, Smith, and Whitman as missionaries. 

In allof these places mission schools were established for the instruction of the 
natives, and in 1839, a printing press was started at Walla-walla (now in Washington 
Teri-itory), where were printed the first sheets ever struck off, on the Pacific side 
of the mountains, north of Mexico. On it books were printed from types set by 
native compositors. The Roman Catholics from Missouri, soon after founded sta- 
tions on Clark River. 

About the year 1837, the American people began to be deeply interested in the 
subject of the claims of the United States to Oregon, and societies were formed 
for emigration. From them and other sources, petitions were presented to con- 
gress, to either make a definite arrangement with Great Britain, the other claim- 
ant, or take immediate possession of the country. In each year, from 1838 to 
1843, small parties emigrated overland from Missouri to Oregon, suffering much 
hardship on the route. At the close of 1842, the American citizens there num- 
bered about four hundred. Relying upon the promise of protection held out by 
the passage of the bill in February, 1843, by the U. S. senate for the immediate 
occupation of Oregon, about one thousand emigrants, men, women, and children, 
assembled at Westport, on the Missouri frontier, in the succeeding June, and fol- 
lowed the route up the Platte, and through the South Pass, surveyed the previous 
vear by Fremont; thence by Fort Hall to the Willamette Valley, where they 
arrived in October, after a laborious and fatiguing journey of more than two thous- 
and miles. Others soon followed, and before the close of the next year, over 3,000 
American citizens were in Oregon. 

By the treaty for the purchase of Florida, in 1819, the boundary between the 
Spanish possessions and the United States was fixed on the N.W., at lat. 42 degs., 
the pre.<ient northern line of Utah and California; by this the United States suc- 
ceeded to such title to Oregon as Spain may have derived by the right of discovery 
through its early navigators. In June, of 1846, all the difficulties in relation to 
Oreo^on which at one time threatened war, were settled by treaty between the two 



OREGON. 695 

nations. In 1841, the coast of Orejron was visited by the ships of the United 
States Exploring Expedition, under Lieut. Charles Wilkes. At that time, Wilkes 
estimated the population to be: of Indians, 19,199; Canadians and half-breeds, 
650; and the citizens of the United States, 150. The Hudson's Bay Company then 
had twenty-five forts and trading stations in Oregon." 

Oregon was organized as a territory in 1848, and included in its bounda- 
ries the present Territory of Washington — an immense area of about 
250,000 square miles, with an average width east and west of 540, and north 
and south of 470 miles. A state constitution was adopted in convention, 
Sept. 18, 1857, and ratified by the people on the 9th of November followino;. 
At the same time the question of admitting slaves and free negroes into the 
state was submitted to the people. The vote on these questions was : for 
slavery, 2,645; against slavery, 7,727; majority against, 5,082; for free ne- 
groes, 1,081; against free negroes, 8,640; majority against, 7,559. The 
constitution prohibited negroes. Chinamen, and mulattoes from voting ; and 
persons concerned in dueling ineligible to olfices of trust and profit. On the 
14th of Feb., 1859, Oregon was admitted by congress as a state, and with 
greatly contracted boundaries. Its extreme extent in latitude is from 42° 
to 46° 12' N., in longitude from 116° 45' to 124° 30' W. from Greenwich. 
\t has an average length, east and west, of about 350, and width, north and 
-outh, of 260 miles giving an area of about 90,000 square miles. The act 
.-f admission gives two sections of land in every township for the use of 
schools, grants 72 sections for a state university, and five per cent, of the 
net proceeds of the sales of the public lands for public roads and internal 
improvements within the state. 

Oregon is bounded, north by Washington Territory, east by Idaho Terri- 
tory, south by California and Nevada, and west by the Pacific Ocean. It is 
divided into three section. The firsts or western section is that between the 
Pacific Ocean and the Cascade range of mountains. This range runs parallel 
with the sea coast the whole length of the state, and is continued through Cali- 
fornia, under the name of the Sierra Nevada. The second, or middle section, 
is that between the Cascade and Blue Mountains: it comprises nearly half 
the state: the surface is about 1,000 feet above the western section. It is 
generally a high rolling prairie country, destitute of timber, and but a small 
part of it adapted to farming. The third, or eastern section, lies south and 
east of the Blue Mountains : it is mostly a rocky and barren waste. The 
Columbia is the great river of the state, nearly all others being its tributa- 
ries. It is navigable from the ocean 120 miles, for vessels of 12 feet draught : 
from thence its course is obstructed by falls and rapids, which will eventually 
be overcome by locks and canals. During freshets, it is in many places con- 
fined by dalles, i. e. narrows, which back the water, covering the islands and 
tracts of low prairie, giving the appearance of lakes. The Dalles of the 
Columbia, 94 miles below the mouth of Lewis Fork, is a noted place, whei-e 
the river passes between vast masses of rock. 

The settled part of Oregon, and the only portion likely to possess much 
interest for years to come, is the first or western section, lying between the 
Cascade Mountains and the Pacific — a strip of country 280 long, north and 
south, and 120 miles broad, east and west. A writer familiar with it gives 
this description : 

Western Oregon, between the Cascades and the Pacific, is made up chiefly of 
three valleys, those of the Willamette (pronounced Wil-Iam'-ette), Umpqua and 
Rogue Rivers. The first named stream begins in the Cascade Mountains, runs 
west 60 miles, then turns northward, runs 140 miles, and empties into the Colum- 



696 



OREGON. 



bia. The last two beirin in the Cascades, and run westward to the ocean. There 
are, perhaps, several thousand miners including Chinamen, in the Rogue River 
valley ; but nearly the whole permanent farming population is in the Valley of the 
Willamette. This valley, taking the word in its more restricted sense of the low 
land, is from 30 to 40 miles wide and 120 miles long. This may be said to be the 




View in the Valley of the Willamette. 

whole of agricultural Oregon. It is a beiiutiful, fertile, well-watered plain, with a 
little timber along the streams, and a groat deal in the mountains on each side. 
The soil is a gravelly clay, covered near the creeks and rivers with a rich sandy 
loam. The vegetation of the valley is composed of several indigenous grasses, a 
number of flowering plants and ferns, the latter being very abundant, and exceed- 
ingly troublesome to the farmer on account of its extremely tough vitality. 

The tributary streams of the Willamette are very numerous, and their course in 
the valley is usually crooked, as the main stream itself is, having many "sloughs," 
"bayous," or "arms," as they are differently called. In some places the land is 
marshy, and everywhere moist. Drouth will never be known in western Oregon; 
its climate is very wet, both summer and winter, the latter season being one long 
rain, and the former consisting of many short ones, with a little sunshine interven- 
ing. The winters are warm, and the summers rather cool — too cool for growing 
melons, maize and sweet potatoes. Wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, and domestic 
animals thrive well. The climate, take it all in all, is much like that of England, 
and all plants and animals which do well in Britain will prosper in Oregon. The 
Oregon fruit is excellent, particularly the apples and plums; the peaches and pears 
are not quite so good as those of California. 

All along the coast of Oregon, there is a range of mountains about forty miles 
wide, and they are so densely timbered with cedar, pine, spruce and fir, that the 
density of the wood alone would render them worthless for an age, if they were 
not rugged. But they are very rugged, and the Umpqua and Rogue Rivers, in 
making their way through them, have not been able to get any bottom lands, and 
are limited to narrow, high-walled canons. The only tillable lands on the banks 
of those rivers are about fifty miles from the sea, each having a valley which, in 
general terms, may be described as twelve miles wide by thirty long. Kogue River 
valley is separated from Califoi'nia by the Siskiyou Mountains, about 5,000 feet 
high, and from Umpqua valley by the Canon Mountains, about 3,000 feet high ; and 



OREGON. 



697 



the Umpqua again is separated from the Willamette valley by the Calapooya Moun- 
tains, also about 3,000 feet high. 

All Oregon — that is, its western division, except the lovr lands of the Willamette^ 
Umpqua and Rogue valleys — is covered with dense timber, chiefly of coarse grained 
wood — such as Sr, spruce and hemlock. In the south-western corner of the state: 
however, there are considerable forests of white cedar — a large and beautiful tree, 
producing a soft, fine-grained lumber, and very fragrant with a perfume, which 
might be imitated by mixing ottar of roses with turpentine. Oak and ash are rare. 
Nearly all the trees are coniferous. 




Giant Pines of Oregon. 

In Rogue valley and along the beach of the Pacific there are extensive gold dig- 
gings. There are also large seams of tertiary coal at Coose Bay. These are the 
only valuable minerals in the state. The scenery on the Columbia is grand, from 
Walla-walla, where it first touches Oregon, to the ocean. There are five mountain 
peaks in the state, rising to the i-egion of perpetual snow: Mount Hood, 13,700 
feet high; Mount JeS'erson, 11,900; the Three Sisters, Mount Scott, and Mount 
McLaughlin, all about 9,000 feet high. 

The people are generally intelligent, industrious and moral. There are about a 
dozen newspapers published in Oregon, all of them weeklies. The chief exports 
are wheat, flour, apples, butter, cheese, salted salmon, salted meats, and coals, and 
from 10,000 to 20,000 head of horned cattle and sheep are annually driven to Cal- 
ifornia. 

Salmon are very abundant in the Columbia and its branches, and those taken at 
the mouth of the main stream are said to be the best on the coast. The fishing is 
done chiefly by Indians. 

Such is a brief and a fair statement of the resources and condition of Oregon, 
It is made to convey a correct idea of the state — not to attract or deter emigration. 



698 OREGON. 

California has a clearer sky, a more agreeable climate, more extensive and richer 
deposits of valuable minerals, greater natural facilities for internal trade and ex- 
ternal commerce, a greater variety of soil and clime, fitting it for the growth of 
the fig, the orange, the olive, and the date, as well as of the vine, apple, and wheat; 
but, on the other hand, has the disadvantages of scanty timber, very dry summers 
and autumns — compelling the farmer to irrigate his land — an unsettled population, 
a small proportion of families, an unsteady course of trade, and unsettled titles to 
most of the soil under occupation. Washington Territory has advantages superior 
to those of Oregon for foreign commerce, lumbering and fishing. The main ad- 
vantages of Oregon over both, are in having a large body of level, rich prairie 
land, with abundant water, and neither too much nor too little timber. 

The population of Oregon is largely composed of emigrants from Missouri 
and Illinois. In 1848, it was estimated at about 8,000 souls; in 1860, it 
was 52,566. 

Portland^ the largest and most important town in Oregon, is upon the 
Willamette, at the head of ship navigation, 15 miles above its entrance into 
the Columbia, and overland from St. Louis 2,300 miles. Population about 
3,000. Almost the whole of the foreign trade of Oregon is done through 
Portland, excepting the southern part, and that finds its seaport in Crescent 
City, of California. Portland lies 120 miles from the ocean, access to it 
being had through the Columbia, which at low tide, in dry seasons, has 
only 9 feet of water — scarcely enough for sea-going vessels. The Pacific 
coast is destitute of good harbors. 

Oregon City is 12 miles above Portland, in a narrow high walled valley on 
the Willamette, which aff'ords here, by its falls, great water power for manu- 
facturing facilities. Excepting at this place and on the Columbia River, 
water power is scarce in Oregon, save at points very difficult of access. 

Astoria is on the south side of the Columbia, 10 miles from its mouth. 
This place, so long noted as an important depot in the fur trade, has now 
but a few dwellings. In this neighborhood are forests of pine, which have 
long been noted for their beauty and size. Lieut. Wilkes thus speaks of 
them: "Short excursions were made by many of us in the vicinity, and one 
of these was to visit the primeval forest of pines in the rear of Astoria, a 
sight well worth seeing. Mr. Drayton took a camera lucida drawing of one 
of the largest trees, which the preceding plate is engraved from. It conveys 
a good idea of the thick growth of trees, and is quite characteristic of this 
forest. The soil on which this timber grows is rich and fertile, but the ob- 
stacles to the agriculturist are almost insuperable. The largest tree of the 
sketch was thirty-nine feet six inches in circumference, eight feet above the 
ground, and had a bark eleven inches thick. The hight could not be ascer- 
tained, but it was thought to be upward of two hundred and fifty feet, and 
the tree wajt^erfectly straight." These trees, for at least one hundred and 
fifty feet, are without branches. In many places those which have fallen 
down, present barriers to the vision, even when the traveler is on horseback; 
and between the old forest trees that are lying prostrate, can be seen the ten- 
der and small twig beginning its journey to an amazing hight. 

Salem, the capital of Oregon, is on the Willamette, 50 miles above Oregon 
City. The other towns on this river and tributaries are MilwauJcee, Buteville, 
Champoeg, Fairfield, Albany, Corvallis, Booneville, Eugene City, Clackamas^ 
Lafayette, Parkersburg, and Santiane. On the Umpqua are Gardner, Mid- 
dleton, Scottshurg, Winchester, Rosehiirg, and Canonville. In Rogue valley 
are Jacksonville, Waldo, and Althouse. On the Columbia the towns are As- 
toria, Rainier J Gardner, ^St. Helena, and the Dalles, all very small places. 



WASHINGTON TEERITORY. 



Washington Terbitort is the extreme north-western domain of the 
United States, and was formed by act of congress, in 1853, from the north 
part of Oregon Territory. Its early history is identified with and partially 
given in that of Oregon. Okonogan and Spokan, two of the trading posts 
of John Jacob Astor, were within its limits, and the Hudson s Bay Compa- 
ny had also numerous posts, and carried on extensive trading operations on 
its goil In 1806, the British North-west Fur Company estabhshed a trad- 
ing post on Frazer's Lake, in latitude 54°, which was the first settlement^ ot 
any kind made by the Anglo-Saxon race west of the Rocky Mountains. 
About the year 1839, missions were established by Protestants and Catholics, 
among the Indians of the country. -r. ,, xi. tt -i. j 

Down to the period of the administration of President Polk, the United 
States government claimed latitude 54° 40' as the northern boundary. _ Then 
the long dispute was settled by fixing upon the 49th parallel, and giving up 
Vancouver's Island to the British. 

The Cascade range of mountains enters it from Oregon, and runs its entire 
length north and south. In a general description, the face of the country 
is mountainous, and resembles Oregon, excepting that the Blue Mountain 
range is more scattered north of the Columbia. Mount Olympus, the high- 
est peak of the Coast range, is 8,197 feet high: several of those of the Cas- 
cade range are clothed in perpetual snow, among which are Mount St. Helen a, 
a volcanic peak, and Mount Eainer, each estimated at about 13,000 feet m 
altitude. The Pacific coast is not so abruptly mountainous as that of Ore- 
gon, and can be traveled almost its entire length on a beautiful sand beach. 
It shares with Oregon the grand scenery of the Columbia, which is its prin- 
cipal river, and its main branches rise within it. On the rivers are many 
falls of magnitude: one of these, the celebrated Snoqualmie, in about 4< 
40' N. lat., and 121° 30' W. long., has a perpendicular fall of 260 feet. The 
mountain scenery of the country is surpassingly beautiful. 

" The climate is similar to that of Oregon, with some variations caused by differ- 



tjQ2 WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 

ence of latitude and local peculiarities. It is, however, in all parts of the territo- 
ry, much milder than in the same parallels of latitudes east of the Rocky Moun- 
tains. 

The soil of all the prairie lands, with the exception of those directly around Puget 
Sound, is exceedingly fertile. Those of the sound are of a sandy, gravelly nature, 
not readily cultivated, but producing enormous fir and cedar trees. The soil on the 
mountains is generally very rich; but the dense growth of forest deters the emi- 
grant from attempting clearings on a large extent, as the fine, fertile plains and 
prairie oSer far greater inducements. Fruit of various kinds, particularly apples, 
can be cultivated very readily, and in the greatest perfection. Indian corn does 
not thrive well, as the seasons are not hot enough ; but wheat, barley, oats, and 
potatoes yield the most abundant crops, of the finest quality. The potatoes, in 
particular, are surpassingly fine. The wheat grown on the Columbia, called 
Oregon wheat, is known for its superior excellence. 

Although the territory is a very mountainous country, yet there are many im- 
mense plains and prairies; and, by reference to the map, it will be seen that innu- 
merable streams, like veins, permeate the whole region, and each of them, from the 
largest to the smallest, flows in its course through rich and fertile plains, of vari- 
ous sizes, lying between the mountains. Governor Stevens, in January, 1854, 
writing of the territory, says of the waters of Puget Sound, and the adjacent ones 
of Hood's Canal, Admiralty Inlet, and Fuca Straits, ' that their maritime advan- 
tages are very great, in afibrding a series of harbors almost unequaled in the world 
for capacity, safety, and facility of access, and they are in the immediate neighbor- 
hood to what are now the best whaling grounds of the Pacific. That portion of 
Washington Territory lying between the Cascade Mountains and the ocean, 
although equaling, in richness of soil and ease of transportation, the best lands of 
Oregon, is heavily timbered, and time and labor are required for clearing its for- 
ests and opening the earth to the production of its fruits. The great body of the 
country, on the other hand, stretching eastward from that range to the Rocky 
Mountains, while it contains many fertile valleys and much land suitable to the 
farmer, is yet more especially a grazing country — one which, as its population in- 
creases, promises, in its cattle, its horses, and, above all, its wool, to open a vast 
field to American enterprise. But, in the meantime, the staple of the land must 
continue to be the one which Nature herself has planted, in the inexhaustible for- 
ests of fir, of spruce, and of cedar. Either in furnishing manufactured timber, or 
spars of the first description for vessels, Washington Territory is unsurpassed by 
any portion of the Pacific coast' 

The internal improvements of Washington Territory are progressing as fast as 
can be expected in a new and sparsely-populated country, situate so remote from 
the general government. In 1853, Governor Isaac I. Stevens, the first governor of 
the territory, surveyed a route for a Northern Pacific Railroad, and discovered » 
pass near the sources of Maria's River, suitable for a railroad, estimated to be 
2,500 feet lower than the south pass of Fremont. It is generally admitted that 
Governor Stevens' route is the best one for a railroad that has yet been discovered, 
although the great, and, in fact the principal objection urged against it is that it is 
too far north, and, consequently, will not suit the views nor accommodate the in- 
habitants of the more southern states and California. 

There is no state in the Union that has so vast a communication by water as 
Washington Territory — the Columbia River on its south, the Pacific on the west, 
and the Straits of Fuca, Hood's Canal, Admiralty Inlet, and Puget Sound on the 
north. There is not a safer entrance from the ocean in the world than Fuca 
Straits ; and the deep waters that flow through the whole of the inlets, bays, and 
sounds, enable ships of the largest class readily to approach Olympia. 

Gold and silver quartz has recently been discovered in Cascade range, near 
Natchez Pass, in immense deposits. 

Coal has been discovered of a good quality. 

Olympia is the capital of Washington. Population of the territory, in 
1863, 12,519. 



NEW MEXICO TERRITORY. 



New Mexico is older than any English settlement in North America. It 
was a Spanish province in the century before the cavaliers had landed at 
Jamestown, and the Puritans had trod the snow-clad rock of Plymouth. In 
1530, Nuno de Guzman, president of Mexico or New Spain, had in his ser- 
vice an Indian, a native of a country called Tejos or Texos, probably the 
present Texas, who informed him that when a boy he used to accompany his 
father, a merchant, on trading expeditions to a people in a country in the far 
interior, when the latter, in exchange for handsome feathers to ornament 
their heads, obtained great quantity of gold and silver; that, on one occa- 
sion, he had seen seven large towns, in which were entire streets occupied by 
people working in precious metals. That to get there, it was necessary to 
travel forty days through a wilderness, where nothing was to be obtained ex- 
cepting short grass, and then penetrate into the interior of the country by 
keeping due north. Fired by these reports, Guzman organized an army of 
400 Spaniards and 20,000 Indians, to penetrate this land of gold. He 
started from Mexico and went as far as Culiacan, the limit of his govern- 
ment, when the obstacles were such, in passing the mountains beyond, that 
his people deserted in great numbers. Moreover, he heard that his personal 
enemy, Hernando Cortez, was returning to Mexico, loaded with titles and 
favors. He gave up the expedition, and was soon after thrown into prison ; 
and the Tejos Indian died. 

In 1528, Pamphilo Narvaez, the unfortunate rival of Hernando Cortez, 
being appointed governor of Florida, set sail from St. Domingo with 400 
men in five ships, for that coast. The expedition was tragic in its results. 
Soon after discovering the mouth of the Mississippi, all had perished but 
three ; some from hunger, some by shipwreck, and some by the hostility of 
the natives. 

" There only survived Cabeza de Vaca, boatmaster, Esteva Dorantes, an 
Arabian negro, and Castillo Maldonado. At the end of eight years, these 
three men reached Mexico, having traversed on foot the American continent 
from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean. They related their adventures, 
declared that they had met with Indian tribes, some of whom cultivated 
maize, while others lived on fish and the produce of the chase; that they 
had heard of large towns with lofty houses containing many stories, and sit- 
uated in the same direction as those spoken of by the Tejos Indian." 



704 



NEW MEXICO TERRITORY. 



Mendosa, the viceroy of New Spain, had these three travelers hroughtbc- 
fore him, and communicated the information they gave him to Francisco 
Vasquez Coronado, governor of the province of Culiacan, the chief town of 
which, Culiacan, was 68 miles west of Mexico. In March, 1539, Coronado 
sent forward an exploring expedition under Father Marcos, in company with 
two other monks, the negro Esteva above spoken of, and some friendly In- 
dians. 

As he journeyed along, Father Marcos met entire populations, who re- 
ceived him with pleasure, and presented him with provisions and flowers. 
He passed into the valley of the Sonora. " The inhabitants of this valley 
were numerous and intelligent; the women wore petticoats of tanned deer- 
skin. Every morning the caciques ascended little eminences, and, for above 
an hour, would indicate aloud what each was to do during the day. At their 
religious ceremonies they stuck arrows around their temples, resembling in 
this the Zunis of the present day, who sometimes stick them round their 
altars and tombs. Father Marcos found, on the borders of this desert, other 
Indians, who were greatly surprised to see him, for they had not the slight- 
est idea of the Christians. Some of them would try to touch his garments, 
and would call him Soyota, which signifies, Man come down from heaven. 
Those Indians told him that, should he continue his route, he would soon 
enter a very extensive plain, full of large towns, which were inhabited by 
people clad in cotton, wearing gold rings and earrings, and making use of 
little blades of the same metal to scrape the perspiration off their bodies. 

Although the information given by Father Marcos is rather vague, and 
though it is scarcely possible to state precisely the route he followed, or to 
indicate the geographical positions of the countries he passed through, it is 
probable that the plain here spoken of is that of the Rio de Las Casas 
G-rande, situated 150 miles east of the Rio Sonora, which is to this day all 
covered with imposing ruins, reminding one of handsome and populous 
citi6s. 

After a few days march, Father Marcos arrived at Vacapa, now known as 
Magdalena, in Sonora, near the American line, a short distance below Tubac, 
Arizona. Here Father Marcos remained to rest himself, among a friendly 
people; but finding the negro, Esteva, was abusing hospitality, by miscon- 
ducting himself toward the native women, he sent him forward to make dis 
coveries and report. Four days afterward, the negro dispatched to Marcos 
an Indian messenger, who related wonderful things of a large town, called 
Cibola, known in the present day as Zuni, and westward of Santa Fe. "Ac- 
cording to the fashion of his tribe, the messenger's face, breast, and arms, 
were painted. Those Indians, whom the Spaniards called Pintados, lived on 
the frontiers of the seven towns forming the kingdom of Cibola; their de- 
scendants, now called Papagos and Pimas, still reside in the same country, 
which extends from the valley of Santa Cruz to the Rio Gila. Cibola, the 
first of the seven towns and capital of the kingdom of that name, was situ- 
ated thirty days' journey from Vacapa. The Pintados said they often went 
there, and were employed in tilling the ground, and received for their wages 
turquoises and tanned hides. 

An Indian of this town told Father Marcos, that ' Cibola was a great city, 
densely peopled, with a great number of streets and squares ; that in some 
quarters there were very large houses, with ten stories, where the chieftains 
assembled, at certain times of the year, to discuss public affairs. The doors 
and fronts of those houses were adorned with turquoises. The inhabitants 



NEW MEXICO TERRITORY. 705 

had white skin, like the Spaniards, and wore wide cotton tunics that reached 
to their feet. These garments were fastened round the neck by means of a 
button, and were ornamented at the waist with a belt studded with very fine 
turquoises. Over those tunics some wore excellent cloaks, and others very 
richly wrought cow-hides.' The same Indian added: 'that toward the 
south-east, there existed a kingdom called Marata, with large populations 
and considerable towns, the houses of which had several stories; that these 
peoples were continually at war with the sovereign of the seven towns ; and 
that, in the direction of the south-west, on the Rio Verde, was another king- 
dom, called Totonteac, which was as wealthy as it was densely peopled, and 
whose inhabitants were dressed in fine cloth.' Although these narratives 
were exaggerated, it is not less a fact that all those countries were thickly 
peopled, intersected with roads, and studded with towns." 

Having rested himself. Father Marcos pushed forward to rejoin his negro, 
and was everywhere welcomed by the natives until he had reached, on the 
9th of May, the last desert that separated him from Cibola. He there had 
stopped to dine at a farm house, when he was astonished by the entrance of 
Esteva's companions, covered with perspiration, faint and trembling from 
fatigue and fear. He reported that Esteva had been imprisoned, and then 
killed by the people of Cibola, together with several of his Indian followers. 
The negro, probably, had been guilty of some misconduct. Marcos, in con- 
sternation, took the back track to Culiacan. 

" Captain-General Vasquez Coronado, encouraged by the accounts given bv 
Father Marcos, and hoping to discover new territories, at once organized in Ne\V 
Spain a little army, which assembled at Compostella, and on the day following 
Easter, 1540, he put himself at the head of his troops, composed of 150 horsemen'^ 
200 archers, and 800 Indians. Having reached Culiacan, the army halted to take 
rest At the end of a fortnight, Coronado moved forward, accompanied by fifty 
horsemen, a few foot soldiers, and his best friends, among whom was P"'ather Mar- 
cos. The command of the remainder of the troops was confided to Don Tristan 
d' Arellano, with orders to leave fifteen days after, and to follow the same route as 
the captain-general. 

After a month of fatigue and of privations of all kinds, Vasquez Coronado ar- 
rived at Chichilticale. This name, which signifies Red Town, was given to this 
locality because a large house of that color was to be seen there, which was in- 
habited by an entire tribe that came from Cibola, where the last desert begins. At 
this place the Spaniards lost several horses, and even some men, from want of food. 
Nevertheless, encouraged by their chief, they continued their march, and, a fort- 
night after they had left Chichilticale, they arrived within twenty-six miles of Ci- 
bola. They saw for the first time the natives of this singular kingdom ; but the 
latter immediately took to flight, spreading the alarm throughout the country by 
means of great fires whicti they kindled on the high mountains — a custom in use 
to this day among the tribes of New Mexico. 

Next day, Coronado came within sight of Cibola; the inhabitants of the province 
had all assembled and awaited the Spaniards with a steady attitude. F'ar from 
accepting the proposals of peace which were offered to them, they threatened the 
interpreters with death. The Spaniards then, crying out, ' San Jago ! San Jago ! ' 
attacked the Indians with impetuosity, and notwithstanding a vigorous resistance, 
Coronado entered the town of Cibola as conqueror." 

The remainder of the troops, under d' Arellano, after a march of 975 miles by 
a different route, in which they crossed many rivers flowing into the California 
Gulf, rejoined the main army at Cibola. On their way they founded the town of 
San Hieronymo, and in that vicinity found Indian agricultural tribes who tamed 
eagles, as is yet the custom among some tribes of New Mexico. 

Coronado now sent Alvarado, his lieutenant, to conquer the province of Tiguex, 
on the Rio Grande, which he subdued after a campaign of fifty days. "It con- 
45 



^QQ NEW MEXICO TERRITORY. 

tained twelve towns governed by a council of old men. The whole community 
helped to construct each house ; the women made the mortar and built up the walls, 
and the men brought the wood and prepared the timbers. Underneath the houses 
and the court-yards were subterraneous stoves, or drying-places, paved with large 
polished flagstones. In the middle was a furnace on which they threw, from time 
to time, a handful of thyme, which was sufficient to keep up an intense heat there, 
so that one felt as if in a bath. The men spent a considerable part of their time 
in those places; but the women could not enter there, except to carry food to their 
husbands or sons. The men spun, wove, and attended to the tillage of their 
grounds ; the women occupied themselves with the care of their children and house- 
hold affairs; they were the mistresses of the house and kept it remarkably clean. 
In the large houses, each family had several rooms; one served as a sleeping-room, 
another as a kitchen, and a third for the purpose of grinding wheat. In the latter 
was an oven and three large stones; three women would seat themselves before 
these stones; the first would crush the grain, the second bruise it, and the third 
pulverize it completely. While they were thus employed, a man, seated at the 
door, played on a kind of bagpipes, and the women worked to measure, all three 
singing together, and marking the rhythm by striking with their tools the wheat 
they were grinding." 

The young girls went wholly naked during even the most severe weather, and 
were not allowed to cover themselves until they were married. The object of this 
was that their shame might be exposed in case they misbehaved — a kind of a guard 
to chastity. " The young people could only enter the married state with the per- 
mission of the old men who governed the town. The young man had then to spin 
and weave a mantle ; when completed, the girl who was destined to become his 
bride was brought to him ; he wrapped the mantle round her shoulders and she 
thus became his wife. 

From Tiguex, the Spaniards went to Cicuye — now called Pecos — which they also 
subdued. From thence, Coronado started for Quivira, with a few men chosen 
among his best soldiers, postponing, until the following spring, the conquest of the 
whole province. In 1542, the Spaniards found themselves masters of almost all 
New Mexico, whose center was formed by the province of Tiguex, around which 
were grouped seventy-one towns distributed among fourteen provinces, viz : Cibola, 
which contained seven towns; Tucayan, seven ; Acuco, one; Tiguex, twelve; Cu- 
tahaco* eight; Quivix, seven; the Snowy Mountains, seven; Ximena, three; Cicuye, 
one ; Hemes, seven ; Aquas Calientes, three ; Yuque-yunque, six ; Braba, one, and 
Chia, one. Besides these seventy-one towns, there were many others scattered 
outside this circle; as also several tribes living in tents." 

In April, 1543, Coronado returned with his followers to Culiacan. "Juan de 
Padilla^ of the order of Saint Francis, preferred remaining at Quivira to preach the 
gospel to the Indians, and became a martyr. Brother Luis, of the same order, 
went to Cicuye, but was never more heard of Such was the end of this expedi- 
tion, which, instead of having a favorable result for the Spaniards, only tended to 
arouse against them the profound antipathy of the natives, who had been very ill- 
treated by the conquerors. 

In 1581, a band of adventurers, commanded by Francisco de Leyva Bonillo, took 
possession of part of the province of Tiguex, and finding its productions, riches, 
and inhabitants very like those of Mexico, they called it New Mexico."* 

" In the year 1595, Don Juan de Onate de Zacatecas, at the head of a band of 
two hundred soldiers, established the first legal colony in the province, over which 
he was established as governor. He took with him a number of Catholic priests 
to establish missions among the Indians, with power sufficient to promulgate the 
gospel at the point of the bayonet, and administer baptism by the force of arms. 

The colony progressed rapidly; settlements extended in every quarter; and, as 
tradition relates, many valuable mines were discovered and worked. The poor 1 n- 

* Abridged from Domenech's Seven Years' Residence in the Deserts of North America. 
The Abbe Domeneeh derived this history mainly from the " Narrative of the Expedition to 
Cibola ; by Pedro de Castaneda Nagera." He was in Coronado's army, and this narrative 
was published in Paris in 1837. 



* NEW MEXICO TERRITORY. 70'J 

dians were enslaved, and, under the lash, were forced to most laborious tasks in 
tlie mines, until goaded to desperation. In the summer of 1680, a general insur- 
rection of all the tribes and Pueblos took place throughout the province. General 
hostilities having commenced, and a large number of Spaniards massacred all over 
the province, the Indians laid siege to the capital, Santa Fe, which the governor 
was obliged to evacuate, and retreat south three hundred and twenty miles, where 
the refugees then founded the town of El Faso del Norte. For ten years the coun- 
try remained in possession of the Indians, when it was reconquered by the Span- 
iards. In 1698, the Indians rose, but the insurrection was soon quelled. After 
this they were treated with more humanity, each pueblo being allowed a le<ague or 
two of land, and permitted to govern themselves. Their rancorous hatred for their 
conquerors, however, never entirely subsided ; yet no further outbreak occurred 
until 1837. In that year a revolution took place, by which the government of the 
country was completely overthrown, and most atrocious barbarities committed by 
the insurgents, including the Pueblo Indians. The governor, Perez, was savagely 
put to death — his head cut oflf and used as a football by the insurgents in their 
camp. The ex-governor, Abrew, was butchered in a more barbarous manner. His 
hands were cut off; his tongue and eyes were pulled out ; his enemies, at the same 
time, taunting him with opprobrious epithets. The next season Mexican authority 
was again established over the province." 

The first American who ever crossed the desert plains, intervening between 
New Mexico and the settlements on the Mississippi River, was one James 
Pursley. While wandering over the wild and then unexplored regions west 
of the Mississippi, he fell in with some Indians near the head-waters of the 
Platte River, in the Rocky Mountains, whom he accompanied, in 1805, to 
Santa Fe, where he remained several years. In 1804, a merchant of Kas- 
kaskia, named Morrison, having heard by the trappers, through the Indians, 
of this isolated province, dispatched a French Creole, named La Lande, with 
some goods, up the Platte, with directions to make his way to Santa Fe. La 
Lande never returned to his employer, to account for the proceeds of his 
adventure, but settled in Santa Fe, grew rich by trading, and died some 20 
years after. In 1806, the celebrated Captain Pike visited this country : his 
exciting descriptions, as given in his narrative, roused the western country, 
and eventually led to the overland trade, by caravans, with western Missouri, 
known as the Santa Fe trade, which finally grew into an immense business, 
employing an army of wagoners, and amounting in annual value to four or 
five millions of dollars. Santa Fe was not entirely the consumer of these 
importations, but rather the depot from whence they were distributed to 
Chihuahua and other portions of northern Mexico. 

When Texas achieved her independence she included New Mexico within 
the statutory limits of the republic, although Santa Fe had never been con- 
quered or settled by Texans. A desert or uninhabited country of 600 miles 
intervened between Austin, the Texan capital, and Santa Fe. The Texans 
wished to divert the overland trade which was going on between the Mis- 
sourians and the New Mexicans to their country, and their secretary of war 
proposed, as a preparatory step, the construction of a military road from 
Austin to Santa Fe. In the spring of 1841, extensive preparations were 
made in Texas for an armed visit to Santa Fe, the objects being to induce 
the New Mexicans to acknowledge the right of Texas to complete jurisdic- 
tion over them, and to open a trade with the people. On the 20th of June, 
270 armed Texans, under Gen. Hugh M'Leod, started from Brushy creek, 
near Austin, en route for Santa Fe. This expedition, known as the " Santa 
Fe expedition," was unfortunate in its results. The upshot of it was, that 
they encountered great hardships on the deserts, and were finally, when in a 
half starved condition, near San Miguel, induced by treachery to surrender 



jQg NEW MEXICO TERRITORY. 

to the Mexicans under Armijo, governor of New Mexico. Some few wore 
shot, but the great body of them, to the number of 187, were sent to Mexico, 
and thrown into the prisons of Santiago, Puebla and Perote. 

In 1846, at the commencement of the war with Mexico, the army of the 
west was organized, to conquer New Mexico and California. This army was 
composed of a mounted regiment of Missourians, and a battalion each of 
infantry, dragoons, and light artillery. After a fifty days' march from Fort 
Leavenworth, of nearly 900 miles, they entered Santa Fe on the 18th of 
August. 

•' On their arrival, the American commander, General Kearney, in accordance 
with his directions, proclaimed himself governor of New Mexico. ' You are now,' 
said he, 'American citizens ; you no longer owe allegiapce to the Mexican govern- 
ment' The principal men then took the oath of allegiance to the United States, 
and whoever was false to this allegiance, the people were told, would be punished 
as traitors. It was questioned whether the administration had not transcended 
its powers in thus annexing a territory to the Union without the permission of con- 
gress. „ T. T- ,;r . 

General Kearney, having appointed Charles Bent governor of New Mexico, on 
the 25th of September, took a small force with him and proceeded overland to Cal- 
ifornia. Col. Price arrived soon after at Santa Fe with recruits. The Navajo In- 
dians liavin"- commenced hostilities against the New Mexicans, ' new inhabitants 
of the United States,' Col. Doniphan, who had been leit in command, set out west- 
ward with the Missouri regiment to make peace with them. Winter was fast ap- 
proaching, and after sufifering incredible hardships in crossing the mountains, 
poorly clad as they were, among snows and mountain storms, they finally 
accomplished their object. Capt. Keid, of one of the divisions of thirty men, vol- 
unteered to accompany Sandoval, a Navajo chief, five days through the mountain 
hi"bts, to a grand gathering of the men and women of the tribe. They were com- 
pletely in the power of the Indians, but they won their hearts by their gayety and 
confidence. Most of them had never seen a white man. Reid and his compan- 
ions joined the dance, sung their country's songs, and, what pleased the Navajoea 
most interchanged with them their costume. On the 22d of November, a treaty 
was made in form, by which the three parties, Americans, New Mexicans and Na- 
vaioes, agreed to live in perpetual peace. ^ , -r. • . j x 

"By the middle of December, Col. Doniphan, leaving Col. Price m command at 
Santa Fe, commenced his march with his regiment south to Chihuahua, and on his 
route met and defeated superior forces of the enemy at Bracito, and at the bacra- 

In the meantime, the New Mexicans secretly conspired to throw off the yoke. Sim- 
ultaneously, on the 19th of January, in the valley of Taos, massacres occurred at 
Fernandez, when were cruelly murdered Governor Bent, Sheriff Lee, and tour 
others ; at Arroyo Hondo, five Americans were killed, and a few others in the 
vicinity. Col. Price, on receiving the intelligence, marched from Santa Fe, met 
and defeated the insurrectionists in several engagements in the valley, with a loss 
of about three hundred. The Americans lost in killed and wounded about sixty. 
Fifteen of the insurrectionists were executed." _ ^ c iota 

New Mexico was ceded to the United States by the treaties with Mexico ot 1«48 
and of 1854 The cession of 1854 included that narrow strip of territory south 
of the Gila and west of the Rio Grande, known as the "Gadsden Purchase, or 
Arizona In 1850, a territorial government was established over New Mexico. 



NEW MEXICO TERRITORY. 709 

The present American territory of New Mexico comprises but a small 
part of the original Spanish province of that name. This territory, con- 
sidered as a whole, " is a region of high table lands, crossed by moun- 
tain ranges, and barren to the last degree." It has scarce a single wa- 
ter commuaicatLon of consequence with the rest of the world. The famous 




The Giant Cactus. 

Rio Grande is shallow, full of sand bars, and at times almost too low to float 
an Indian canoe. Many of the streams run in deep, frightful chasms, down 
which it is impossible, for days of travel, to penetrate. There is not enough 
fertile land ever to support any but a slight agricultural population, and very 
little timber excepting the mesquit — a thorny, disagreeable tree, that does 
most of its growing underground: its roots being multitudinous, twisting 
and burrowing in all directions, and of no use but for fuel. Beside this is 
the cactus, in many varieties, that shown in the engraving being confined 
within narrow lines of latitude. Mescal., a kind of whisky, of a most pun- 
i^ent, acrid flavor, is made from some varieties of this plant. 

" The climate of New Mexico is unsurpassingly pure and healthy. A sultry day 
is very rare. The summer nights are cool and pleasant. The winters are long, 
but uniform, and the atmosphere of an extraordinary dryness; and there is 1)ut 
little rain, except from July to October. The general range of the thermometer is 
from 10 deg. to 75 deg. above Fahrenheit. Fevers are uncommon, and instances 
of remarkable longevity are frequent. Persons withered almost to mummies are 
met with occasionally, whose extraordinary age is shown by their recollection of 
certain notable events, which have taken place in times far remote. 

Agriculture is in a very primitive and unimproved state, the hoe being alom- 
used by a greater part of the peasantry. Wheat and Indian corn are the princi- 
pal staples; cotton, flax, and tobacco, although indigenous, are not cultivated : tlie 
soil is finely adapted to the Irish potato. The most important natural product of 
the soil is its pasturage. .Most of the high table plains aflbrd the finest grazing, 
while, for want of water, they are utterly useless for other purposes. That sc;inty 
moisture which suffices to bring forth the natural vegetation, is insufficient for agri- 



710 NEW MEXICO TERRITORY. 

cultural productions, without the aid of irrigation. The high prairies of all this 
region, differ greatly from those of our border in the general character of their 
vegetation. They are remarkably destitute of the gay flowering plants for which 
the former are so celebrated, being mostly clothed with ditferent species of a highly 
nutritious grass called grama, which is of a very short and curly quality. The 
highlands, upon which alone this sort of grass is produced, being seldom verdant 
until after the rainy season sets in, the grama is only in perfection from August to 
October. IJut being rarely nipped by the frost until the rains are over, it cures 
upon the ground and remains excellent hay — equal, if not superior, to that which 
is cut and stacked from our western prairies. Although the winters are rigorous, 
the feeding of stock is almost entirely unknown in New Mexico; nevertheless, the 
extensive herds of the country, not only of cattle and sheep, but of mules and 
horses, generally maintain themselves in excellent condition upon the dry pastur- 
age alone through the cold season, and until the rains start up the green grass 
again the following summer. 

The mechanic arts are very rude, even sawed lumber being absolutely unknown. 
The New Mexicans are celebrated for the manufacture of a beautiful serape or 
blanket, which is woven into gaudy, rainbow-like hues. Their domestic goods are 
nearly all wool, the manufacture of which is greatly embarrassed for the want of 
adequate machinery. 

The system of Peon slavery existed under the Mexican dominion. By the local 
laws, a debtor was imprisoned for debt until it was paid ; or, if the creditor chose, 
he took the debtor as a servant to work out his claim. This system operated with 
a terrible severity upon the unfortunate poor, who, although they worked for fixed 
wages, received so small a compensation, that if the debt was of any amount, it 
compelled them to a perpetual servitude, as he received barely sufficient for food 
and clothing." 

Evidences of volcanic action abound in various parts of New Mexico, and 
the country is rich in gold, silver, and copper. Anthracite coal of an excel- 
lent quality is found near Santa Fe. Through its mineral wealth it may 
eventually have a considerable population ; but most of the food to support 
it will require to be transported thither from the agricultural districts of the 
Mississippi valley. 

The population of New Mexico has been nearly stationary for a long 
period. In 1860, it was ascertained to be about 93,000, viz: 42,000 Indians, 
about half civilized; 41,000 peons; and 7,300 white native citizens, mostly 
of Mexican blood. The number of Americans in the whole country, is less 
than is contained in ordinary agricultural townships with us. 



Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, sometimes written Santa Fe de 
San Francisco — i. e. Holy Faith of St. Francis — is the only town of import- 
ance. It is, by air lines, 660 miles west of the Arkansas frontier, 450 south- 
easterly from Salt Lake City, 900 east-south-east of San Francisco, and 260 
north of El Paso, the nearest point in Mexico. " It is on the site of an 
ancient Indian pueblo, some fifteen miles east of the Rio del Norte, at the 
base of a snow-clad mountain, and contains a little over three thousand souls, 
and with its corporate surrounding villages about double that number. The 
town is irregularly laid out, and is a wretched collection of mud houses, 
much scattered with intervening corn-fields. The only attempt at architec- 
iural compactness, consists of four tiers of buildings around the public 
square, comprising the governor's house, the custom house, barracks, etc." 

In the center of the public square "all the neighboring rancheros assemble to 
sell the produce of their farms and industry. All day long files of donkeys may 
be seen arriving there, laden with barrels of Taos whisky, bales of goods, forage, 
wood, earthen jars, melons, grapes, red and green pimentos, onions, pasteques, eggs, 



NEW MEXICO TERRITORY. rjH 

cheese, tobacco, and pinones (fruit of the pine), Pimis monophjUa. These pinones 
are generally baked in the oven, or roasted on cinders, as a means of preserving 
them better. Besides those provisions, the Ir^anta Fe market also affords a great 
variety of bread and meat. The Indians of the pueblos, too, carry quantities of 
fish there, either fresh or dried in tlie sun. In the evening, after the Avyehis^ the 
square is filled with loungers, who chat, play, laugh, and smoke, until the hour for the 
fandango; for be it known, the young people of Mexico could not live if they did 
not dance at least 365 fandangos every year. At Santa Fe, as in Texas, and in 
all the provinces of Mexico, the women go to the fandangos, with their rebozo 
(mantilla), and arrayed in a light cool costume appropriate to the occasion ; seated 
round the garden, or hall, where the dance is to take place, they smoke cigarettes 
and chat very loudly while awaiting the cavaliers' invitation." 




An Indian Pueblo or Town. 



In Spanish the term pueblo means the people and their towns; and in 
New Mexico it is applied to the Christianized Indians and to their villages. 

" When the country was first discovered, these Indians lived in comfortable 
houses, and cultivated the soil Indeed, now they are the best horticulturists in 

New Mexico, furnishing most 
of the fruits and vegetables to 
be found in the markets. Thev 
also cultivate the grape, and 
have extensive herds of cattle, 
horses, etc. They are remark- 
able for sobriety, honesty, mor- 
ality, and industry, and are 
much braver than the other 
classes of New Mexicans, and in 
the war with Mexico, fought 
with desperation compared to 
those in the south. At the time 
of the conquest, they must have 
been a very powerful people, 
numbering near one hundred 
villages, as their ruins would 
indicate. The population of their villages or pueblos, average about five hundred 
Bouls. They assert that they are the descendants of Montezuma. They profess 
the Catholic faith, but this, doubtless, reaches no farther than understanding its 
formalities, and at the same time, they all worship the sun. 

They were only nominally under the jui'isdiction of the Mexican government, 
many features of their ancient customs, in both government and religion, being 
retained. Each pueblo was under the control of a cacique chosen by themselves, 
who, with his council, had charge of the interior police of the village. One of their 
regulations was to appoint a secret watch to suppress vice and disorder of every 
description, and especially to keep an eye over the young men and women of the 
village. 

"^Their villages are built with adobes, and with great regularity ; sometimes they 
have but one large house, with several stories, each story divided into apartments, 
in which the whole village reside. Instead of doors in front, they use trap-doors 
in the roofs of their houses, to which they mount up on a ladder, which is drawn 
up at night for greater security. Their dress consists of moccasins, short breeche.-*, 
and woolen jackets or blankets ; they generally wear their hair long. Bows and 
arrows and a lance, and sometimes a gun, constitute their weapons. Thev mjinn- 
fiicture blankets, as well as other woolen stuffs, crockery ware, and coarse potttM- v. 
The dress of many is like the Mexican; but the majority retain their aboriginal 
costume. 

Among the villages of the Pueblos Indians, was that of the Pecos tribe, twentj-- 
five miles east of .Santa Fe, which gradually dwindled away under the inroads of 
the Comanches and other causes, until about the year 1838, when having been re- 
duced to only about a dozen souls of all ages, they abandoned the place. 



Y12 NEW MEXICO TERRITORY. 

Many tales are told of the singular habits of this ill-fated tribe, which must, no 
doubt, have tended to hasten its utter annihilation. A tradition was prevalent 
among them that Montezuma had kiadled a holy fire, and enjoined their ancestors 
not to suffer it to be extinguished until he should return to deliver his people from 
the yoke of the Spaniards. In pursuance of these commands, a constant watch 
had been maintained for ages to prevent the fire from going out; and, as tradition 
further informed them, that Montezuma would appear with the sun, the deluded 
Indians were to be seen every clear morning upon the terraced roofs of their 
houses, attentively watching the appearance of the ' king of light,' in hopes of 
seeing him accompanied by their immortal sovereign. This consecrated fire was 
down in a subterranean vault, where it was kept silently smouldering under a cov- 
ering of ashes, in the basin of a small altar. Some say that they never lost hope 
in the final coming of Montezuma until, by some accident or other, or a lack of a 
sufficiency of warriors to watch it, the fire became extinguished; and that it was 
this catastrophe that induced them to abandon their village. No other pueblo ap- 
pears to have adopted this extraordinary superstition ; like Pecoa, however, they 
have all held Montezuma to be their perpetual sovereign. It would likewise appear 
that they all worship the sun; for it is asserted to be their regular practice to turn 
the face toward the east at sunrise. 

The wild tribes who inhabit or extend their incursions into New Mexico, are 
the Navajoes, the Apaches, the Yutas, the Kiawas, and the Comanches. The 
Navajoes are estimated at about ten thousand, and reside in the main range of the 
Cordilleras, two hundred miles west of Santa Fe, on the Rio Colorado, near the 
region from whence historians say the Aztecs emigrated to Mexico. They are sup- 
posed to be the remnants of that justly celebrated nation of antiquity who re- 
mained in the north. Although living in rude wigwams, they excel all Indian na- 
tions in their manufactures. They are still distinguished for some exquisite styles 
of cotton textures, and display considerable ingenuity in embroidering with feath- 
ers the skins of animals. The serape Navajo (Navajo blanket) is of so dense a 
texture as to be frequently waterproof, and some of the finer qualities ])ring sixty 
dollars each, among the Mexicans. Notwithstanding their wandering habits, they 
cultivate the different grains and vegetables, and possess extensive and superior 
herds of horses, mules, cattle, sheep, and goats. 

The Apaches are mainly west of the Rio del Norte, and are the most powerful 
and vasjrant of the Indian tribes of northern Mexico, and number, it is estimated, 
fifteen thousand souls, of whom two thousand are warriors. They cultivate and 
manufacture nothing, and appear to depend entirely upon pillage for subsistence. 
The depredations of the Apaches have been of so long a duration that beyond 
the immediate vicinity of the towns, the whole country, from New Mexico to the 
borders of Durango, is almost entirely depopulated." 



The population of New Mexico, other than the savage tribes, is mostly 
east of the Rocky Mountains, in the valley of the Rio Grande and its tribu- 
taries. It is almost exclusively confined to towns and villages, the suburbs 
of which are generally farms, a mode of living indispensable for protection 
against the savages. 

Taos, north of Santa Fe, is a beautiful valley of nine miles in length, and 
includes several villages and settlements. The valley grows wheat of an ex- 
cellent quality, produced on irrigated land. 

La Gran Qiiivira, about 100 miles south of Santa Fe, are ruins of an 
oncient town, which was supposed to have been reared for mining purposes. 
The style of architecture is superior to anything at present in New Mexico. 
Tt> be seen are the remains of Catholic churches, and aqueducts leading to 
the mountains, eight or ten miles distant. Tradition says, that, in the gen- 
i*r:^l niiissacre of 1680, every soul save one perished. 

El P-larcr, 27 miles south of Santa Fe, is an important mine, from which, 
siuce its discoverv in 1828, half a million of gold has been taken out. 



NEW MEXICO TERRITORY. (^^3 

Alhiqnerqite is in the most fertile locality of the Rio Grande, and although 
not as important a place as Santa Fe, it is more central. Including the neigh- 
boring rancheros, it has a population of 1,000 souls. "Albuqurque for a 
Mexican town, is tolerably well built. Its buildings, like those inhabited by 
Mexicans, are of a right parallelopipedon shape, constructed of adobes 
(blocks of sun dried mud), and arranged generally on the four sides of a 
rectangle, thus creating an interior court (j)ateo), upon which nearly every 
one of the apartments opens. There is generally but one exterior or street 
entrance ; and this is generally quite wide and high, the usual width being 
about six feet, and the hight seven. They appear to be made thus wide, at 
least as far as I have been able to discover, to enable the burros (asses) and 
other animals to go through with their packs. They are generally strongly 
secured by double doors. There are two or three buildings in the town with 
extensive fronts and portalles (porches), which look, for this country, very 
well — one of them being the house, formerly occupied by Governor Armijo. 
There is a military post at this place, garrisoned by U. S. troops." 

Acoma^ in the same vicinity, is one of the most ancient and extraordinary 
of the Indian pueblos. "Acoma is situated on an isolated rock which rises 
perpendicularly to a hight of 360 feet above the plain, and appears like an 
island in the middle of a lake. The summit of this rock is perfectly hori- 
zontal, and its superficies is about sixty acres. To reach it you must climb 
over hillocks of sand, heaped up by the wind to a third of the hight; the 
two other thirds of the route are hewn in the rock in the shape of a spiral 
staircase. The town is composed of blocks, each of which contains sixty or 
seventy houses, and a large Catholic church, with two towers and very pretty 
spires. The houses are three stories high, and have windows only in the 
upper one; in construction, they are quite similar to those of the other 
pueblos of New Mexico. Acoma is in all probability the Acuco spoken of 
by the ancient Spanish historians, which, according to them, was situated 
between Cibola and Tiguex, and built at the top of perpendicular rocks, whose 
summits could only be reached by means of 300 steps hewn in the rock, at 
the end of which steps was a kind of ladder eighteen feet high, also formed 
by holes cut in the rock. Although this pueblo was deemed impregnable, 
yet the inhabitants placed huge stones around it, that they might roll them 
down on any assailant who was bold enough to scale this extraordinary 
stronghold. Near the dwellings might be seen arable lands sufficient to grow 
the necessary quantity of maize for the wants of the population ; also large 
cisterns to save the rain waters. The Acucos were called banditti in all the 
surrounding provinces, into which they made frequent excursions." 

Lagnna, a few miles north of Acoma, is another ancient Indian pueblo, 
and contains about a thousand inhabitants, noted for their honesty, sobriety, 
and industry. " It has the appearance of one of those old German cities on 
the banks of the Rhine perched on a mountain peak. The houses, with 
their graduated stories, seem piled one above the other, producing the effect 
of an immense amphitheater; the river bathes the foot of the eminence on 
which Laguna is built, and flows in tortuous windings through the plain." 

Zunl, perhaps the most important of all the pueblos, is west of Laguna. 
Its present population is about 2,000. "The houses are of the same style 
as those of the other Indian pueblos; their graduated stories are almost all 
festooned with long garlands of red pimentos, that dry in the sun. The 
town possesses a Catholic church thirty-three yards in length, by nine in 
width, it is built of adobes^ and behind its sole altar is suspended a paint- 



714 NEW MEXICO TERRITORY. 

ing representing Our Lady of G-uadaloupe, the patroness of Mexico; a few 
Btatues surround the painting, but the lateral walls are completely bare. The 
governor lives in a house three stories high, wherein the caciques or chiefs 
of the government frequently assemble. The Zunis have a mania for taming 
eagles, which they catch while yet very young on the neighboring moun- 
tains ; multitudes of these birds are to be seen on the terraces of the houses, 
spreading their enormous wings as they bask in the sun." 

Zuni Vieja, or Old Zuni, the ancient Cibola, stood in the immediate vicin- 
ity. The ruins are yet to be seen. They are in the center of a plateau, 
elevated more than 900 feet above the plains, to which access is gained only 
by climbing almost inaccessible rocks. It was only in 1694, that it became 
definitely conquered by the Spaniards. 



• ANTIQUITIES OP NEW MEXICO. 

Much of New Mexico is as yet unexplored ; but the various expeditions 
of the scientific corps of the U. S. army have, of late years, given us the 
unexpected information of the existence of antiquities in the heart of our 
continent, as surprising and worthy of curiosity as those in Central America. 
In the region north and east of the Gila, and east of the Rio Colorado, in a 
space of some few hundred square miles, the ruins of ancient walled cities 
to the number, it is estimated by an ofl&cer of the topographical corps of en- 
gineers, of 1,000, are found at this day. These show that the country, at 
some very remote and unknown era, perhaps thousands of years since, was 
densely populated, and by a race to a considerable degree civilized. The 
natives living in the pueblos of that region, can give no information respect- 
ing them. Their builders were far in advance of any people found when 
the country was conquered by the Spaniards, more than 300 years ago. 
Their masonry and carpentery show much skill. Beautiful and highly orna- 
mented pottery also is found in the vicinity of these cities ; but in every in- 
stance it is in fragments, not a single perfect utensil having ever been dis- 
covered. The immense amount of this broken pottery strewn around would 
indicate, at some time or other, a regular sacking of these places. The cli- 
mate and soil must have changed since this mysterious race dwelt here; for 
it is now a barren, rainless region, incapable of supporting anything like the 
population these ruins indicate. The extreme dryness of the climate has, 
doubtless, preserved the woodwork to our time. 

The journal of Lieut. James H. Simpson, of the corps of U. S. topographi- 
cal engineers, of a military reconnoissance from Santa Fe to the Navajo coun- 
try, in the year 1849, and published by government, first gave to the world 
detailed descriptions of some of these «:uined cities. Others on a larger scale 
and more important have been found farther west, of which descriptions have 
not as yet been published. We derive the facts and illustrations given below 
from the work alluded to. 

The command, consistingof 175 men under Col. J. M.Washington, left Santa 
Fe on the 16th of August. They passed southerly and westerly, and on 
the 26th came to the highest point of land dividing the tributaries of the 
Gulf of Mexico from those of the Pacific, when they commenced gradually 
descending the western slope, and reached the Rio Chaco, a tributary of the 
San Juan. Here, upon the Rio Chaco, were found a number of the ancient 
towns or pueblos, named respectively, Pueblo Pintado, Weje-gi, Una Vida, 



NEW MEXICO TERRITOKT. 



715 



Hungo Pavie, Chettro Kettle, Del Arroyo, and De Penasca Blanca. These 
ruins are between 36° and 37° N. lat., and near 108° W. long. "They are 
evidently," says Simpson, "from the similarity of their style and mode of 
construction, of a common origin. They discover in the materials of which 

they are composed, as well as 
in the grandeur of their de- 
sign and superiority of their 
workmanship, a condition of 
architectural excellence be- 
yond the power of the Indians 
or New Mexicans of the pres- 
ent day to exhibit." He fur- 
ther adds there is a great deal 
to strengthen the hypothesis 
that they are of Aztec origin. 
The largest was De Penasca 
Blanca, which in circuit was 
1,700 feet, and the number of 
rooms on the first floor 112. 
It difi'ered in its walls from the other pueblos: the stones composing them 
being of one uniform character; but in this there is a regular alternation of 
large and small stones, the effect of which is unique and beautiful. The 
first pueblo examined was Pintado. We annex Simpson's description: 




Ancient Pueblo.* 

The engr.^ving shows Hungo Pavie, i. e. Crooked Nose, in 
Ub original conditlou. 




^Dnnn 



GROUND PLAN 
OF THE 
PUEDLO HuNGO PaVIE, (CroOKED NoSE). 

Caiion de Chaco. 



.Bums of wall enclosing court. 



I' I I 1 1 



Scale of feet 



I I h T 



DDD 





"After partaking of some refreshments, I started oif, with high expectations — my assist- 
ants, the Messrs. Kern, accompanying me — to examine the ruins of Pueblo Pintado. We 
found them to more than answer our expectations. Forming one structure, and built of 
tabular pieces of hard, fine grained, compact gray sandstone (a material entirely unknown 



* " Unwittingly the artist," says Lieut. Simpson, " has fallen one story short of the num- 
ber the ruins exhibited. In their restored state, four storie.» should appear." 



710 ^^EW MEXICO TERRITORY. 

in the present architecture of New Mexico), to which the atmosphere has imparted a red 
dish tinj^e, the lavors or beds being not thicker tlian three inches, and sometimes as thin 
as one t'ourtb of an inch, it discovers in the masonry a combination of science and art 
which can only be referred to a higher stage of civilization and refinement than is discov- 
erable in the works of Mexicans or Pueblos of the jiresent day. Indeed, so beautifully 
diminutive and true are the details of the structure as to cause it, at a little distance, to 
have all the appearance of a magnificent piece of mosaic work. 

In the outer face of the buildings there are no signs of mortar, the intervals between 
the beds being chinked with stones of the minutest thinness. The tilling and backing are 
done in rubble masonry, the mortar presenting no indications of the firesence of lime. 
The thickness of the main wall at base is within an inch or two of three feet; higher up, 
it is less — diminishing every story by retreating jogs on the inside, from bottom to top. 
Its elevation, at its present highest point, is between twenty-five and thirty feet, the series 
of floor beams indicating that there must have been originally at least three stories. The 
ground plan, including the court, in exterior development, " is about 403 feet. On the 
ground floor, exclusive of the outbuildings, are fifty- four apartments, some of them as 
small as five feet square, and the largest about twelve by six feet. These rooms commu- 
nicate with each other by very small doors, some of them as contracted as two and a half 
by two and a half feet; and in the case of the inner suite, the doors communicating with 
the interior court are as small as three and a half by two feet. The principal rooms or 
those most in use, were, on account of their having larger doors and windows, most prob- 
ably those of the second story. The system of flooring seems to have been large trans- 
verse unhewn beams, six inches in diameter, laid transversely from wall to wall, and then 
a number of smaller ones, about three inches in diameter, laid longitudinally upon them. 
What was placed on these does not appear, but most probably it was brush, bark, or slabs, 
covered with a layer of mud mortar. The beams show no signs of the saw or axe; on the 
contrary, they appear to have been hacked off by means of some very imperfect instru- 
ment. On the west face of the structure, the windows which are only in the second story, 
are three feet two inches by two feet two inches. On the north side, they are only in the 
second and third stories, and are as small as fourteen by fourteen inches. At different 
points about the premises were three circular apartments sunk in the ground, the walls 
being of masonry. These apartments the Pueblo Indians call esiuffas, or places where the 
people held their political and religious meetings. 

Not finishing our examinations at the ruins of Pueblo Pintado yesterday afternoon, 

we again visited them early this morning. On digging about the base of the exterior wall, 
we find that, for at least two feet (the depth our time would permit us to go), the same 
kind of masonry obtains below as above, except that it appears more compact. We could 
find no signs of the genuine arch about the premises, the lintels of the doors and windows 
being generally either a number of pieces of wood laid horizontally side by side, a single 
stone slab laid in this manner, or occasionally a series of smaller ones so placed horizon- 
tally upon each other that, while presenting the form of a sharp angle, in vertical longi- 
tudinal section, they would support the weight of the fabric above. Fragments of pottery 
lay scattered around, the colors showing taste in their selection and in the style of their 
arrangement, and being still quite bright." 

Simpson, in his description of the Pueblo Hungo Pavie, of which both ground 
plan and elevation are herein pictorially given, says : 

These ruins show the same nicety in the details of their masonry as already described. 
The ground plan shows an extent of exterior development of eight hundred and seventy- 
two feet, and a number of rooms upon the ground floor equal to seventy-two. The struc- 
ture shows the existence of but one circular estuffa, and this is placed in the body of the 
north portion of the building, midway from either extremity. This estuffa differs from the 
others we have seen, in having a number of interior counterforts. The main walls of the 
building are at base two and three quarter feet through, and at this time show a hight of 
about thirty feet. The ends of the floor beams, which are still visible, plainly showing 
that there was originally, at least, a vertical series of four floors, there must then also have 
been originally at least a series of four stories of rooms; and as the debris at the base of 
the walls is very great, it is reasonable to infer that there may have been even more. The 
floor beams, which are round, in transverse section, and eleven inches in diameter, as well 
as the windows, which are as small as twelve by thirteen inches, have been arranged hori- 
zOTitally, with great precision and regularity. Pottery, as usual, was found scattered about 
the premises. . . . 

The question now arises, as we have seen all the ruins in this quarter, what was the form 
of these buildings? — I mean as regards the continuity or non-continuity of its front and 
rear walls. "Were these walls one plain surface from bottom to top, as in the United States, 



NEW MEXICO TERRITORY. 



717 





or were they interrupted each story by a terrace, as is the case with the modern pueblo 

' tie &i!t o'^rTxt^S- walls were evidently one plain surface fron. bottom to top; because 
whenever we found them in their integrity, which we did for as many as four stones a. 
hi oht we alwavs noticed them to be uninterruptedly plain. . ^ , . , 

T i;Te-.i vvalls however, were, in no instance that I recollect of, found to extend higher 
than the commencement of the second story; and the partition walls were, if my memory 

is not at fault, corres 

pondingly steplike in 

their respective alti 

tudes. The idea, then, 

at once unfolds itself, 

that in elevation the 

inner wall must have 

been a series of retreat 

ing surfaces, or, what 

would make thisneces 

sary, each story on the 

inner or court side 
must have been ter 
raced. This idea also 
gathers strength from 
the fact that we saw 
no indications of any 
intenial mode of ascent 
from story to story, 
and therefore that some 
exterior mode must 
have been resorted to 
— such as, probably, 
ladders, which the ter- 
race form of the sev- 
eral stories would ren- 
der very convenient. 
Again, the terrace form 

of the stories would best conduce ^o^f^ZlZ^l^^^Z^^^^^^^ 

he has given ^^.t 'rt^aUn no'sln'le instan""fid we find in these ruins either a chimney 
sltMSSel^^ indicatio^ns of the use of iron about the 

^'T few days later the command came to the renowned Canon of Chelly. This 
aof.eTas Ion- had a distinguished reputation among the natives of this region, 
froinitsgreat^depthand impregnability. It is -h^^/.^^d by the Nava^oe^^ 
althoncrh thev possess the skill to manufacture one of the most beaut tul kin<l oi 

ha/dnrrockand artificial walls laid in stone and mortar-the latter forming the 
S pKn 'of the dwelling. Some four miles from the -outh fey came to he 
ruins of a small pueblo, like those already described. It stood on the shell ot tne 
eTLvndwaX about 50 feet up from the bottom and the --" ^^e-f,;-^ ^t^, 
perpendicular it could only be approached ^7 l^^i^^e;;^ .^^^^^^^ ^h^' Jl'endo^^^ 
mouth they fell in with the ruins shown in the engraving, with the stupenaous 

"^'^li^sr^u^Stro^'SS orTorth side of the canon, a portion of them being 
situated at the foot of the escarpment waU, and the other portion upon a shelf in 



Canon or Chelly. 
About 500 feet deep. 



KuiNS OF AN Ancient Pueblo. 
In the Canon of Chelly. 



Y|g NEW MEXICO TERRITORY. 

the wall immediately back of the other part, some fifty feet above the bed of the 
canon. The wall in front of this latter portion being vertical, access to it could 
only have been obtained by means of ladders. The front of these ruins measures 
one hundred and forty-five feet, and their depth forty-five. The style of structure 
is similar to that of the pueblos found on the Chaco — the building material being 
of small, thin sandstones, from two to four inches thick, imbedded in mud mortar, 
and chinked in the facade with smaller stones. The present hight of its walls is 
about eighteen feet. Its rooms are exceedingly small, and the windows only a foot 
square. One circular estufia was all that was visible." 

In speaking of this canon, Simpson says: "What appears to be singular, the 
sides of the lateral walls are not only as vertical as natural walls can well be con- 
ceived to be, but they are perfectly free from a talus of debris, the usual concom- 
itant of rocks of this description. Does not this point to a crack or natural fissure 
as having given origin to the canon, rather than to aqueous agents, which, at least 
at the present period, show an utter inadequacy as a producing cause?" 

Although the canon of Chelly was, at the time, considered a great curios- 
ity, later explorers in the wild waste country between the Rocky Mountains 
and Calitbrnia have found numerous other of these fissures, to which this 
can bear no comparison. Some of them are entirely inaccessible, without 
outlet or inlet, deep, gloomy cracks, descending far down into the earth, lower 
than the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, bounded by forbidding, perpendicular 
walls, at the base of which the foot of man has never penetrated. Others 
form the valleys of streams, which, as one stands on their verge, are seen 
winding their serpentine course down in a gorge thousands of feet below. 
The canon of the Rio Colorado is of this character: Lieut. Ives, in his ex- 
plorations ascertained it to be about 11,000 feet, or more than two miles in 
depth. 

About 200 miles westerly from Santa Fe, and near the town of Zuni, the com- 
mand came to a stupendous mass of rock, about 250 feet in hight, and strikingly 
peculiar from its massive character, and the Egyptian style of its natural but- 
tresses and domes. " Skirting this stupendous mass of rock," states Simpson, " on 
its left or north side, for about a mile, the guide, just as we had reached its eastern 
terminus, was noticed to leave us, and ascend a low mound or rampart at its base, 
the better, as it appeared, to scan the face of the rock, which he had scarcely 
reached before he cried out to us to come up. We immediately went up, and, 
sure enough, here were inscriptions, and some of them very beautiful ; and, 
although, with those which we afterward examined on the south face of the rock, 
there could not be said to be half an acre of them, yet the hyperbole was not near 
BO extravagant as I was prepared to find it. The fact then being certain that here 
were indeed inscriptions of interest, if not of value, one of them dating as far 
back as 1606, all of them very ancient, and several of them very deeply as well as 
beautifully engraven, I gave directions for a halt — Bird at once proceeding to get 
up a meal, and Mr. Kern and myself to the work of making fac similes of the in- 
scriptions The greater portion of these inscriptions are in Spanish, with 

some little sprinkling of what appeared to be an attempt at Latin, and the remain- 
der in hieroglyphics, doubtless of Indian origin." 



We copy a few of the inscriptions from Simpson, to present an idea of 
their general character. The engraving is made from one in the work of 
Domenech : 

" Bartolome Narrso, Governor and Captain General of the Provinces of New Mexico, for 
our Lord the King, passed by this place, on his return from the Pueblo of Zuni, on the 29th 
of July, of the year 1620, and put them in peace, at their petition, asking the favor to be- 
come subjects of his majesty, and anew they gave their obedience ; all which they did with 
free consent, knowing it prudent, as well as very Christian (a word or two effaced), to so 
distinguished and gallant a soldier, indomitable and famed; we love "(the remainder 
effaced.) 



'NEW MEXICO TERRITORY. 



719 



" Bv this place passed Second Lieutenant Joseph de Payba Basconzelos, in the year in 
which the council of the kingdom bore the cost, on the 18th of February, in the year 1726.. 

" Pero Vacu (possibly intended for uaca— cow) ye Jarde." 
"Alma." 

"Captain Jude Vubarri, in the year of our Lord 1," (probably meaning 1701. The 
hieroglyphics, excepting what appears to designate a buffalo, not decipherable.) 







Inscription Rock, near the Pueblo of Znni. 

On the hi2;hts above the inscription are the ruins of an ancient pueblo, 
similar to the°others described, though inferior in the style of masonry. 

Mr. Simpson was not enamored with New Mexico. In his journal he 
states that he had not seen a rich, well timbered, and sufficiently watered 
country since he had left the confines of the states on the borders of the 
Mississippi valley. He makes these remarks upon this part of New Mexico. 
The portion farther west, to the California line, according to other observers, 
is no more alluring. Says he : 

"The idea I pertinaciously adhered to, before ever having seen this country, 
wa^ that, beside partakinir of the bold characteristics of the priniary formations, 
rocks confusedly piled upon rocks, deep glens, an occasional cascade, green fertile 
valleys— the usual accompaniments of such characteristics with us in the states- 
it was also, like the country of the states, generally fertile, and covered with ver- 
dure But never did I have, nor do 1 believe anybody can have, a full apprecia- 
tion of the almost universal barrenness which pervades this country, iintil they 
come out as I did, to ' search the land,' and behold with their own eyes its general 



720 i^EW MEXICO TERRITORY. ' 

nakedness The primary mountains present none of that wild, rocky, diversified, 
pleasing aspect which they do in the United States, but, on the contrary, arc 
usually of a rounded form, covered by a dull, lifeless-colored soil, and generally 
destitute of any other sylva than pine and cedar, most frequently of a sparse and 
dwarfish character. The sedimentary rocks, which, contrary to my preconceived 
notions, are the prevalent formations of the country, have a crude, half-made-up 
appearance, sometimes of a dull buff color, sometimes white, sometimes red, and 
sometimes these alternating, and being almost universally bare of vegetation, ex- 
cept that of a sparse, dwarfish, sickening-colored aspect, can not be regarded as a 
general thing — at least, not until familiarity reconciles you to the sight — without 
a sensation of loathing. The face of the country, for the same reason— the gen- 
eral absence of all verdure, and the dead, dull, yellow aspect of its soil — has a 
tendency to create the same disagreeable sensation." 



ARIZONA TERRITORY. 



Arizona originally comprised a long, narrow strip of territory, south of 
the Grila River, extending from the Rio Grande on the east to the Rio Col- 
orado on the west, just above its entrance into the Gulf of California. It 
was purchased, in 1854, of Mexico, from the northern part of the state of 
Sonora, for ten millions of dollars. It was for some time styled the Gads- 
den Purchase, out of compliment to General Gadsden, the American minis- 
ter, who negotiated the treaty. It was temporarily attached, by congress, to 
the territory of New Mexico. It was about 500 miles long, with a width 
ranging from 20 to 130 miles, and comprising 31,000 square miles. It was 
separated from Texas by the Rio Grande ; from Lower California by the 
Rio Colorado ; and on the south of it were the Mexican states of Chihuahua 
and Sonora. 

When it was purchased of Mexico there was scarcely any inhabitants, ex- 
cept a few scattered Mexicans in the Mesilla valley, on the Rio Grande, and 
at the old town of Tucson, in the center of the purchase. The marauding 
Apache Indians had gradually extirpated almost every trace of civilization 
in what was once an inhabited Mexican province.* 

In 1854, congress formed the present territory of Arizona from the west 
halves of New Mexico and the Gadsden Purchase ; and the east half of the 
latter is now the southern part of New Mexico. Arizona has an area of 
131,000 square miles. The capital, named Prescott, is in the center of the 
territoiy. 

" Much interesting information upon the early history of this compara- 
tively little known part of the United States, was obtained from the archives 
of the Mexican government, by Capt. C. P. Stone, late of the U. S. army. 
It appears that as early as 1687, a Catholic missionary from the province of 
Sonora, which, in its southern portion, bore already the impress of Spanish 
civilization, descended the valley of Santa Cruz River to the Gila, which he 

*The following extract from the report of Col. Chas. D. Poston, agent of the Sonora Ex- 
ploring and Mining Company, under date of Jan. 31,1857, will give a fair idea of the con- 
dition of the country at the period when it came into the possession of our people : " It 
may not be amiss, in these desultory remarks, to note the improvement in Tubac and the 
adjacent country since our arrival. When we forced our wagons here, over the under- 
growth on the highway, in September last (1856), no human being was present to greet our 
coming, and desolation overshadowed the scene. It was like entering the lost city of 
Pompeii. The atmosphere was loaded with the malaria of a rank vegetation, the under- 
growth in the bottom served as a lurking place for the deadly Apache, and the ravens in 
the old church window croaked a surly welcome. Now the highroads are alive with trains 
and people. Commerce, agriculture, and mining are resuming their wonted prosperity under 
the enterprise, intelligence, and industry of our people. The former citizens of Tubac have 
returned to the occupation of their houses, set to work vigorously upon their milpas, and 
are loud in their praises of American liberty and freedom." 

46 



722 ARIZONA TERRITORY. 

followed to its mouth, now the site of Fort Yuma. From this point he 
ascended the valley of the Gila, the Salinas or Salt River, and other branches. 
Proceeding east, he explored the valley of the San Pedro and its branches, 
reached the Mimbres, and probably the Rio Grande and the Mesilla valley. 
Filled with the enthusiasm of his sect, he procured authority from the head 
of the order in Mexico, and established missions and settlements at every 
available point. In a report to the viceroy of Spain, made during the early 
settlement of the province, we find the following statement: 'A scientific 
exploration of Sonora, with reference to mineralogy, along with the intro- 
duction of families, will lead to a discovery of gold and silver, so marvelous, 
that the result will be such as has never yet been seen in the world.' A map 
of this and the adjoining territories was drawn by some of the Spanish mis- 
sionaries in 1757, and dedicated to the king of Spain. The reports of the 
immense mineral wealth of the new country made by the priests, induced a 
rapid settlement." 

The sites of various villages, ranches, and missions, as indicated on this map, 
were principally in the valleys of the San Pedro, Santa Cruz, and on the Mimbres. 
"The missions and settlements were repeatedly destroyed by the Apaches, and the 
priests and settlers massacred or driven off. The Indians, at length thoroughly 
aroused by the cruelties of the Spaniards, by whom they were deprived of their 
liberty, forced to labor in the silver mines with inadequate food, and barbarously 
treated, finally rose, joined with the tribes who had never been subdued, and grad- 
ually drove out or massacred their oppressors. Civilization disappeared before 
their devastating career, and in its place we now find, with few exceptions, only 
ruins and decay, fields deserted, and mines abandoned. The mission of San Xavier 
del Bao, and the old towns of Tucson and Tubac, ai-e the most prominent of these 
remains. The mission of San Xavier del Bac is a grand old structure, which, from 
its elejiant masonry and tasteful ornaments, must have been erected in times of 
great prosperity. From 1757 down to 1820, the Spaniards and Mexicans continued 
to work many valuable mines near Barbacora, and the ancient records and notes 
mention many silver mines most of which contain a percentage of gold. The 
most celebrated modern localities are Arivaca (also anciently famous as Arihac)^ 
Sopori, the Arizona Mountains, the Santa Rita range, the Cerro Colorado, the en- 
tire vicinity of Tubac, the Del Ajo, or Arizona copper mine, the Gadsonia copper 
mine, and the Gila River copper mines. As late as 1820, the Mina Cohre de la. 
Plata (silver and copper mines), near Fort Webster, north of the Gila, were 
worked to great advantage; and so rich was the ore that it paid for transportation 
on mule-back, more than a thousand miles, to the city of Mexico. 

The silver mining region of Arizona is, in fact, the north-western extension ol 
the great silver region of Mexico. The mountain ranges are the prolongations ol 
those which southward in Sonora, Chihuahua, and Durango, have yielded silve?- 
bv millions for centuries past. The general direction of the mountains and the 
veins, is north-west and south-east, and there are numerous parallel chains or ranjrea 
which form long and narrow valleys in the same direction. Like most mineral re- 
gions, Arizona is of small value for agriculture, possessing in comparison with its 
extent but little arable land, and in most parts is nearly destitute of water, and 
desert-like. Some of this forbidding and arid surf^ice would, however, prove fertile 
if irrii^ated." 

The population of Arizona, aside from the Indians, amounted in 1860 to 
but a few thousand souls. In the whole territory, persons of the Anglo-Saxon 
race, aside from the U. S. soldiers in garrison, numbered, at the outside, but 
a few hundred souls; the remainder of the inhabitants consisted of Mexi- 
cans, mostly of the peon class. The Pimos Indians live in villages on the 
Gila River, in the north-western part of the country, and are a friendly, in- 
off'ensive race, who raise corn and wheat, and supply emigrants who traverse 
the southern route to California. The Apaches are a wild, thieving tribe. 




ARIZONA TERRITORY. 723 

of murderers, who live oa the head streams of the Gila, beyond the reach 
of the white man. 

The southern boundary of Arizona was so run as to exclude any part of 
\he Gulf of California from American jurisdiction, so that she has not there 

a single seaport. 
Tucson^ the 
principal town, is 
a miserable col- 
lection of adobe 
houses, in the 
valley of the San- 
ta Cruz. It con- 
tains about 700 
inhabitants, near- 
ly all of them 
degraded Mexi- 
cans. The en- 
graving shows 
the church of the 
place, an adobe or 
sun-burned brick 
structure; it is 
from a drawing 
in outline, taken 
on San Antonio's 
day, in 1860. 
Among the fig- 
ures are one or two of the wild Apache Indians and numerous females, etc. 
Tubac, 52 miles south of Tucson, is the business center of the silver 
mining district of Arizona, and contains a few hundred souls. The princi- 
pal mines worked in its vicinity are the Heintzelman and those of the Santa 
Rita Company. With the pecuniary success of these mines, appears to be 
connected the immediate progress of the territory, as, aside from the mines, 
it has no resources ; but in these Arizona has a great future. 

When our pioneers poured in upon the gold placers of California, the in- 
trepid gold-hunter could, alone and single handed, work his way to wealth, 
with a jack-knife and tin-pan ; and, at the end of a day's labor, tie up the 
avails in a rag, place it under his pillow, and then dream pleasantly of wife, 
and children, and home, far away on the other side of the continent. 

Silver mining is a difi"erent business. The eager novice might collect his 
tuns of silver ore ; and then would come the tantalizing discovery — it was 
labor lost. To extract the silver from its ores, is often one of the most dif- 
ficult of all chemical processes, requiring practice with a peculiar aptness 
for metallurgy, so diversified and intricate are the combinations of this metal 
with other minerals. No college professor, however fine a metallurgist he 
might be, could successfully manage the .reduction works of a silver mine; 
Americans, until they learn the art, and " improve upon it," as is their na- 
tional bent, will be compelled to procure their talent of this kind from those 
bred from youth to this branch, in Mexico and Germany. Aside from this 
difficulty, enormous outlays are required to start and work a silver mine : 
this can generally only be obtained by associated capital. With this comes 



Chtjkch at Tucson. 
On San Antonio's Day, 18G0. 



724 



ARIZONA TERRITORY. 



the cumbrous, awkward revolving machinery of corporations, and its attend- 
ant evils of mismanagement, in which the interests of the small, confiding 
stockholder are too apt to be the last thing attended to by directors and 
agents. Could the amount of money lost in our Union, within the last ten 




Reduction Works of the Heintzelman Silver Mine. 

The engraving is from a drawing by H. C. Grosvenor. This establishment is on the famous Arivaca Kanche. 
The Redaction Works are in front, wliere the ore is reduced to silver Ijy the German (Freyburg) amalgam- 
ation barrel process. On the extreme right of the inclosure is the corral for the mules. In the rear is 
seen the officers' quarters and store houses ; on the left and also in the rear of the store-houses are the 
huts of the Mexican laborers or peons, of whom here and in the miue several hundred are employed. The 
buildings are all adobes. 

years alone, by the selfishness and mismanagement of men in charge of cor- 
porations be ascertained, it would probably sum up many fold the value of 
all the property more courageously stolen by the united labor of all the bur- 
glars who have been thrust into the cells of our penitentiaries, from the 
foundation of the government to the present day. Thus multitudes, orphans 
and widows, have been wronged, and the hard-earned accumulations of vig- 
orous manhood, laid by in a spirit of self-denial, as a resource for old age, 
irretrievably and shamefully lost, The suspicious and selfish carry in theii 
own bosoms a defense against such allurements: the single-hearted and inno- 
cent fall victims. The hard lesson taught to individuals is, that money if 
seldom safely spent, excepting by the hand that earns it. Yet it is only b] 
associated capital great enterprises can be consummated ; and so, through 
more or less of personalrisk and loss, the general welfare is promoted. 

Such are the enormous returns of successful silver mines, that capital and enter- 
prise have always been ready to embark in the development of even veins of mod- 
erate promise. In Mexico, where silver mining has been, for over two hundred 
years, the great staple business of the country, tlie most enormous fortunes have 
been realized in working mines. The famous Real Del Monte, near the city of 
Mexico, is now 1,500 feet deep, and yielded in 1857, $3,750,000 of silver from ore 
which averaged $56 per tun. The Biscaina vein, in the 12 years immediately suc- 
ceeding 1762, in which the adit of Moran was completed, yielded to its owner, 
Tereros, a clear profit of $6,000,000. The produce of Catorce, taking the average 
of the five years from 1800 to 1804, was $2,854,000. Santa Eulalia, near Chihua- 
hua, from 1705 to 1737, yielded $55,959,750, or an average of $1,748,742 per an- 
num. These and numerous other instances of successful raining, as published in 
Ward's History of Mexico, show silver mining to be a business of great vicissitudes, 
involving large expenditures, with a prospect of gains correspondingly large. The 



ARIZONA TERRITORY. 725 

whole produce of tho Mexican mines was estimated by Humboldt, in 1803, at nearly 
two thousand millions of dollars. 

By many, and especially the Mexicans, the Gadsden Purchase is regarded as the 
richest portion of the continent, for mines of silver, copper and lead. Silver ore 
has already been reduced there vrhioh yielded, in large quantities, $1,000 to the 
tun. The average of the Heintzelman mine has been $250, although much of the 
ore taken from it yielded from $1,000 to $5,000 per tun, and some at the rate of 
over $20,000. 

The copper mines worked on the Mimbres River, yield large quantities of ore 
which is 95 per cent, copper, while the lead mines of the Santa Rita and Santa 
Cruz Mountains, are really inexhaustible. With these mineral treasures, placed 
by nature for the use of man, it is not at all probable that Arizona will long remain 
in its present condition. When once the mining enterprises already begun shall 
have demonstrated, either in the hands of their present proprietors or some others, 
that the precious metals not only exist there, but may become profitable, a new 
impetus will be given to this kind of industry, and the silver country of Arizona will 
become as widely known as the golden fields of California. 

Various modes are practiced of reducing silver from its ores. 1. The 
Furnace. 2. The Mexican or patio (floor) amalgamation, with quicksilver. 
3. The caze (or kettle) amalgamation. 4. The Freyberg or German barrel 
amalgamation. 5. Augustin's method, by salt, without mercury. 6. Zier- 
vogel's method, with salt or mercury, These modes can not be indiscrimin- 
ately applied. The character of the ores, climate, and other circumstances 
will alone determine it. If the ore of a mine, in its mineralogical confeitu- 
ents, is not adapted to the mode of operation to which the operator is bred, 
he is generally powerless to reduce it. One experienced in smelting ores, 
can not reduce those which are adapted to "the patio;" or one accustomed 
to " the patio," can not reduce by the German barrel, or by the Augustin 
process, and vice versa. 



UTAH TERRITORY. 



Utah derives its name from that of a native Indian tribe, the Pah-Utahs. 
It formed originally a part of the Mexican territory of Upper California, 
and was ceded to the United States by the treaty with Mexico, at the close 
of the Mexican war. In 1850 it was erected into a territory by Congress. 

"A large part of Utah is of volcanic origin. It is supposed, from certain 
traditions and remains, to have been, many hundred years ago, the residence 
of the Aztec nation — that they were driven south by the volcanic eruptions 
which changed the face of the whole country. Eventually, they became the 
possessors of Mexico, where, after attaining great proficiency in the arts of 
life, they were finally overthrown by the Spaniards at the time of the con- 
quest. 

Utah was not probably visited by civilized man until within the present 
century. There were Catholic missionaries who may have just touched its 
California border, and the trappers and hunters employed by the fur compa- 
nies. The fii-st establishment in Utah was made by William H. Ashley, a 
Missouri fur-trader. In 1824, he organized an expedition which passed up 
the valley of the Platte River, and through the cleft of the Rocky Mountains, 
since called "T/ie South Pass;^' and then advancing further west, he reached 
the Great Salt Lake, which lies embosomed among lofty mountains. About 
a hundred miles south-east of this, he discovered a smaller one, since known 
as "Ashley's Lake." He there built a fort or trading post, in which he left 
about a hundred men. Two years afterward, a six-pound piece of artillery 
was drawn from Missouri to this fort, a distance of more than twelve hun- 
dred miles, and in 1828, many wagons, heavily laden, performed the same 
journey. 

During the three years between 1824 and 1827, Ashley's men collected 
and sent to St. Louis, furs from that region of country to an amount, in value, 
of over $180,000. He then sold out all his interests to Messrs. Smith, Jack- 
son, and Sublette. These energetic and determined men carried on for many 
years an extensive and profitable business, in the course of which the}' tra- 
versed a large part of southern Oregon, Utah, California, and New 3le.vi<-o 
west of the mountains. Smith was murdered in the summer of 1829. by tlie 
Indians north-west of Utah Lake. Ashley's Fort was long since abandoned. 

Unfortunately, these adventurous men knew nothing of science, and but 
little information was derived from them save vague reports which greatly 



728 UTAH TERRITORY. 

excited curiosity; this was only increased by the partial explorations of 
Fremont. 

In his second expedition, made in 1843, he visited the Great Salt Lake, 
which appears upon old Spanish maps as Lake Timpanot-os and Lake Teizaya. 
Four years after, in 1847, the Mormons emigrated to Utah, and commenced 
the first regular settlement by whites. It was then an isolated region, nom- 
inally under the government of Mexico. They expected to found a Mormon 
state here, and rest in quiet far from the abodes of civilized man; but the 
results of the Mexican war, the acquirement of the country by the United 
States, with the discovery of gold in California, brought them on the line of 
emigration across the continent, and more or less in conflict with the citizens 
and general governmer^t, 

Utah extended originally from the 37th to the 42d degrees of north lati- 
tude, and between the 107th and 120th degrees of west longitude, having a 
breath of 300, and an average length, east and west, of 600 miles, containing an 
area of about 180,000 square miles. It now has 110,000 square miles only. 

"The main geographical characteristic of Utah is, that anomalous feature in our 
continent, which is more Asiatic than American in its character, known as the 
Great Basin. It is about 500 miles long, east and west, by 275 in breadth, north 
and south, and occupies the greater part of the central and western portions of the 
territory. It is elevated near 5,000 i'eet above the level of the sea, and is shut in 
all around by mountains with its own system of lakes and rivers; and what is a 
striking feature, none of which have any connection with the ocean. The general 
character of the basin is that of a desert. It has never been fully explored, but 
so far as it has been, a portion of it is found to consist of ai'id and sterile plains, 
another of undulating table lands, and a third of elevated mountains, a few of 
whose summits are capped with perpetual snow. These range nearly north and 
south, and rise abruptly from a narrow base to a hight of from 2,000 to 5,000 feet. 
Between these ranges of mountains are the arid plains, which deserve and receive 
the name of desert. From the snow on their summits and the showers of summer 
originate small streams of water from five to fifty feet wide, which eventually lose 
themselves, some in lakes, some in the alluvial soil at their base, and some in dry 
plains. Among the most noted of these streams is Humboldt's or Mary's River, 
well remembered by every California emigrant, down which he pursues his course 
for three hundred miles, until it loses itself in the ground, at a place called St. 
Mary's Sink, where its waters are of a poisonous character. 

The Great Salt Lake and the Utah Lake are in this basin, toward its eastern 
rim, and constitute its most interesting feature — one a saturated solution of com- 
mon salt — the other fresh — the Utah about one hundred feet above the Salt Lake, 
which id itself about 4,200 above the level of the sea; they are connected by Utah 
Ikiver — or, as the Mormons call it, the Jordan — which is forty-eight miles in length. 
These lakes drain an area of from ten to twelve thousand squai'e miles. 

The Utah is about thirty-five miles long, and is remarkable for the numerous and 
bold streams which it receives, coming down from the mountains on the south-east, 
-svll fresh water, although a large formation of rock-salt, imbedded in red clay, is 
found within the area on the south-east, which it drains. The lake and its affluents 
afford large trout and other fish in great numbers, which constitute the food of the 
Utah Indians during the fishing season. The Great Salt Lake has a very irregular 
outline greatly extended at time of melting snows. It is about seventy miles in 
length ; both lakes ranging north and south, in conformity to the range of the 
mouiitiiins, and is remarkable for its predominance of salt. The whole lake water 
seems thoroughly saturated with it, and every evaporation of the water leaves salt 
beliiml. The rocky shores of the islands are whitened by the spray, which leaves 
salt on everything it touches, and a covering like ice forms over the water which 
the waves throw among the rocks. The shores of the lake, in the dry season, when 
the water.s recede, and especially on the south side, are whitened with incrusta- 
iions of fine white salt; the shallow arms of the lake, at the same time under a 



UTAH TEREITORY. 729 

slight covering of briny water, present beds of salt for miles, resembling softened 
ice, into which the horses' feet sink to the fetlock. Plants and bushes, blown by 
the wind upon these fields, are entirely incrusted with crystallized salt, more than 
an inch in thickness. Upon this lake of salt the fresh water received, though great 
in quantity, has no perceptible effect. No fish or animal life of any kind is found 
in it. 

The Rio Colorado, with its branches, is about the only stream of note in Utah 
which is not within the Great Basin. The only valleys supposed to be inhabitable 
in the vast country in the eastern rim of the Great Basin and the Rocky Moun- 
tains, are the valleys of the Uintah and Green Rivers, branches of the Colorado, 
and whether even these are so, is extremely problematical. The country at the 
sources of this great river is incapable of supporting any population whatever. 

The climate of Utah is milder and drier in general than it is in the same parallel 
on the Atlantic coast. The temperature in the Salt Lake Valley in the winter is 
very uniform, and the thermometer rarely descends to zero. There is but little 
rain in Utah, except on the mountains, from the 1st of May until the 1st of Octo- 
ber ; hence agriculture can only be carried on by irrigation. 

In every portion of the territory where it has been attempted, artificial irriga- 
tion has been found to be indispensable; and it is confidently believed that no part 
of it, however fertile, will mature crops without it, except perhaps on some small 
patches on low bottoms. But limited portions, therefore, of even the most fertile 
and warmest valleys, can ever be made available for agricultural purposes, and only 
Buch as are adjacent to streams and are well located for irrigation. Small valleys 
surrounded by high mountains, are the most abundantly supplied with water, the 
etreams being fed by melting snows and summer showers. 

The greater part of Utah is sterile and totally unfit for agriculture, and is unin- 
habited and uninhabitable, except by a few trappers and some roaming bands of 
Indians, who subsist chiefly upon game, fish, reptiles, and mountain crickets. The 
general sterility of the country is mainly owing to the want of rain during the 
summer months, and partly from its being elevated several thousand feet above the 
level of the sea. 

The whole country is almost entirely destitute of timber. The little which there 
is may be found on the side of the high, rocky mountains, and in the deep moun- 
tain gorges, whence issue the streams. On the table lands, the gently undulating 
plains and the isolated hills, there is none. There are, however, small groves of 
cotton-wood and box-alder on the bottoms of some of the principal streams. 

A species of artemisia, generally known by the name of wild sage, abounds in 
most parts of the country, where vegetation of any kind exists, but particularly 
where there is not warmth and moisture sufficient to produce grass. 

The Great Salt Lake Valley is the largest known in the Great Basin, being about 
one hundred and twenty miles long, and from twenty to forty broad, but the Salt 
Lake occupies much of its northern portion. The surface of its center is level, 
ascending gently on either side toward the mountains. This valley is regarded as 
one of the healthiest portions of the globe; the air is very pure. Its altitude is 
forty-three hundred feet above the level of the sea; and some of the mountains on 
the east of the valley are more than a mile and a quarter high, and covered with 
perpetual snow; while in the valley the thermometer frequently rises above one 
hundred degrees. 

By means of irrigation, the Mormon valleys are made productive. "Wheat, rye, 
barley, buckwheat, oats and Indian corn are their agricultural products, and all 
the garden vegetables peculiar to the middle and western states are grown. To- 
bacco and sweet potatoes can be produced in limited quantities. The system of 
irrigation prevents rust or smut striking the crop, and renders it sure. The terri- 
tory of the Mormons is a stock-raising country, and they are, to a great extent, a 
pastoral people. We find here that cereal anomaly, the bunch grass. It grows 
only on the bottoms of the streams, and on the table-lands of the warmest and most 
fertile valleys. It is of a kind peculiar to cold climates and elevated countries, and 
is, we presume, the same as the grama of New Mexico. In May, when the other 
grasses start, this fine plant dries upon its stalk, and becomes a light yellow straw, 
full of flavor and nourishment. It continues thus through what are the dry months 



730 UTAH TERRITORY. 

of the climate until January, and then starts with a vigorous growth, like that of 
our own winter wheat in April, which keeps on until the return of another May. 
Whether as straw or grass, the cattle fatten on it the year round. The numerous 
little della and sheltered spots that are found in the mountains are excellent sheep 
walks. Hogs fatten on a succulent bulb or tuber, called the seacoe or seegose root, 
which is highly esteemed as a table vegetable by the Mormons." 

The population of Utah has been nearly stationary for many years, and is 
composed almost entirely of Mormons. Population of Utah, in 1860, was 
50,000. 




View in Salt Lake City. 

The larg;e block on the left contains the Church, Store, and Tithing Oflfice, where one tenth of all the 
produce is contributed to the Church Fund. On the exti'eme right is the Harem of Brigham Toung, the 
famous " Lion House," so called from the statues of lions in front. The Wasatch Mountains are seen iu 
the hack ground. 

Salt Lake City is pleasantly situated on a gentle declivity near the base 
of a mountain, about two miles east of the Utah outlet, or the River Jordan, 
and about twenty-two itiiles south-east of the Salt Lake. " It is nearly on 
the same latitude with New York City, and is, by air lines, distant from New 
York 2,100 miles; from St. Louis, 1,200; from San Francisco, 550; and 
from Oregon City and Santa Fe, each 600. During five months of the year 
it is shut out from all communication with the north, east, or west, by moun- 
tains rendered impassable from snow. Through the town runs a beautiful 
brook of cool, limpid water, called City creek. The city is laid out regu- 
larly, on an extensive scale ; the streets crossing each other at right angles, 
and being each eight rods wide. Each lot contains an acre and a quarter of 
ground, and each block or square eight lots. Within the city are four public 
squares. The city and all the farming lands are irrigated by streams of 
beautiful water, which flow from the adjacent mountains. These streams 
have been, with great labor and perseverance, led in every direction. In the 
city, they flow on each side of the different streets, and their waters are let 
upon the inhabitants' gardens at regular periods, so likewise upon the exten- 
sive fields of grain lying to the south. The greater part of the houses which 



UTAH TERRITORY. 731 

had been built up to the close of 1850, were regarded as merely temporary; 
most of them were small but commodious, being, in general, constructed of 
adobe or sun-dried brick. Among the public buildings are a house for pub- 
lic worship, a council-house, a bath-house at the Warm Spring; and they 
are erecting another temple more magnificent than that they formerly had at 
Nauvoo. Public free-schools are established in the different wards into 
which the city is divided. East of the city a mile square is laid off for a 
State University." 



Hon. John Cradlebaugh, late assistant judge of the Territory of Utah, 
gives this sketch of the Mormons, their origin, doctrines, practices, and 
crimes: 

Extent of Mormoi).is\n — The Mormon people have possessed themselves of this 
coiintrj, and althou^ih their history has been but a brief one, yet their progress 
has been so great as to attract the attention of the world. Although they have 
not existed more than the third of a century, yet we find that they have been 
enabled to encompass the globe itself with missionaries. Although they have ex- 
isted Init a few years, we tind them rising from a single family to be now what they 
call a great nation. They claim to be a nation independent of all other nations. 
They have set up a church government of their own, and they desire no other gov- 
ernment to rule over them. 

It becomes necessary to know what this Moi-monism is, that has thus attracted 
these deluded people to that country, to seize this empire and to attempt to estab- 
lish for themselves a government independent of the world. 

jMormonism, in the view that I take of it, is a religious eccentricity, as well as 
one of the great monstrosities of the age. It is not the first, however, of the reli- 
gious monstrosities and impositions that we have had. Other religious impositions 
have been invented by men expert in tricks. Knowledge and civilization go mov- 
ing on at a slow pace, and yet make gradual progress ; and every ray of light that 
is shed shows us the gross absurdity of these frauds in religion. The idols of 
woi)d and stone have fallen from the sacred places which they formerly occupied, 
to be trampled under the feet of their former worshipers, and the cunning devices 
of a more enlightened age have given way to a purer creed. The majority of the 
heathen practices of the dark ages have disappeared before an enlightened Chris- 
tianity. But an epoch came when mankind were fast relapsing into a painfnl state 
of ignorance; and about that time arose that boldest and most successful of all im- 
postors, Mohammed, who, incorporating old and cherished doctrines into a volup- 
tuous creed, went abroad with his sword in one hand and the Koran in the other, 
conquering and to conquer. This was done when darkness reigned on the earth ; 
but in this nineteenth century, favored as it is by the light of a true religion, dis- 
tinguished as it is by its general knowledge, and refined as it is beyond all pre- 
cedent and parallel, a religious imposture grosser than all its predecessors, is being 
successfully palmed off on mankind; not in the deserts of some unknown land; 
not in a secret corner of the earth ; but in free America, where every man can 
worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and under his own 
vine and fig tree. 

Mormon Doctrines. — This grotesque, absurd, and monstrous system, thus openly 
paraded before the world, is Motmonism. It is a conglomeration of illy cemented 
creeds from other religions. It repudiates the celibacy imposed by the Catholic 
religion upon its priesthood, and takes instead the voluptuous imposition of the 
Mohammedan Church. It preaches openly that the more wives and children its 
men have in this world, the purer, and more influential and conspicuous they will 
be in the next; that his wives, his property, and his children will be restored to 
him, and even doubled to him at the resurrection. It adopts the use of prayers for 
the dead and baptism as parts of its creed. They claim to be favored with mar- 
velous gifts, the power of speaking in tongues, of casting out devils, of curing the 
sick and healing the lame and the halt; they also claim to have a living prophet, 



732 



UTAH TERRITORY. 




A Mormon Harem. 



Beer, or revelator; they recon:nize the Bible, but they interpret it for themselves, 
and hold that it is subject to be changed by new revelation, which they say super- 
sedes old revelation. One of their doctrines is that of continued progression to 
ultimate perfection. They say that God was but a man who went on developing 
and increasing until he reacheil his present high capacity; and they teach that 
good Mormons will be equal to Him — in a word, that good Mormons will become 

gods. Their elders 
teach the shedding of 
blood for the remis- 
sion of sins; or, in 
other words, that if a 
Mormon apostatises, 
that his throat shall 
be cut and his blood 
poured on the ground 
to save him from hia 
sin. They also prac- 
tice other most un- 
natural and revolting 
doctrines, such as are 
only carried out in 
polygamous countries. 
They hold that the 
prophet's revelations 
are binding on their 
consciences, and that 
they must obey him 
in all things. They 
claim to be the people peculiarly chosen of God, and have christened themselves 
" I'he Church of Jesus — the Latter Day Saints." They claim that Mormonism is 
to go on spreading until it overthrows all the nations of the earth; and that, if ne- 
cessary, it shall be propagated by the sword; and that, in progress of time, all the 
world shall be subject to it. Jackson county, Missouri, whence they were 
driven for their great crimes, is called their Zion, and their prophets have prophe- 
sied that there shall the saints from throughout all the world be assembled, and 
from that Zion shall proceed a power that shall dethrone kings, subvert dynasties, 
and subjugate all the nations of the earth. 

Origin. — This wretched sect had its origin in an eccentricity of a man named 
Spaulding, who had failed as a preacher and as a shopkeeper, and who thought he 
would write an historical novel. He had a smattering of Biblical knowledge, and 
he chose for his subject "the history of the lost tribes of Israel." The whole was 
supposed to be communicated by Indians, and the last of the series was named 
Mormon, representing that he had buried the book. It was a large, ponderous vol- 
ume, dull, tedious and interminable, marked by ignorance and folly. Spaulding 
made many efforts to get it printed, but the work was so utterly flat, stupid and 
insipid, that no publisher would undertake to bring it before the world. Poor 
Spaulding at length went to his grave, and his manuscript remained a neglected roll 
in the possession of his widow. 

But now arose Joe Smith, more ready to live by his wits than by the labor of hia 
hands. This Smith early in life manifested a turn for pious frauds. He had been 
engaged in several wrestling matches with the devil, and had been conspicuous for 
his wonderful experiences in religion at certain revivals. He announced that he 
had dug up the book of Mormon, that taught the true religion, and this was none 
other but the poor Spaulding manuscript, which he had purloined from the house 
of the widow. In his unscrupulous hands the manuscript of Spaulding was de- 
signed to cause an august apostacy ; he made it the basis of Mormonism. 

Polygamy Introduced. — Before the death of Smith, he had made polygamy a 
dogma of the Mormon creed, and made it known to a few of the leaders, and he 
and they proceeded to put it to practice. It was only after they had placed the 
desert and the Eocky Mountains between them and civilization that they confessed 



UTAU TERRITORY. 733 

it. Then they not only confessed it, but openly and boldly advocated it as a part 
of the religion of Utah. Polygamy then is now the rule, monogamy is the excep- 
tion to the rule among them. This doctrine is preached from the pulpit — it is 
taught everywhere. 

Education and Habits. — The little education the children get consists in pre- 
paring them for the reception of polygamy. To prepare the women for the recep- 
tion of the revolting practice it is necessary to brutalize them by destroying their 
modesty. The sentiment of love is ridiculed, cavalier gallantry and attenti<<ns are 
laughed at, the emblematic devices of lovers and the winning kindness that with 
us they dote on are hooted at in Utah. The lesson they are taught, and that is in- 
culcated above all others, is "increase and multiply," in order that Zion may be 
filled. The young people are familiarized to indecent exposures of all kinds ; the 
Mormons call their wives their cattle. 

A man is not considered a good Mormon that does not uphold polygamy by pre- 
cept and example, and he is a suspected Mormon that does not practice it. 'J'he 
higher the man is in the church the more wives he has. Brigham Young and 
Heber Kimball are supposed to have each between fifty and a hundred. The rev- 
erend Mormon bishops, apostles, and the presidents of states have as many as they 
desire, and it is a common thing to see these hoary-headed old Turks surrounded 
by a troop of robust young wives. The common people take as many as they can 
support, and it is not uncommon to see a house of two rooms inhabited by a man, 
his half-dozen of wives, and a proportionate number of children, like rabbits in a 
warren, and resembling very much the happy family that we read of — the prairie 
dog, the owl, and the rabbit. Incest is common. Sometimes the same man has a 
daughter and her mother for wives at once; some have as wives their own nieces, 
and Aaron Johnson, of Springville, one of the most influential men in his parts, 
has in his harem of twelve women no less than five of his brothers' daughters. 
One Watts, a iScotchman, M'ho is one of the church reporters, is married to his 
own half-sister. 

The ill-assorted children — the offspring of one father and many mothers — run 
about like so many wild animals. The first thing they do, after learning vulgarity, 
is to wear a leather belt with a butcher-knife stuck in it; and the next is to steal 
from the Gentiles ; then to ride animals ; and as soon as they can, " by hook or by 
crook," get a horse, a pair of jingling Mexican spurs and a revolver, they are then 
Mormon cavaliers, and are fit to steal, rob, and murder emigrants. The women 
and girls are coarse, masculine and uneducated, and are mostly drafted from the 
lowest stages of society. It is but seldom you meet handsome or attractive women 
among them. 

The foreign element largely predominates in Utah. Tlie persons emigrating to 
the territory are generally from the mining, manufacturing and rural districts of 
England. 'J'he American portion of the Mormons are generally shrewder than the 
rest, and are chiefly from the New England states. Most of these men are no 
doubt fugitives from justice, and most of them are bankrupt in both fortune and 
character. 

The three presidents of the church, or rather the president, Rrigham Young, 
and his two council, Kimball and Grant, are all Americans; eleven of the twelve 
apostles are Americans. The foreigners are generally hewers of wood and the 
drawers of water for the church and its dignitaries. The church is everything. 
It is not only an ecclesiastical institution, but it is a political engine ; it not only 
claims to control Mormons in their spiritual matters, but to dictate to them as to 
the disposition of their temporal affairs. The church, by its charter, can receive, 
hold or sell any amount of property ; the charter provides for one trustee, and 
twelve assistant trustees, and Brigham Young is trustee, president of the church, 
prophet, seer, revelator, and, the commission of the United States to the contrary 
notwithstanding, he is the real governor of the territory. All Mormons are re- 
quired to yield to him implicit obedience. 

Each Mormon has to pay into the church one tenth part of all he produces, so 
that if a good Mormon sow bears ten pigs, one is a pious pig, because it belongs 
to the church. To collect these tithes officers have to be appointed, and to gather 
the results together a great central depot has to be maintained, and it is situated 



784 UTAH TERRITORY. 

in Great Salt Lake City, within Brighara's own walls; and the corn, butter, egga, 
and all sorts of produce that is conveyed there and stored would spoil unless it was 
disposed of; and so we find that they need stores, and in Salt Lake City we find 
an enormous store, with the sign " Deseret Store." So it is, the church is a trader. 

The Angelic Host. — Connected with the Mormon church is a band of men known 
as "the Danites," or "the avenging angels." This band is composed of the bold- 
est of the Mormon ruflians. They are bound together by dreadful oaths ; they are 
the executioners of the church, carrying out its vengeance against apostates and 
olVenders against the church discipline; and all church enemies are dealt with by 
these men, generally in a secret and terrible inanner. None but God, Brigham 
Young and themselves know the names of their victims, or the number. 

Missions and Missionaries. — The Mormon Church is recruited by means of mis- 
sionaries yearly sent out in large numbers throughout the earth, to preach and 
propagate the Mormon religion. These missionaries are not selected, as are the 
missionaries of other sects, for their piety and devotion, or for their general fitness, 
but as a punishment for some offense against the discipline of the church. The 
doctrine is that they are good enough to go into the world, for if they send good 
men they will not believe them, and on that account they send their bad men off 
as teachers and missionaries. 

The missionaries are usually supported by voluntary contributions raised from 
the ignorant proselytes that they make. They picture Utah as a paradise, the Mor- 
mons as saints, and Brigham Young as their prophet; they promise their prophet 
will heal the sick, restore sight to tne blind, and comfort to the afilicted ; to the 
wealthy they promise wealth, and preferment is' for the ambitious, while social 
standing is to be given to the degraded of both sexes, and polygamy is the paradise 
of all. 

Receiving Proselytes. — These missionaries, when sent on missions, if successful, 
are commanded to bring their proselytes with them to Zion. They are generally 
taken in large trains, and the arrival of one of these emigrant trains is hailed as a 
great event. Women that are young and pretty are greedily caught up by the 
apostles and dignitaries to swell their harems. 

The Foreign Element. — As I have said, the Mormons are chiefly foreigners ; and 
rude, ignorant foreigners they are. They have not the first conceptions of their 
duties to our government, or of their duties as American citizens. They come to 
Zion, but they do not come to America. What do they care for our government 
or for our people ? The first lesson taught them is to hate our people for their 
oppression, and to hate all other people for they are Gentiles. They are next sworn 
to support the church an4 the government established in Utah, and bear an eter- 
nal hostility against every other government on the face of the earth. Their next 
lesson is to revere Brigham Young as both the religious and political head and 
ruler. Their allegiance is alone due to him; he tells them they are separate an(l 
distinct from all other nations — made up from many nations; and he said but thd 
other day, " we have been looked upon as a nation by our neighbors, independent 
of all other people on the face of the earth, and in their dealings they have dealt 
with us as such." He tells them the present connection of Utah with the United 
States is only nominal, and it is barely permitted by God until things shall be fitted 
for the universal establishment of Mormon ascendency. 

All these things considered, is it to be wondered at that the Mormons are dis- 
loyal to this government, and that treason should insolently rear its crest in Utah? 
The ignorant of the Mormons do not know what treason is. They obey their 
leaders, and these leaders are alone responsible for their acts. If Brigham Young, 
his counselors and bishops, and twelve apostles, and his generals had been seized 
and hung, you would never more have heard of treason in Utah; but while the j\Ior- 
mon captains were at the head of their troops, while the Danites were armed with 
their butcher knives, and while the prophet hurled anathemas against the presi- 
dent, the government, and the people of the United States, and while the Mormon 
people were in arms against the people of the United States, came a free pardon 
to all the traitors, big and little. 

Three thousand of the federal troops were sent [in 1858] to Utah, and they have 
been kept there at a great expense to the government. The government has not 



UTAH TERRITORY. 735 

only refrained from punishing, but it has, through the vast amounts expended for 
the troops, which went into the Mornson coffers, enriched and built up the terri- 
tiirv. When the troops went to Utah, the Mormons were naked and almost starv- 
ing, poor and wrangling; but now they are clothed, and money circulates freely 
among them. 'J'reason is lucky, and traitors prosper. Not only are they freely 
purdoned. hut they are rewarded with pockets full of gold. When treason is thus 
dealt with, traitors will l)e numerous indeed. 

An Irrepressible Confiict. — Attempts to administer the laws of the United States 
have been made by the three sets of the United States judges. These experiments 
have all proved to be failures. The concurrent testimony of all the judges is that 
the Federal constitution and laws can not be successfully administered. There is 
a complete repugnance and antagonism between our institutions and the Mormon 
institutions. The church, through its rulers, claims to supervise the spiritual and 
temporal relations of the people. Whether it be in the place of business, in the 
jury box, on the witness stand, on the judge's bench, or in the legislative chair, 
the Mormon is bound to obey the heads of the church. If the constitution of the 
United States, or the organic law of the territory conflicts, the constitution is 
treated as a nullity; if the laws of the United States contravene the ordinances 
of Utah, the law is disregarded. The will of the prophet is the supreme law in 
Utah. 

Mormon grand and petit juries, on being impanneled, would go through the 
forms of business, but do nothing, while murder and other felonies abounded. 
When warrants are issued for the parties accused, they can not be arrested, for the 
entire church and the whole community united in concealing and protecting the 
offender. Witnesses are prevented by church orders from appearing before the 
grand jury, or are forcibly detained. Grand juries refuse to find bills upon testi- 
mony the most conclusive, for most of the crimes have been committed by the 
order of the church ; and to expose them would be to expose and punish the church 
and the functionaries of the church. 

The most noted of all the atrocities committed by the Mormons was the 
^'■Mmintaln Mcadoio Massacre.'' This event occurred in the autumn 0/ 18.57, 
when about 140 emigrants, inoifensive, peaceful men, women and children, 
on their way overland from Arkansas to California, were waylaid by the 
Danite band of Mormons and their Indian allies, and butchered in cold blood. 
Some of the little children were spared, and afterward recovered from the 
Mormons; and from their lips these particulars were gathered. A corres- 
pondent of Harpers' "Weekly, for August 13, 1859, presents this narrative, 
which is substantially true, and otherwise indubitably corroborated: 

"A train of Arkansas emigrants, with some few Missourians, said to number 
forty men, with their families, were on their way to California, through the Terri- 
tory of Utah, and had reached a series of grassy valleys, by the Mormons called 
the Mountain ]\Ieadows, where they remained several days recruiting their animals. 
On the niglit of Sept. 9, not suspecting any danger, as usual they quietly retired 
to rest, little dreaming of the dreadful fate awaiting and soon to overtake them. 
On the morning of the 10th, as, with their wives and familes, they stood around 
tlieir camp-fires passing the congratulations of the morning, they were suddenly 
fired upon from an ambush, and at the first discharge fifteen of the best men are 
said to have fallen dead or mortally wounded. To seek the shelter of their corral 
was but the work of a moment, but there they found but limited protection. 

The encampment, which consisted of a number of tents and a corral of forty 
wagons and ambulances, lay on the west bank of, and eight or ten yards distant 
from, a large spring in a deep ravine, running southward; another ravine, also, 
branching from this, and facing the camp on the south-west; overlooking them on 
the north-west, and within rifle-shot, rises a large mound commanding the corral, 
upon which parapets of stone, with loop-holes, have been built. Yet another ra- 
vine, larger and deeper, faces them on the east, which could be entered without 
exposure from the south and far end. Having crept into these shelters in the dark- 
ness of the night, the cowardly assailants fired upon their unsuspecting victims, 



1^36 UTAH TERRITORY. 

thus making a beginning to the most brutal butchery ever perpetrated upon this 
continent. 

Surrounded by superior numbers, and by an unseen foe, wc are told the little 
party stodd a siege within the corral of five or seven days, sinking their wagon 
wheels in the ground, and during the darkness of night digging trenches, within 
which to shelter their wives and children. A large spring of cool water bubbled 
up fi'om the sand a few yards from them, but deep down in the ravine, and so well 
protected that certain death marked the trail of all who dared approach it. The 
wounded were dying of thirst; the burning brow and parched lip marked the de- 
lirium of fever; they tossed from side to side with anguish; the sweet sound of 
the water, as it murmured along its pebbly bed, served but to highten their keen- 
est suffering. Butwhatwas this to the pang of leaving to a cruel fate their helpless 
children ! 8ome of the little ones, who though too young to remember in after 
years, tell us that they stood by their parents, and pulled the arrows from their 
bleeding wounds. 

Long had the brave band held together; but the cries of the wounded sufferers 
must prevail. For the first time, they are (by four Mormons) offered their lives if 
they will lay down their arms, and gladly they avail themselves of the proffered 
mercy. Within a few hundred yards of the con'a^ faith is broken. Disarmed and 
helpless, they are fallen upon and massacred in cold blood. The savages, who had 
been driven to the hills, are again called down to what was denominated the 'job,' 
which more than savage brutality had begun. 

Women and children are now all that remain. Upon these, some of whom had 
been violated by the Mormon leaders, the savage expends his hoarded vengeance. 
By a Mormon who has now escaped the threats of the Church we are told that the 
helpless children clung around the knees of the savages, offering themselves as 
slaves ; but with fiendish laughter at their cruel tortures, knives were thrust into 
their bodies, the scalp torn from their heads, and their throats cut from ear to ear." 

Beside Salt Lake City, the other principal Mormon settlements are Fill- 
more City, the capital, Brownsville^ Provo, Ogden, Manti, and Parovan. 



COLORADO TERRITORY. 



Colorado was formed into a territory February 18, 1861. Colorado 
derives its name from the Colorado River, and its population from the dis- 
covery of gold in the vicinity of Pikes Peak. Its area is 104,500 square 
miles. Estimated population, late in 1864, 32,000. Capital, Denver. 

A great part of this territory lies upon the Rocky Mountains, with their foot 
hills and adjacent plains. Within it the Arkansas and Platte Rivers have 
their sources, and running easterly empty into the Mississippi ; Green River 
and other affluents of the great Colorado of the West here also take their 
rise, and flowing westerly discharge their waters into the Pacific. Its mineral 
deposits are half way between the Mississippi and the Pacific, and about 1,000 
miles from each, and in the same latitude with the rich mineral regions of 
Carson Valley. Within it are the three beautiful vales of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, known respectively as Middle, South and North Parks, while the noted 
Pike's Peak rises up grandly 10,600 feet above the level of the plains, and 
18,600, or more than three and a half miles above the level of the sea. This 
mountain received its name from its discoverer, Capt. Z. M. Pike, while at 
the head of an exploring expedition sent out in 1806, in Jefi'erson's admin- 
istration, to ascertain the sources of the Arkansas. He ascended to the 
summit, and was the first white man to gaze upon the magnificent panorama 
seen from that point. A visitor of our time thus relates his experience 
there : 

" The summit is of an irregular, oblong shape, nearly level, embracing about 
sixty acres, and composed entirely of angular slabs and blocks of coarse disinteg- 
rating granite. The fresh snow was two or three inches deep in the interstices 
among the rocks, but had nearly all melted from their surfaces. 

The day was clear, and the view indescribably grand and impressive. To the 
eastward for a hundred miles, our eyes wandered over the dim, dreary prairies, 
spotted by the dark shadows of the clouds and the deeper green of the pineries, 
intersected by the faint gray lines of the roads, and emerald threads of timber, 
which mark the meandering of the streams, and banded on the far horizon with a 
girdle of gold. At our feet, below the now insignificant mountains up which we 
had toiled so wearily, was Colorado City, to the naked eye a confused city of Lilli- 
puts, but through the glasses exhibiting its buildings in perfect distinctness, and 
beside one of them our own carriage with a man standing near it. 
47 



738 



COLORADO TERRITORY. 



Further south swept the green timbers of the Fontaine qui Bouille, the Arkan 
sas and the Huerfano, and then rose the blue Spanish peaks of New .Mexico, a 
hundred miles away. Eight or ten miles from our stand-point, two little gems of 
lakes, nestled among the rugged mountains, revealing even the shadows of the 
rocks and pines in their transparent waters. Far beyond, a group of tiny lakelets 
glittered and sparkled in their dark surroundings like a cluster of stars. 




Vieiv in Denver. 

Cherry Creek is seen in front, Platte Eiver in the middle distance, the Rocky Mountains in the back- 
ground, and on the extreme left, at the distance of seventy miles, appeai-s the snow-clad summit of Piko's 
Peak. 

To the west, the South Park, 40 miles in length, the Bayou Salado, and other 
amphitheaters of rich floral beauty — gardens of nature amid the utter desolation 
of the mountains — were spread thousands of feet below us; and beyond, peak after 
peak, until the pure white wall of the Snowy Range merged into the infinite blue 
of the sky. Toward the north-east we could trace the timbers of the Platte, for 
more than seventy miles; but though the junction of Cherry creek, even to the 
unassisted eye, showed the exact location of Denver, our glasses did not enable us 
to detect the buildings. 

These of course were only the more prominent features of the landscape. To 
the north, south and west the intervening expanse was one vast wilderness of 
mountains of diverse forms and mingling colors, with clouds of fleecy white sail- 
ing airily among their scarred and wrinkled summits. By walking a few hundred 
yards, from one slight elevation to another, we looked upon four territories of the 
Union — Kansas, Nebraska, Utah and New Mexico. Almost from the same stand- 
point we viewed regions watered by four of the ^reat rivers of the continent — the 
Platte, Arkansas, Rio Grande, and Colorado — tributaries respectively of the Mis- 
souri, the Mississippi, the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California. 

A gorge upon the north side is still more gigantic than that on the south-east. 
A colossal plowshare seems to have been driven fiercely down from the summit 
almost to the base, leaving a gaping furrow, visible even from Denver [seventv 
miles] and deep enough in itself to bury a mountain of considerable pretensions.^' 
Like mineral regions generally, this is deficient in agricultural resources, 
it may in time produce sufficient to support a considerable mining popula- 
tion. It is, however, more probable that it will become an important market 




Street in Denver in 1859. 



COLORADO TERRITORY. 739 

for the rich agricultural districts of eastern Kansas and Nebraska. " The 
soil east of the foot of the mountains is mostly arid and sandy, and as very 
little rain falls during the summer, is not adapted to farming purposes. Even 
the valleys of the streams appear unproductive ; pulverize a handful of the 
soil, and it proves to consist almost entirely of sand. But it is precisely 

identical with the soil 
of the valleys in New 
Mexico; and like them, 
with irrigation, it will 
produce abundantly all 
the small grains and 
vegetables. The val- 
leys in the gold region 
will produce all the 
great staples of that lat- 
itude, with perhaps the 
exception of corn. 
Their elevation is near- 
ly 5,000 feet above the 
sea; frosts are frequent, even during the summer, and it is doubtful whether 
corn will flourish, unless it be the small species grown in Mexico, or the 
variety recently introduced in Oregon, in which each kernal is encased in a 
separate husk. The climate of the great plains and of the Rocky Mountain 
country is one of the healthiest in the world. The air is so dry and pure 
that fresh meat, cut in summer in strips, and in winter in quarters, and hung 
up out of doors, will cure so perfectly, without salting or smoking, that it 
may be carried to any quarter of the globe. The nights, even in summer, 
are cool and often cold." The winters are long and terribly severe ; snow 
falls early in the fall and late in the spring. The Parks in the Rocky 
Mountains are mild in winter, alFording abundance of food for stock, and 
have always been favorite winter haunts lor the Indians. "They are com- 
paratively smooth, fertile spots — the principal ones from 30 to 60 miles in 
diameter — inclosed on all sides by high mountain walls: in the language of 
Fremont, "gems of rich floral beauty, shut up in the stern recesses of the 
mountains." 

The mountain districts are well watered. "The country abounds in timber, the 
prevailing variety being pine — immense forests of both the yellow and white being 
common. On the streams the white cherry and timber common to this latitude 
are found. Game is exceedingly abundant — the black-tailed deer, red deer, elk, 
antelope, mountain sheep, black bear, etc., being found in all portions of the coun- 
try. It is a favorite resort for the Indians, as it affords them plenty of game when 
off their buffalo hunts, and where they get their lodge poles and equipments for 
their excursions for Buffalo on the plains." 

This country has only of late been a point of attraction to emigrants. The discov- 
ery oi gold has been the talisman to draw multitudes of the hardy and enterprising 
of our countrymen to this Rocky Mountain land. Jt had long been believed by the 
hunters and trappers of the Rocky Mountains, that the existence of gold and sil- 
ver, near the sources of the Arkansas and South Platte, was known to the Indians, 
and though search was made the exact spot could never be ascertained. "In 1835, 
a hunter, named Eustace Carriere, became separated from his companions, and 
wandered about for some weeks, during which period he discovered some grains 
of gold on the surface of the ground, which he took with him to Mexico. On his 
arrival there he exhibited his specimens, and a company was formed, having Car- 
riere for their guide to the new El Dorado. Unfortunately for himself, Carriere 
was unable to find the precise spot, and the Mexicans, thinking that he did not 



740 COLOKADO TERRITORY. 

wish to disclose the secret to them, set upon him, and having punished him severe- 
ly, left him and returned to Mexico. Nothing v^'as then heard for some time, but 
in the winter of 1851 an old trapper, who had been living among the Indians for 
some years, came to the settlements and reported the existence of a cave, in which 
■there was a quantity of solid masses of gold, hanging from the roof, like stalactites 
or immense icicles. He urged the formation of a company, and offered to conduct 
men to the spot, but the story was too large, and he could not induce any one to 
accompany him. He afterward left for the Indian country by himself, and noth- 
ing has since been heard of him. 

In 1850, a party of California emigrants passing through this part, found traces 
of gold, and some of the party wished to stay and examine carefully, but the ma- 
jority, who had heard of the California nuggets being as ' large as a brick,' wished 
to proceed on their journey. Capt. John Beck, who was of this party, on his re- 
turn from California, took out a party of a hundred men to this gold field, and from 
that time the presence of gold was a recognized fact. Party then rapidly suc- 
ceeded party, every one who returned from the mines giving a highly colored 
account of the fortunes to be realized there. In May, 1858, a party from Law- 
rence, Kansas, was induced by these favorable reports to proceed to the diggings, 
where they found matters even better than had been represented. The result of 
their discoveries soon became known, and this new El Dorado suddenly became 
the great magnet of attraction of this continent." So great in two years was the 
rush of emigration that, in I860, the census gave the population of the newly 
found gold region at about sixty thousand. 

The Gold Region is known to extend several hundred miles along the 
Eoeky Mountains. The best part of it is supposed to be between latitudes 
37° and 42°. "It is the general opinion that quartz mining must always 
be the leading interest here; and miners with only the pan and rocker or 
sluice have not as yet been able, as they were originally in California, to ob- 
tain 85 or $10 per day wherever they might locate. Many old Californians, 
however, aver that the quartz ' prospects' much more richly here than it ever 
has in the golden state." As early as October, 1860, 75 quartz mills were 
in operation in the mountains, and 100 more being put up, which, upon the 
ground and in running order, cost in the aggregate nearly two millions of 
dollars. The estimated yield of gold for the year was five millions in value. 
Some rich silver lodes had then been discovered; but the development of 
this industry must be slow, from the great expense of erecting proper reduc- 
tion works, and the difficulty of obtaining the practical skill to amalgamate 
the mineral. 

Denver, Auraria and Highland were established by three difiierent compa- 
nies, but they are substantially one city, and the metropolis of the gold re- 
gion. They are seventy miles north of Pike's Peak, at the confluence of 
Cherry Creek and the South Platte River ; and distant, by air lines, from St. 
Louis, 800, Santa Fe, 300, San Francisco, 1,000, and Salt Lake, 400 miles. 

Denver and Auraria were the first founded. The first house built on the site of Denver 
was erected on Oct. 29, 1858, by Gen. Wm. Larimer and party, who had just arrived from 
Leavenworth. It was a rude log cabin, only six feet high, with a roof of sods. Highland 
is beautifully situated on the west bank of the Platte. The three places, in general terms, 
are now called Denver, which, in the fall of 1860, two years after the first house was 
erected, contained three daily newspapers, two churches, a theater, several fine brick blocks, 
two bridges across the Platte, excellent roads leading from it to the principal diggings, 
and 5,000 inhabitants. 

Colorado City, 80 miles south of Denver, was founded in 1859 at the foot 
of Pike's Peak, and had, in 1860, 1,500 inhabitants. Golden City, 15 miles 
west of Denver, in 1860, had a population of 1,200. St. Vrain is on the Platte, 
40 miles north of Denver, and on the site of the old trading post of Col 
Ceran St. Vrain, frequently alluded to in Fremont's expeditions. 



COLORADO TERRITORY. 74] 

Hall, in his " Emigrants' and Settlers' Guide," gives this description of 
the climate and productions of Colorado. He is also full and enthusiastic 
upon its mineral wealth. He describes, somewhat in detail, the mode prac- 
ticed in gold mining and the various processes for extracting the ore. We 
copy his article below, almost entire. 

" The Climate. — The climate of Colorado varies with its hight, both as to 
temperature and the amount of rain and snow. The climate of that por- 
tion lying at the base and east of the mountains is not only delightful but 
remarkably healthy. The frosts come generally early in the autumn, and 
continue far into the spring months, but they are not severe. On the plains, 
the snows of winter are never sufficient to prevent cattle of all kinds from 
thriving and fattening on the nutritious grass, dried up and thus cured by 
nature in July and August. 

Throughout the winter months, with rare exceptions, the sun blazes down 
with an almost tropic glow, little or no snow falls, and although the nights 
are sometimes sharp and frosty, there is no steady intensity of cold. 

With such a climate Colorado could not well be otherwise than healthy. 
The sanitary condition of the territory is good, and the number of deaths, 
considering the labor and exposure to which the great majority of its in- 
habitants are subjected, remarkably small. 

Agricultural Products. — In a country so remote from the agricultural dis- 
tricts of the states, and where the expense of transporting supplies is so 
heavy, the need of home production is necessarily very great. The rather 
scanty opportunities which Colorado presents as a field for agriculture have 
been, however, improved to the utmost. An extensive system of irrigation 
has been introduced, which, it is thought, will relieve the settlers from lack 
of rain and other difficulties which have hitherto limited agricultural pro- 
gress. 

As regards the production of grain, the crops on the various branches of 
the South Platte, Arkansas, Fontain que Bruille, afford encouraging pros- 
pects. 

In the southern part of the territory considerable attention has been paid 
to the raising of wheat, corn, barley, and other cereals ; but the continuance 
of dry weather presents a formidable obstacle to great success in this di- 
rection. 

The bottom lands of the Platte River and other mountain streams have a 
rich alluvial deposit, which only requires water at long intervals to promote 
an astonishing vegetable growth. All the succulent varieties of plants, such 
as potatoes, cabbages, onions, squashes, etc., attain an enormous size, re- 
taining the tenderness, juiciness, and sweetness which almost everywhere 
else belong only to the smaller varieties. The wild fruits of the territory 
are also numerous and abundant. It is believed that Colorado will, in a few 
years, be able to supply her own home demand for the necessaries of life. 

Stock Raisinc/ etc. — As a grazing and stock-raising region Colorado pos- 
sesses great advantages. Near the base of the rocky ranges, and along the 
valleys of the streams which have their origin in the mountains, vegetation 
is prolific. The grasses are not only abundant, but they contain more nutri- 
ment than the cultivated species of the most prosperous agricultural dis- 
tricts of the Mississippi valley. These grasses cure standing, and cattle 
have been known to feed and thrive upon them throughout the entire win- 
ter months. 



742 COLORADO TERRITORY. 

Minerals — Mining, etc. — As a gold-mining country, Colorado is second 
only to California. The Colorado gold mines differ from those of C;ilifornia 
in this particular, viz.: that in the former the precious ore is generally found 
in extensive " lodes " of quartz and pyrites, while in the latter, placer or 
gulch mining are the most extensive and the most profitable. We do not 
mean to be understood by this that there are no placer mines in Colorado. 
Numerous gulches and ravines have been extensively worked in different 
parts of the territory, and in some instances the yield has been astonishingly 
rich and abundant; but, up to the present time, the extent of the discov- 
eries of gulch, bar, or river deposits has not seemed to establish a claim 
for Colorado as a great placer mining region. 

That the inexperienced may more clearly understand the difference be- 
tween " placer " and " lode " mining, the following brief explanation is 
appended : 

^^ Placer" and '■'■Lode'''' Mining. — Where deposits of gold are found in 
gulches, on bars, or in river beds, mixed only with the sands and alluvial 
washings of the mountains or hillsides, and requiring only the action of 
water, by sluicing or hydraulics, to separate them from the earthy mixture, 
the term " placer " is applied to this mode of mining. On the other hand, 
where gold deposits are found mixed with quartz rock, pyrites of iron and 
copper or other metals, and occupying veins between walls of solid granite, 
they are called '' lode " mines. The latter can only be worked profitably by 
the aid of capital and powerful machinery ; but experience has confirmed 
the belief that this kind of mining is more permanent and quite as profita- 
ble as " placer" mining. The mines of Colorado are of this class, and the 
leading enterprises of the population are specially directed to the improve- 
ment and development of these veins or crevices. 

Mining Machinery used in Colorado. — The success of any mining region 
is dependent, primarily, upon manual labor; liberal capital and powerful 
machinery are important accessories, however, and in Colorado they ai'e 
essential ones. 

The machinery generally in use there for obtaining gold from the 
quartz or ore is of very simple construction, consisting chiefly of an engine 
(or wheel, if water-power is used,) and a set of stamps for crushing the ore. 
It is the opinion of all practical miners in Colorado, with only one or two 
exceptions, that the engines now in use there are by no means large enough 
for the required use. The largest of them measures 14-inch cylinder, and 
24-inch stroke, running 24 revolutions per minute, and carrying about 50 
pounds of steam. In Colorado this engine is estimated at 80-horse power. 
All other engines are likewise overrated, and to do the work required of 
them they are run at high speed. Most of the engines and stamping ma- 
chinery have, thus far, been made in St. Louis and Chicago. The principal 
water-wheel used is the over-shot, although there are some under-shot and 
breast-wheels. 

Mining Claims. — In Colorado liberal laws are in force, which give to the 
fortunate discoverer of a quartz vein 200 local feet of the same, and to all 
others who apply in season 100 feet not already claimed. These claims are 
recorded in the clerk's ofl&ce of the district, and by this process the rights 
of the parties are secured and respected. 

Having made your claim and had it recorded, the next thing for the 
miner to do is to see to 



COLORADO TERRITORY. ij-^g 

SuiJciug a Shaft. — This is sometimes attended with great labor, and not a 
little expense. The cost of sinking a shaft, four feet wide and twelve feet 
long, through the " cap " is estimated to be about §25 per running foot, if 
the shaft isVrom 60 to 100 feet deep : $30 per foot if it is from 100 to IGO 
feet deep, and so on in proportion, the expense increasing with the depth, 
and consequent difficulty of drawing the rubbish to the surface. 

Much, of course, depends upon the hardness of the rock through which 
the shaft is sunk. In some cases a large proportion, or the whole of the 
expenses of the shaft is defrayed by the gold found during the progress of 
the work. Indeed, some mines have been sunk to a great depth without 
encountering the " cap " at all. 

3Ie/hod of Raising the Ore. — The quartz mills are, with but a single ex- 
ception, some distance from the shafts or mines. The hoisting is perlormed 
by an ordinary " whim," worked sometimes by a horse or mule, and some- 
times by a five or six horse-power engine ; a ten or fifteen horse engine 
would be better when the shafts are worked to great depths. 

Process of Extracting the Ore. — The usual mode of extracting the gold 
may be simply described as follows : The ore is crushed to powder by heavy 
stamps, which fall down with great force ; then the powder is mixed with 
water, run over metallic plates, having slight ridges on their surface, and 
smeared with quicksilver : thus part of the gold is retained. 

Two new processes of separating the ore, which are now in extensive 
operation, may be thus briefly described : 

' The Freiberg Fan, so called from the name of the place where it was in- 
vented, Freiberg, Germany — is a wooden tub of perhaps eight feet in diam- 
eter, and three feet high, with a false bottom of iron, upon which move in 
a circle four mullers of stone or iron, attached to the arms of a central up- 
right shaft. This shaft propels the mullers by the power of steam. In 
this pan or tub are deposited, from time to time, quantities of pulverized 
quartz, with the gold dust intermingled. Water is let in, to the depth of 
ten or twelve inches, and a stream of it allowed to run constantly. This 
water escapes at an orifice made at the proper bight, and carries with it all 
floating dust. The water is warmed by steam and kept at a uniform tem- 
perature. The motion of the mullers destroys the chemical affinities of 
the several substances, and allows the quicksilver to take it. This pan is 
coming into use in several mills. A large mill will soon be built in Nevada 
to make use of this process. 

The Bertola Fan, which takes its name from the Spaniard who invented 
it, is more extensively used, and promises better for all kinds of ores. It is 
about half the size of the Freiberg paa, and entirely of iron. The dust is 
operated upon in the same way in both pans — water, and stone mullers be- 
ing used. The chemicals, however, in the Bertola method, are deposited 
with the dust, while in the Freiberg they are not. What chemicals are 
used is still a secret, carefully guarded by those who make use of the pro- 
cess. Many large mills are adopting it with great confidence. Messrs. 
Cook & Kimball have thirty pairs of pans in operatien in their large mill, 
Central City. They are also about to erect an immense mill for a new com- 
pany in New York, on Clear Creek, for the purpose of operating one hund- 
red and fifty pair of pans. The friends of this process are very confideafc 
of its entire success. 

The above-named methods of operating upon the ore are designed to 



744 COLORADO TERRITORY. 

overcome chemical affinities, difficulties which can not be obviated by the 
common process. All kinds of chemicals are found in the ore, and some of 
them are great neutralizers of the power of quicksilver. Owing to t'hese, 
in some ores, not more than a fourth part of the gold is saved in the com- 
mon process. Sulphur is found in abundance, and it is a great hindrance 
to mining. 

The Keith Process. — Dr. Keith has undertaken to master this difficulty by 
first pulverizing and then burning the dust — the sulphur affording the com- 
bustible agent. It is done in a furnace with an escape flue to create a 
draft, which runs up the mountain side several hundred feet. It further 
consists of a jaw working on a frame at about 25 strokes, crushing the dry 
ore, which is then conveyed by a tube or trough to a close, narrow sort of 
fan-mill, fitted inside with three revolving arms. The crushed ore is in- 
troduced into the center, and the high speed throws it out along the arms 
till it is reduced to fine powder, when the draft caused by the arms carries 
it through a three or four inch-flue into a furnace, heated to an intense 
heat. The flue then expanding to a width of three or four feet and one 
foot in hight, takes a slanting direction down, about 10 feet, at an angle of 
45 degrees, all the time heated by fire underneath. The sulphur is sepa- 
rated from the ore in this flue, and at the bottom it is sent through an 
opening in the roof of the flue ; another flue passing along the top of the 
first, and so off into the air, while the desulphurized ore falls into a pit, 
where it cools, and is taken out and submitted to the action of quicksilver. 
This " process " is said to be satisfactory. 

Appearance of the Ore. — " All is not gold that glitters.'' The gold ore 
is usually of a light gray color. Many particles of it shine brightly in the 
sun, and form handsome specimens to carry away, but these are not the pre- 
cious metal. That which glitters is not gold, but chiefly pyrites of iron. 

Productiveness of the Ore. — The Hon. John Evans, governor of Colorado, 
states that the ore in most of the lodes now worked pay at least $36 per 
tun, while in some instances the same quantity yields $150, $200, and even as 
high as $500, treated by the stamping process alone. This ore yields, upon 
analysis, from three to six times as much gold as can be saved by the or- 
dinary methods now in use, giving results which to the inexperienced miner 
appear almost fabulous ; but of course no practical conclusions can be 
drawn from merely chemical analyses inapplicable upon a large scale. The 
practical proof is in the actual yield and profit to the miner. 

The cost of each tun of quartz may be fairly stated at $12, and the 
yield at $36, thus affording a profit at the rate of 200 per cent, and that, 
too, in a manufacture or business where the returns are unusually quick and 
active — the various operations of mining and crushing the ore, extracting 
and selling the gold being easily performed within a week. 

Total Product of Gold. — It is a difficult matter to give, in figures, the 
amount of the gold product of Colorado since the commencement of mi- 
ning operations, in 1858. No sufficient data exist for the computation of 
the whole yield of the territory. But an approximate estimate, based upon 
various records, can be made, which affords a gratifying exhibit, and from 
which fair deductions for the future may be made. 

The reports of the receipts at the Philadelphia United States mint show 
the following; figures : 



COLORADO TERRITORY. 



745 



1859 $ 4,000 

1860 600,000 

1861 1,000,000 



1862 $6,000,000 

1863 (estimated) 13,500,000 

1864 (estimated) 20.000,000 



The above statement falls short of the aggregate yield of the territory. 
Much was sent to other places than Philadelphia, and through other chan- 
nels ; much, too, remained in the hands of miners. There is every reason 
to believe that the gold product of 1864 will not fall short of twenty mil- 
lions of dollars. 

Other Mineral Products. — The territory is said to abound in metals of 
various kinds, but the sacra fames ( " sacred hunger " ) for gold at present 
absorbs all the attention of the miners. 

Iron ore, of a good quality, is found in some parts of the territory, not 
far from Denver, and in close proximity to coal. Silver and lead, in small 
quantities, have also been discovered. Platinum, zinc, manganese, mag- 
netic iron, sand, alum, salt, and petroleum are also among the mineral pro- 
ducts of the country." 

Ha/iid Mills and Hand Mortars, for the purpose of crushing the quartz 
gold, first came into use in the gold regions in the beginning of 1865. 
Whatever invention or process will assist individual labor, in contradis- 
tinction to that of associated capital, is the most important in the devel- 
opment of a country. A newspaper, published at Austin, in Nevada, at the 
beginning of 1865, thus speaks of the beneficial influence of their intro- 
duction : 

Some few of our citizens have censured us severely for advocating and recom- 
mending the use of horse and hand-mills, and, hand-mortars, for the purpose of 
crushing ore, and some went even so far as to say that we were encouraging petit 
larceny, as many of the persons who were engaged in the business did not have 
claims, or sufficient means to purchase the rock. But it does not follow, that to 
make a hand-mill pay, a person must "jayhawk" the rock. There are hundreds 
of claims in this city and vicinity that have been abandoned, not because they 
were not rich, but simply because the owners did not have means necessary to 
work them. From these claims an abundance of ore can be obtained to run all 
the hand-mills that will be started here for ages. Three months since there was 
not a horse or hand-mill in the city, and but few hand-mortars used. Now there 
are over thirty of the former in successful operation, the latter having gone al- 
most entirely out of use. From Mr. Salmon, the inventor of the new amalgama- 
tor, we learn some interesting facts. He is engaged in amalgamating exclusively 
for the horse and hand-mills, and does it with one of his tubs by hand-power. 
He takes out over $500 per week, but finds it impossible to do all the work that is 
offered him. The bullion will run over 900 fine. Four gentlemen, for whom it 
has been working, took out sufficient after night, in hand-mortars, to keep them in 
provisions and develop their claim, and they are now having a large lot worked at 
one of the steam-mills. Another, who was on the eve of leaving here in despair, 
went to work with a hand-mill, and has taken out enough to send for his family to 
Wisconsin, besides having sufficient means to last him the ensuing winter. Mr. 
Salmon knows of many good and experienced miners who would have left the 
country, but who, by these miniature inventions, have been enabled to " stick it 
out," work on their claims, and help to develop our wonderful and most remark- 
able mines. There is at least $2000 per week of bullion taken out by these 
mills, and it is constantly increasing. They keep many men employed, assist in 
developing a number of mines, and put many dollars of our buried wealth into 
circulation ; besides, it makes all engaged in the business thorough and experi- 
enced mill-men. 



IDAHO TERRITORY. 

Idaho is an Indian word, signifying " Gem of the mountains:' It wa3 
formed in March, 1863, from the territories of Washington, Nebraska and 
Dakotah. Its area then was 326,000 square miles ; that is, seven times that 
of New York State. In 1864, it was reduced to about 90,000 square miles, 
on the creation of the territory of Montana. Its capital is Lewiston, near 
the Washington line on Lewis fork of Columbia Kiver. 

Its great attraction was its gold mines, the most important of which ware 
lost to her when Montana was created. 

The present gold mines of Idaho are in the northern part, on branches 
of the Columbia, Salmon and Clearwater Rivers. 

" The Salmon Kiver mines were the first to attract the gold-hunter. The 
o-old obtained here is of rather an inferior quality, being worth only $13 to 
|l5 an ounce. Florence City is the largest settlement in the Salmon River 
country, and the general depot for supplies. 

" South of Salmon River is a large extent of country as yet wholly un- 
explored. On Clearwater River and its branches north of Salmon River, 
gold is found over a large extent of country, Elk City and Ore Fino being 
the principal centers of business and population." 



MONTANA TERRITORY. 

Montana* was originally a part of Idaho, and was formed in 1864, It 
is one of the largest of the territories, comprising an estimated area of 
140,000 square miles. It lies south of the British possessions, from the 
27th to the 34th degrees of longitude. The Rocky Mountains and their 
foot hills occupy the western and central parts. Within it are the head 
waters of the Columbia River, of Oregon, and those of the main Missouri, 
and its great branch the Yellow Stone. 

Until the first year of the rebellion, Montana was a trackless wilderness. 
Before the close of the war, the rapidity and extent of mineral discoveries 
attracted the attention of miners and capitalists, and in defiance of obstacles 
of travel and climate, they forced their way into this new and distant land. 

It is favored with a healthy climate, and quite as mild as that of many 
of the Northern and Eastern States. Particularly is the climate moderate 
on the Pacific side of the mountains. 

At Fort Benton, on the Missouri River, a trading post of the American 
Fur Company, which has an elevation of 2632 feet above the level of the 
sea, their horses and cattle, of which they have a large number, are never 
housed or fed in winter, but get their living without difficulty. 

The fall of the temperature as winter approaches, appears to be much 
more abrupt east of the mountains, in this latitude, than at the west or in 
the vicinity of Great Lakes. 

In the Deer Lodge Prairie, in the valley of the Deer Lodge River, just 
west of the mountains, are very fine farming lands. Beautiful prairie 
openings occur at frequent intervals, in the valleys both of the Hell Gate 
and Bitter Root Rivers. At the settlement called Hell Gate, situated at 
the junction of the river by that name, and the Bitter Root, are several 
farms which yield all the cereals and vegetables in great abundance, bring- 
ing prices that would astonish farmers in the States, as parties are con- 
stantly passing through that region on their way to the mines, and glad to 
purchase supplies. 

Several years since, Gov. Stevens of Washington Territory, said in an 
official report: 

" I estimate that in the valleys on the western slopes of the Rocky 
Mountains, and extending no further than the Bitter Root range of moun- 
tains, there may be some 6000 square miles of arable land, upon grassed 
lands with good soils, and already prepared for occupation and settlement; 
and that in addition to this amount, there are valleys having good soils, and 
favorable for settlement, which will be cleared in the removal of lumber 

* The description given of this Territory, is abridged from " Hall's Emigrants, Settlers 
and Travelers' Guide and Hand Book to California, Nevada, Oregon and the Territories; 
accompanied by a map showing the roads to the Gold Fields, with tables of distances." 
It is an invaluable little pamphlet for the emigrant. It is mailed from the New York 
Tribune office, on receipt of the price — 25 cents. 



750 MONTANA TERRITORY. 

from them. The faint attempts made by the Indians at cultivating- the 
soil, have been attended with good success, and fair returns might be ex- 
pected of all such crops as are adapted to the Northern States of our 
country. 

" The numerous mountain rivulets tributary to the Bitter Root River, 
that run through the valley, afford excellent and abundant mill-seats; and 
the land bordering these is fertile and productive, and has been proved be- 
yond a cavil or doubt to be well suited to every branch of agriculture." 

In these valleys much grain is already grown, and along the Bitter Root 
several flouring mills may be found. Produce brings a good price and the 
increasing demand for breadstuffs at Bannock City and other mining towns, 
will insure a more vigorous effort on the part of the husbandman. 

The cattle in the Deer Lodge Valley run at large in winter, and thrive 
and fatten rapidly. There is a considerable settlement in the Valley, and 
stock raising is quickly becoming a lucrative business, the mining popula- 
tion in the vicinity increasing rapidly, and affording a good market. The 
pasturage grounds of the Bitter Root Valley are unsurpassed. The exten- 
sive bands of horses owned by the Flat-Head Indians occupying St. Mary's 
Village, on Bitter Root River, thrive well winter and summer. 

At about the latitude of 46° 30', the Deer Lodge River and the Black- 
foot form a junction and are then called the Hell Gate, which unites with 
the Bitter Root or St. Mary's River, in latitude 47° and assumes the name 
of the latter. 

Along the valleys of both the Hell Gate and Bitter Root there is a great 
abundance of excellent timber — pine, hemlock, tamarack, or larch predom- 
inating. The numerous mountain rivulets tributary to the Bitter Root 
which run through the valley, afford excellent and abundant mill seats. 
The valley and mountain slopes are well timbered with an excellent growth 
of pine, which is equal in every respect to the well-known and noted pine 
of Oregon. Along the Bitter Root are also several fine flouring mills. 

The great attraction of this region is its Gold mines. The gold in Mon- 
tana is found as in California, both in gulches and in quartz. 

The Bannock or Grasshopper mines were discovered in July, 1862, and 
are situated on Grasshopper Creek, a tributary of the Jefferson fork of the 
Missouri, 385 miles north of Salt Lake City, and 280 south of Fort 
Benton. 

The mining district at this point extends five miles down the creek from 
Bannock City, which is situated at the head of the gulch ; while upon 
either side of the creek the mountains are intersected with gold-bearing 
quartz lodes, many of which have been found to be very rich. 

Bannock City, the county seat of Boise county, and the most populous 
town in the Territory, is thought to be one of the best mining localities in 
this whole region. It is situated between two of the best mining streams 
in the territory, viz. : More's and Elk Creek, which empty into the Boise 
Biver, forty miles south of Bannock City. 

The Centerville mines are six miles west of Bannock City. They are 
situated on Grimes' Creek, and are similar to those on Bannock City. 

The Virginia City mines, take their name from Virginia City, the largest 

(own in Eastern Montana. They are on Fairweather's Gulch, upon Alder 

Creek, one of the tributaries of the Stinking Water, a small stream that 

puts into the Jefferson Fork, about seventy miles northeast of Bannock. 

" The mines here," says a late writer, " are unsurpassed in richness ; not 



MONTANA TERRITORY. 



751 



a claim has been opened that does not pay good wages, while many claims 
yield the precious ore by the pound." Two lines of coaches run between 
this point and Bannock City. 

The following were the prices of produce at Bannock, at the beginning 
of 1865, in gold: 

Flour, $25 per cwt. ; Bacon, 30c. per lb.; Ham, 90c.; Fresh Steaks, 15 
to 25c.; Potatoes, per lb., 25c.; Cabbage, per lb., 60c.; Coffee, 80c.; Sugar, 
60c.; Fresh Butter, $1.25; Hay, 10c. per lb., or $30 per tun; Lumber, 
$150 per thousand. Wages ruled at $5 per day, for miners and common 
laborers, and $6 to $8 for mechanics. Female labor ranged from $10 to 
$15 per week. Washing from $3 to $6, by the dozen. 

At these rates, it will be seen that carrying on agriculture by irrigation, 
which the want of rain compels, pays the producer well. 



NEBRASKA TERRITORY. 



Nebraska was organized as a territory, with Kansas, in 1854, and then 
had the immense area of 336,000 square miles, since contracted to 76,000. 

The face of the country is gently rolling prairie, and there are numerous 
small creeks and rivers, along the banks of which is timber. 

The climate of Nebraska is favorable, and the atmosphere pure, clear, and dry. 
The soil is quick and lively, producing Indian corn, wheat, o*t8, hemp, tobacco, 
and sorghum. Vegetables of all kinds thrive well, and it produces fine grapes. 

As a grazing country Nebraska can not be surpassed, and stock raising is ex- 
tensively carried on. The wild grass predominates here as in Utah, and cattle, 
horses, and mules fatten on it very readily. The bottom lands abound with 
rushes, and stock are often kept out the whole winter through, and are found to 
fatten without fodder. 

Nebraska being an agricultural and stock-raising country, and also the great 
starting-point and highway for travel over the plains, her lands are sought after 
by immigrants. In the neighborhood of good settlements the settler has the 
advantages of churches and schools already established. As a general rule, 
farms can be bought at less than the cost of improvements, owing to the constant 
emigration to the adjacent gold mines of Colorado and Montana. Timber and 
stone are found in sufficient quantities for building purposes, tjtone coal has been 
discovered in several places. 

The principal rivers are the Missouri and the Platte. The first is navigable by 
steamboats for many hundred miles above the northern point of Nebraska. The 
Platte enters the Missouri River near Omaha City. This river runs almost due 
west, through a fine valley extending four or five hundred miles through the cen- 
ter of Nebraska, and has always been the favorite, as it has been almost the only 
route to the new states and territories of Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, Montana. 
Washington, Oregon, and California. The principal outfitting points are on the 
west side of the Missouri, and are Brownsville, Nebraska City, Plattsmouth, and 
Omaha. The roads from these westward are good, and all intersect at or near 
Fort Kearney. 

The line of emigration of the United States, it is estimated now advances west- 
ward at an annual rate of seventeen miles. The territorial expansion of the pop- 
ulation absorbs annually 17,000 square miles, for when population exceeds 
eight persons to a square mile it emigrates. Within the last thirty years, the 
United States have added, on the west, eleven new states, with an aggregate area 
of 934,462 square miles, and three millions of people. With the natural, increase 
of inhabitants, consumption of territory for colonization, if it existed, would 
increase in a far greater ratio. But it does not exist.. The western limit of agri- 
cultural land in the United States is already reached. Mr. J. A. Wheelock, com- 
missioner of statistics of Minnesota, in his annual report for 1860, presents these 
fia.ct8 under the heading of: 

ARABLE AREAS OF THE UNITED STATES EXHAUSTED. 

The extended explorations made within the last few years under the auspices of 
the United States government, of the region between the Mississippi and the 
Rocky Mountains, have revealed the startling fact in the physics of the United 
48 



'5 54 



NEBRASKA TERRITORY. 



States, that the westward progress of its population has nearly reached the oxtrerao 
western limit of the areas available for settlement, and that the whole space west 
of the 98th parallel, embracing one half of the entire surface of the United States, 
.is an arid and desolate waste, with the exception of a narrow belt of rich lands 
along the Pacific coast. This momentous fact, which is destined in its results to 
revolutionize the whole scheme of continental development, and to give a new di- 
rection to the movements of trade and population, was first announced as a posi 
tive generalization by Professor Henry, of the Smithsonian Institute, in a learned 
paper on meteorology in its connection with agriculture. From this paper we 
quote: " The general character of the soil between the Mississippi River and the 
Atlantic, is that of great fertility. The portion also on the western side of the 
Mississippi, as far as the 98th meridian, including the states of Texas, Louisiana, 
Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota, and portions of the territortes of Kan- 
sas and Nebraska, are fertile, though abounding in prairies, and subject occasion- 
ally to droughts. The whole space to the west, between the 98th meridian and 
the Rocky Mountains, is a barren waste, over which the eye may roam to the ex- 
tent of the visible horizon, with scarcely an object to break the monotony. From 
the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, with the exception of a rich, but narrow belt 
along the ocean, the country may also be considered, in comparison with other por- 
tions of the United States, a wilderness unfitted for the uses of the husbandman ; 
although in some of the mountain valleys, as at Salt Lake, by means of irrigation, 
a precarious supply of food may be obtained." 

It is not necessary to quote the detailed description of this American Sahara. 
The concluding words of Prof Henry, upon this subject, are more to our purpose. 
" We have stated that the entire region west of the 98th degree of west longitude, 
with the exception of a small portion of western Texas, and the narrow boi'der 
along the Pacific, is a country of comparatively little value to the agriculturist,* 
and perhaps it will astonish the reader if we direct his attention to the fact that 
this line, which passes southward from Lake Winnipeg to the Gulf of Mexico, will 
divide the whole surface of the United States into two nearly equal parts. This 
statement, when fully appreciated, will serve to dissipate some of the dreams which 
have been considered as realities, as to the destiny of the western part of the 
North American continent. Truth, however, transcends even the laudable feel- 
ings of pride of country, and in order properly to direct the policy of this great 
confederacy, it is necessary to be well acquainted with the theater in which its 
future history is to be enacted." 

That " rich but narrow belt of fertile lands upon the Pacific," has already been 
blocked out with the prosperous states of California and Oregon, with an aggregate 
population of 450,000. 

Upon the eastern bank of the great American desert, Kansas already contains 
a population sufficient to form a state. Eastern Nebraska and Dacotah are rapidly 
filling up. Here are, altogether, about 160,000 square miles to be made into new 
states, and this is all that remains of the national domain — all that remains to 
supply an imperative and permanent demand for new areas, which absorbs 170,955 
square miles every ten years in the formation of new states. 

In the very fullness and strength of its westward flow, the tide of immigration 
is even now arrested upon the brink of a sterile waste, which covers half the na- 
tional domain. 

This event is the turning point in American history. It is the beginning of 
that cumulative pressure of population upon the means of subsistence, which ia 



*In general, this vast tract may be termed a waterleas, timberlesi?, desert-like country. 
While the annual fall of rain in the eastern states amounts to about 42 inches, it is supposed 
that in the country from the British line south to Texas, and from the 98th meridian to the 
Sierra Nevada Mountains, of California, the annual amount of rain does not exceed, on an 
average 10 inches I We all know of the terrible drought of 1860 in Kansas. The interior 
part of our continent will always be more or less subject to such calamities. An oflBcer of 
the U. S. army, commandant of a post in the vicinity of San Antonio, states to us that 
in all that part of Texas, there has been no rain of consequence within the past five years I 
The garrison was unable to procure even enough vegetables for its own consumption. 



NEBRASKA TERRITORY 755 

to test the stability of our institutions. But aside from its political effects, it will 
have these important results on the material condition of the country. 1. It will 
condense population within its present limits, and thus add to the wealth and social 
power of existing states. 2. By placing a positive limitation upon the supply of 
western lands it will largely enhance their value. 

Beyond the present line of settlement in eastern Nebraska and Kansas to 
California and Oregon, stock raising on the immense prairies, on which now 
roam countless herds of buffalo, and gold and silver mining in the mountains, 
must be the main supports of population. That these industries may in the 
course of half a century give birth to many new states, and occupation for 
millions of inhabitants, is not improbable ; but the food to support them will 
require to be principally drawn from the rich agricultural country on and 
near the Mississippi River. With this condition in prospective, the ultimate 
value of these lands will be greatly enhanced. 

The population of Nebraska is composed of emigrants from the free states 
of the north-west, and is now confined to the eastern border, along the banks 
of the Missouri. In 1860, Nebraska had 28,893 inhabitants. 

Omaha City, the capital of Nebraska, is beautifully situated on a wide 
plateau, the second bottom of the Missouri River, and opposite the city of 
Council Bluffs, in Iowa. It has substantial brick blocks, handsome churches, 
a costly court house, built by the general government, and about 2,500 in- 
habitants. Nebraska City, also on the Missouri, is an important point, with 
a population of about 3,000. 

The other prominent places in the territory are Bellevue, Plattesmouth, 
Florence, Saratoga, Fontenelle, Brownsville, Nemaha City, Mt. Vernon, St. 
George, and Kearney City. 



DACOTAH TEERITOKY. 



Dacotah, or more correctly DahJcotah, is the true name of the Sioux na- 
tion of Indians, and " signifies allied or joined together in friendly compact." 
The territory so named comprises the western part of the original Territory 
of Minnesota, and was excluded from its limits when, in 1858, Minnesota 
was erected into a state. It was organized into a territory in February, 
1861. It extends, in extreme limits, N. and S. 450 miles, and E. and W. 
200: N. latitude, 42° 30' to 49°; longitude, W. from Greenwich, 94° to 
104°. It is bounded on the N. by the British Possessions, E. by Minnesota 
and a small part of Iowa, on the S. by Iowa, and also S. and partly on 
the W. by the Missouri River, separating it from the Territory of Nebraska, 
The eastern part is, like Minnesota, covered with multitudes of small lakes 
and ponds. The largest of these are Red Lake, about 40 miles long and 20 
broad, and Mini-wakan, or Devil's Lake, about 50 miles long by 10 broad. 
Lake Itasca, the source of the Mississippi, is on its eastern boundary. The 
Minnesota, emptying into the Mississippi, the Big Sioux and Jacques, afflu- 
ents of the Missouri, and the Great Red River of the North, all take their 
rise in the high table lands of the interior. 

The territory contains numerous salt lakes, and coal has been found. 
Capt. Jno. Pope, of the U. S. corps of topographical engineers, states that 
"Dacotah presents features differing but little from the region of prairie and 
table land west of the frontiers of Missouri and Arkansas, which is mainly 
devoid of timber. From this is to be excepted the western half of the val- 
ley of Red River and the valleys of the Big Sioux and the Rio Jacques, which 
are productive, and with the region inclosed contain arable and well tim- 
bered land sufficient for a small state." These valleys are productive in 
wheat of the best qualities. Population, in I860, 4,839. 

Pemhina, the principal town of the territory, is some 360 miles, in an air 
line, N.W. of St. Paul, on the Red River of the North, just below the British 
line. It was settled, in 1812, by Scottish emigrants under Lord Selkirk, who 
obtained an extensive grant of land from the Hudson Bay Company. On 
the running of the boundary line, subsequently, Pembina, the southernmost 
point of the colony, was found to be just within the limits of the United 

States. J • •. V 

" The settlement — which contains about seven thousand inhabitants— is 
flourishing, and agriculture is prosecuted by the hardy settlers there with 
considerable success. The greater part of the inhabitants are half natives 



758 DACOTAH TERRITORY. 

and descendants of ftir-traders and their servants, by native women. For- 
merly every summer, with a team of carts drawn by oxen, and loaded with 
pemmiean, furs, etc., they came down to St. Pauls on a trading excursion, 
employing about six weeks in making the journey. Their singularly con- 
structed carts, composed entirely of wood, without any tire, their peculiar 
dress, manners and complexion, render them an object of curiosity to those 
unfamiliar with the various shades of society intermediate between the sav- 
age and civilized." 



THE INDIAN TERRITORY: 



The Indian Territory is an extensive country lying west of Arkansas 
and north of Texas, and extending far into the western wilderness ; and con- 
taining about 71,000 square miles. It has been allotted by the general gov- 
ernment as the permanent residence of those Indian tribes who emigrate 
from the states east of the Mississippi. " It is about 450 miles long east and 
west, and from 35 to 240 miles in width north and south. Kansas lies on 
the north of this tract, Arkansas on the east, Texas on the south, and New 
Mexico and Texas on the west. In the north-western portion of the Indian 
Territory are the vast sandy, barren lands, known as the Great American 
Desert. Excepting this desolate region, the country is occupied by undulat- 
ing plains and prairies, broken on the east by the mountain ridges, called the 
Ozark or Washita, which come in from Arkansas. Coal of an excellent 
quality abounds in the eastern part. The great southern overland mail 
route to California passes through it. 

The Choctaws, the Chickasaws, the Cherokees, the Creeks, the Senecas, the 
Seminoles, and the Shawnees dwell in the east; while the central and west- 
ern districts are occupied by the Camanches, the Osages, the Pawnees, the 
Kioways, the Arrapahoes, and other tribes. The country is, besides, thickly 
inhabited by buffaloes, wild horses, antelopes, deer, prairie-dogs, and wild 
animals and wild birds of many names. Kansas and Nebraska were included 
in the Indian Territory until 1854." 

The Indians within and near the borders of the territory, including the 
uncivilized tribes, it is supposed, number about 90,000. The civilized tribes 
are the Cherokees and Choctaws, each numbering 19,000; the Creeks num- 
bering 25,000, and the Chickasaws, 16,000, all of whom emigrated from the 
cotton states east of the Mississippi. These four tribes have adopted repub- 
lican forms of government, modeled after those of our states, with executive, 
legislative and judicial departments.* Slavery exists in a mild form, and 

* " These four Indian states," says the New Orleans Picayune, " are a strange anomaly. 
They are not a part of the Union, nor are they known in law to exist. The white man can 
not pass through their territory without a permit, nor can he take with him, when he is 
allowed to enter the Indian domain, certain articles of merchandise, even though the pack- 
ages are unbroken and are simply designed for the New Mexican market. This singular 
state of things can not exist for many years, without forcing itself upon the attention of 
Congress. 

The tide of population is steadily rolling west. In less than ten years it will beat against 

(1477) 



INDIAN TERRITORY. 759 

tne slaves amount in the aggregate to several thousand. Polygamy prevails 
to some little extent. These tribes have made no inconsiderable advance in 
the arts of civilization; beside living under written law, they have schools 
in which English is taught, and churches, the work of missionaries: they 
have attained a knowledge of agriculture, and of many useful manufactures, 
and of late years have exported cotton, peltries, and other staples. 

The Cherokees are regarded as the most civilized of these tribes, and it is 
said that many of its principal men would grace the refined society of any 
nation. Among them and the Choctaws there is so much white blood min- 
gled that many of the younger members, especially, would not be suspected 
of Indian origin. None of these people injure themselves by hard work, 
but they are "wonderfully industrious for Indians." 

"Their principal wealth is vested in stock. Any amount of fine grazing 
land is lying idle, and the climate is so mild that stock (except milch cows 
and working cattle) requires no feeding in winter. In the spring the farmer 
brands his calves and colts, and turns them out upon the prairie, and there 
his care for them ends. All the brands are ofiicially recorded, and ' mis- 
takes ' in regard to them seldom occur, as they have an ugly way of punish- 
ing horse and cattle stealing by death ! A year or two after, when the owner 
is in want of beef, ponies, or oxen for farm labor, he sends out his negroes 
to drive in the desired animals. He would certainly be unreasonable to 
complain of the expense of raising them." These people seem, as a class, 
" well to do " in the world. Their houses are ordinarily of logs, but spacious 
and comfortable, and will compare favorably with those of south-western 
Missouri and Arkansas. Some of them are handsome frame buildings. 

When the temperance reformation overspread the land some years since, 
these emigrant tribes adopted measures for the prohibition of intemperance, 
with various degrees of success. "Among the Choctaws a law was passed 
upon this subject, which was measurably successful; and the spirit which 
effected its passage was worthy of the most exalted state of civilization. It 
seems that the tribe had generally become sensible of the pernicious influ- 
ences of strong drink upon their prosperity, and had, in vain, attempted 
various plans for its suppression. At last, a council of the head men of the 
nation was convened, and they passed a law by acclamation, that each and 
any individual who should, henceforth, introduce ardent spirits into the na- 
tion, should be punished with a hundred lashes on his bare back. The coun- 
cil adjourned, but the members soon began to canvass among themselves the 
pernicious consequences which might result from the protracted use of whisky 
already in the shops, and, therefore, concluded the quicker it was drank up, 
the more promptly the evil would be over, so falling to, in less than two 
hours Bacchus never mustered a drunker troop than were these same tem- 
perance legislators. The consequences of their determination were of last- 
ing importance to them." 

Life and property are as safe among these Indians as in the adjoining 

the barriers now thrown up against its invasion of the retreat of those civilized aborigines. 
Even now the emigration must cross these territories. These Indian states can not exii^t 
when the Caucassian race presses upon them as independent governments. The peopto, 
civilized and attached to the soil they have improved, can not be removed to remoter wilds, 
nor, without serious discontents, is it likely the United States can subject them to the con- 
dition of other territorial organizations, by an abrogation of the constitutions they have 
established for themselves. What, then, is to be done with these Indian states? It can 
not fail to give greater interest to this question that each of these Indian states have 
adopted the social institutions of the south." 



760 INDIAN TERRITORY. 

states. A late missionary among the Choctaws states: "The laws are exe- 
cuted with a good degree of promptness. The punishments consist of fines, 
whipping, and death; and, as there are no prisons in which to confine 
culprits, it is a matter of honor with accused persons to appear in court and 
answer to charges. If a man is charged with a crime, and fails to come to 
court, he is stigmatized as a coward. To the high-minded Indian cowardice 
is worse than death. It is affirmed that a full-blooded Choctaw was never 
known to abscond or secrete himself to evade the sentence of the law. Even 
when the sentence is death he will not flee, but will stand forth and present 
his breast to receive the fatal ball from the rifle of the executioner, shooting 
being the mode of capital punishment. 

A circumstance was related to us which will serve to illustrate this trait 
of character. Two brothers were living together, one of whom had been 
charged with crime, convicted, and sentenced to be executed. When the 
morning came on which the sentence should be carried into effect, the con- 
demned man manifested some reluctance in meeting the executioner. The 
brother was both surprised and indignant. 'My brother,' said he, 'you 'fraid 
to die; you no good Indian; you coward; you no plenty much brave. You 
live, take care my woman and child; I die; I no 'fraid die ; much brave!" 
The exchange was accordingly made; the innocent brother died while the 
guilty was permitted to live. This was said to have occurred before they 
emigrated west. In an earlier period of their history substitutes were fre- 
quently accepted, and when the guilty was not found any member of his 
family was liable to be arrested and made to suffer the penalty which should 
have been inflicted upon the criminal. The law required 'an eye for an eye, 
a tooth for a tooth,' blood for blood; but they would not execute two men 
for the murder of one. Two or more might be implicated, yet the death of 
one malefactor satisfied the demands of justice. Before the adoption of their 
present constitution, the injured or aggrieved party was permitted to take the 
case into his own hands, and to administer justice in the most summary man- 
ner; but since the organization of the new government every charge must 
take the form of a regular indictment, be carefully investigated, and decided 
in legal form," 



APPENDIX. 

CENSUS OF THE UNITED STATES AT DIFFERENT PERIODS. 



OFFICIAL CENSUS TABLE, 

SHOWING THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES AND TERRITORrES, ACCOEDINQ TO TH< 
SEVENTH CENSUS (1850), AND THE EIGHTH CENSUS (1860), RESPECTIVELY. 



CENSUS OF 1850. 

states ^''^- ^^"^^ ''°*^'- 

,u,hama - - 428,779 342,844 771,623 

' ii'i™,' 162,797 47,100 209,897 

(a ioi-nia, ^ZV^V-, oHn'^no 

l:.i:::«r''- •.-.-.■-•.-.■. '^ i^m '^M 

.•.'ida' 48,135 39,310 87,445 

■T. ,1^ 524,503 381,682 906,185 

Viii',;;!;' 851,470 - 851,470 

\n'; 988,416 - 988,416 

I;;;;.!;'"''' 192,214 — 192,214 

Kentucky, ■.*.'-'-"-'-"-' 77l7424 210^981 982,405 

! m Sana 272,953 244,809 517,762 

M. ^e - 583;i69 - 583;i69 

A I.,.]' d 492,666 90,368 583,034 

'^■ sachuUtts 994,514 - 994,514 

*S SsS 296648 309,878 606,526 

?;;:rsour' 594,622 87,422 682,044 

Michigan, 39^6o4 - 39^6o4 

Minnesota, 6,077 — &,OlJ 

New Hampshire, 31/,9<6 — 317.9/6 

\cw Jersey - 489,319 236 489,550 

Nen-Y.X' 3,097 394 - 3,097,394 

North Cardina, 580,491 288,548 869 039 

Ohio, - - 1,980,329 - 1,980,329 

Oreoon 13,294 - 13,294 

Pennsylvania, 2,311,786 - 2,311,786 

Rhode Island, 147,545 — 147,o45 

South Carolina, 283,523 384,984 6b8,o07 

'IVnnessee - 763,258 239,4o9 1,002,717 

' ev"r ' ■ - 154,431 58,161 212,592 

ViVnia, 949,133 472,528 1,421,661 

Vermont 314,120 - 314, 2^ 

Wisconsin, 305,391 -_ 30o,3 91 

19,866,662 3,200,600 23,067,262 



762 



APPENDIX 



Territories. 
New Mexico, 
Utah, - - _ - 
District of Columbia, 



Free. 

61,547 
11,354 

48,000 



26 

i,687 



Total. 

61,547 
11;3S0 
51.6S7 



19,987,563 3,204,313 23,191,876 



CENSUS OF 1860. 

states. Free. 

Alabama, 529,164 

Arkansas, 324,323 

California, 380,015 

Connecticut, -----.. 460,151 

Delaware, 110,420 

Florida, 78,686 

Georda, 595,097 

Illinois, 1,711,753 

Indiana, 1,350,479 

Iowa, 674,948 

Kansas, 107,110 

Kentucky, 930,223 

Louisiana, -- 376,913 

Maine, 628,276 

Maryland, 599,846 

Massachusetts, 1,231,065 

Mississippi, 354,699 

Missouri, 1,058,352 

MicluL^an, 749,112 

Minnesota, 162,022 

New Hampshire, 326,072 

New Jersey, 672,031 

New York, 3,887,542 

North Carolina, 661,586 

OJiio, 2,339,599 

Oregon, 52,466 

Pennsylvania, 2,906,370 

Hho.le' Island, 174,631 

i^outh Carolina, 301,271 

Tennessee, ....--- 834,063 

Texas, 420,651 

Virginia, 1,105,196 

Vermont, 315,116 

Wisconsin, -.-...- 775,873 

27,185,109 

Territories. Free. 

Colorado, 34,197 

Dakotah, - - 4,839 

Nebraska, 28,832 

Nevada, 6,857 

New Mexico, --.--.- 93,517 

[Ttah, 40,266 

Washington, 11,578 

District of Columbia, 71,895 

27,477,000 



Slave. 


Total. 


435,132 


964,296 


111,104 


435,427 


— 


380.015 


— 


460,151 


1,798 


112,218 


61,753 


140.439 


462,230 


1,057,327 


— 


1,711,753 


— 


1,350,479 


— 


674,948 


— 


107,110 


225,490 


1,155,713 


332,520 


709.433 


— 


628,276 


87,188 


687.034 


— 


1,231.065 


436,696 


791,395 


114,965 


1,173,317 


— 


749.112 


— 


162,022 


— 


326,072 


— 


672,03 1 


— 


3,887,542 


331,081 


992,667 


— 


2,339,599 


— 


52,466 


— 


2,906,370 


— 


174,631 


402,541 


703,812 


275,784 


1,109,847 


180,388 


601,039 


490,887 


1,596,083 


— 


315,116 


— 


775,873 


3,949,557 


31,134,666 


Slave. 


Total. 





34,197 


— 


4,839 


10 


28,842 


— 


6,857 


24 


93,541 


29 


40,295 





]1,57S 


3,181 


75,076 



3,952,801 31,429,891 



APPENDIX. 



7u3 



The followinft table shows the number of members of Congress apportioned to 
each .State in 1850 and in 1860. In 1860, the ratio of representation was 127,216. 





1850. 


I860. 




Maine, - - - - 


6 


5 


Mississippi, 


New Hampshire, 


3 


3 


Louisiana, 


Vermont, 


3 


3 


Arkansas, - 


Massachusetts, - 


11 


10 


Texas, - 


Rhode Island, 


2 


1 


Tennessee, 


Connecticut, 


4 


4 


Kentucky, 


New York, - - - 


- 33 


30 


Ohio, 


New Jersey, 


5 


6 


Indiana, 


Pennsylvania, 


- 25 


23 


Illinois, 


Delaware, 


1 


1 


Missouri, - 


Maryland, - . - 


6 


6 


Michigan, 


Virginia, - - - 


13 


11 


Wisconsin, 


North Carolina,^ - 


8 


7 


Iowa, - 


South Carolina, 


6 


4 


Minnesota, 


Georgia, ... 


8 


7 


Oregon, 


Florida, - - - 


1 


1 


California, 


Alabnma, ... 


7 


6 




Total, - 


- 


- 


For 185 



1850. 


1860. 


5 


5 


4 


4 


2 


3 


2 


4 


10 


8 


10 


8 


21 


19 


11 


11 


9 


13 


7 


9 


4 


6 


3 


6 


2 


5 


2 


1 


1 


1 


2 


3 



For 1850, 237. For 1860, 283. 



the increase of population in 

1850: 



1860, in the different 



Increase. 

36,780 

8,096 

1,707 

236,980 

27,079 

89,098 
754,169 
604,232 
186,479 
397,588 
362,386 
839,768 
356,737 
458,094 
489,788 
166,719 

39,272 
292,173 



SLAVE STATES. 



The following tables show 
States, over the population of 

FREE STATES. 

Maine, - - - . 
New Hampshire, - - - 
Vermont, - - - - 
]Massachusetts, - - - 
Khode Island, - - - 
Connecticut, - - - - 
New York, ... 
Pennsylvania, - - . 
Ne'v Jersey, ... 

Ohio, 

1 ndiana, - - - - 
Illinois, .... 

Michigan, ... 

Wisconsin, .... 
Iowa, - - - - 
Minnesota, - - - - 
Oregon, ... - 
California, .... 

Total, - - - 5,347,651 

The following tables show the Free and the Slave population at each decennial 
period since the first census was taken : 

SLAVE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Delaware, 
Maryland, 
Virginia, - 
North Carolina, 
South Carolina, 
Georgia, 
Florida, - 
Alabama, 
Mississippi, 
Louisiana, 
Arkansas. - 
Texas, - 
Tennessee, 
Kentucky, 
Missouri, - 

Total, - 



Increase. 

- 20,821 
148,531 

- 171,538 
139,303 

- 46,864 
176,642 

- 58,249 
184,294 

- 280,132 
148,669 

- 230,878 
438,363 

- 133,973 
168,152 

- 519,170 

2,820,539 



1790, 
1800, 
1810, 
1820, 
1S30, 
1840, 
1 S50, 
1860, 



697,897 Increase. 

893,041 195,144, or 29 per cent 

1,191,364 298,323, or 33 " 

1,538,064 347,700, or .30 " 

2,009,031 470,967, or 30 

2,487,355 478,324, or 24 

3,204,313 716,958, or 29 " 

3 999,353 795,040, or 25 " 



764 APPENDIX. 

FREE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES 

1790,- - 3,231,075 Increase. 

1800, 4,412,911 1,1S(),036, or36percent. 

1810, 6,048,450 1,635,530, or 37 

1820, 8,100,067 2,051,517, or 33 " 

1830, 10,357,880 2,757,822, or 33 " 

1840, 14,575,998 3,718,109, or 33 

1850, 19,991,645 5,415,616, or 37 " 

1860, 27,642,624 7,550,680, or 38 " 

The following table shows the total population of the United States at each de- 
cennial period: 

1790, 3,929,827 1 1830, 12,886,020 

1800, .... 5,305,925 1840, .... 17,069,453 

1810, 7,239,814 1S50, 23,191,876 

1820, .... 9,638,131 I 1860, .... 31,429,891 



The increase of the free population of the United States has averaged, at each 
decade, for the last half century, ahout 35 per cent.; the increase of the slave popu- ' 
lation about 27 per cent. Estimating the increase of each kind of population at 
these figures for the half century to come, the results at each decade in round 
numbers, are as follows : 

Free. Slave. Total. 

1870, 37,000,000 5,000,000 42,000,000 

1880, 50,000,000 6,500,000 56,500,000 

1890, 68,000,000 8,000,000 76,000,000 

1900, 92,000,000 10,000,000 102,000,000 

1910, 123,000,000 12,500,000 135,500,000 



LRBAp'26 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process 
Neutralizing Agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Data.i 1 1 




JBBKKEEPER 



PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGIES, LP. 
1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranbeny Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



